HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Havre City Council’s Ordinance Committee held a public meeting on Monday night to discuss a proposed ordinance regarding vacant, boarded up, and abandoned structures.
According to Alderman Andrew Brekke, many vacant and/or boarded up properties present a safety hazard and detract from property values in the area surrounding them.
“We all know of a number of properties around town that have been abandoned or vacated for sometime,” Brekke said. “Previously the Council, through an ad-hoc committee, tried to deal with this issue in a slightly different way. The Mayor and I, after the Charter was passed, tried to come up with a new approach. So he came forward to me with an option.”
As written, the Ordinance gives the Public Works Department the ability to provide code enforcement. This would be for vacant properties that have either been boarded up for 180 days or had one or more utilities cut off for 365 days.
If Public Works determines the property is in violation, the owner would be given 60 days to abate the violation or potentially face a misdemeanor charge that carries a fine of up to $500 and up to six months in jail.
However, Mayor Tim Solomon and Brekke stressed during the meeting that each property will be dealt with on an individual basis, and the City will work with each owner to discuss solutions before they would resort to issuing penalties.
“Each property has a different reason or they have different reasons they are not addressing it. This (Ordinance) actually gives us more to work with the different properties and more flexibility on both sides,” said Solomon.
Property Owner Anthony Dolphay said he was not against the Ordinance, but argued that secure doors and windows can still be broken into. He suggested having property owners paint boards to have them match the building and said he would like to see the City hold the people who damage vacant buildings accountable.
“The reactive owner, like myself, I boarded up the property after it had been broken into,” Dolphay said. “The property has never hurt anybody. It was the criminal element that posed the problem. The building was secure. That’s why they had to break something to get into it. Again, it’s secure with the boards, I’ve got a plan, I’ll make it work. I’m not against the ordinance. We do need it in Havre, I do believe that. I think there are options out there, and I think if we worked on an individual basis, I think it would work out well.”
The Ordinance must be approved twice by the full Council in order to be enacted. A first reading is scheduled for their October 4th meeting at 7 PM.
The Ordinance would go into effect 30 days after approval.
