CR 91-253 Westrbooke Appeal HearingNovember 12, 1991
Proposed Action.
Tom Anderson, Building Official
WESTBROOKE APPEAL HEARING
Council Report #91 -253
Staff recommends approval of the following motion: Move to adopt
Resolution No.91 -141 denying the appeal by 26 Westbrooke Patio Homeowners
and ordering them to repair or replace their garage door headers. `
Approval of this motion will carry through orders written by the Building
Inspection Division.
Overview.
As a result of inspections which were made in response to several
complaints from owners of units at Westbrooke Patio Homes development,
inspections personnel observed several garage door headers that were
sagging.
Inspections personnel began working with Westbrooke Patio Homes
Association, who hired an engineer to look at the problem. The engineer
verified that the headers are overstressed and he provided design
alternatives to allow for necessary corrections.
Based on the engineers report and observations by inspections personnel,
orders were written to the individual owners of the units to correct the
sagging headers by November of 1991.
The residents have exercised their right of appeal and signed a petition
requesting a public hearing.
Primary Issues to Consider.
o Did the staff act properly in ordering the headers
corrected?
o Why were the property owners, not the Association, ordered to
make the corrections?
o What is the City's legal standing as related to the original design
and installation of the garage door headers?
o How, was the timing determined for the correction of the headers?
o How were the specific headers identified for correction orders?
o Has any public financing been identified for use by the affected
owners.
Supporting Information.
o Primary Issues to Consider
o Alternatives
o Orders to the residents
o Letter from the engineers to Pat Graham
o Copy of petition with signatures
o Copy of memo from the City Attorney
o Copy of letter to Eugene McNall
o Resolution N. 91 -141
CR #91 -253
Page 2
Primary Issues to Consider.
o Did the staff act properly in ordering the headers corrected?
At the end of the summer of 1990, several residents of Westbrooke
m ale to the City to complain about a number of items relating to
a ntenance of the Westbrooke Patio Homes. Included in these
complaints were questions regarding the sagging garage door
headers and roof leaks. As a result of the contact, the staff
made an inspection and observed that several of the headers were
sagging and that some had posts in the center to hold them up.
The staff notified the Westbrook Homeowners Association of all of
the complaints that were lodged by the homeowners, including the
garage door headers. The association took action on all the .
complaints with the exception of the garage door headers. With
respect to the headers, the association took the position that it
was not their responsibility to make corrections. The association
did agree to cooperate by hiring an engineer. The engineer hired
by the association did verify that the headers, two 2 x 12's,
were over stressed in both bending and shear. The engineer made
alternate recommendations to correct the condition. In his
letter he indicated that the headers were over stressed under
full load and that there was a potential for water leakage to
occur. He indicated that because of the potential for the water
problem to add to the problem of overstressed headers, he
recommended repairs be made in the near future. The City's
Housing code defines a structure which has members of roof
supports which sag or are not able to carry their designed
weight, as a substandard building. Based on the staff's
observation of the sagging, headers, and verification by the
engineer hired by the association, inspection personnel wrote
orders on those headers which from the exterior appeared to be
sagging and showing signs of distress.
o Why were the property owners, and not the association,
ordered to make the. corrections?
The City inspection / personnel, after becoming aware of the
failing headers, contacted the Westbrooke Patio Association for
assistance in resolving the issue. The association, in a letter
dated 12- 14 -90, signed by Tom Leverenz, property manager
(attached) indicated that the board of directors had determined,
based on their by -laws and the problems cited, that it was not
under their jurisdiction or responsibility to correct the header
condition. Further, the City's Housing and Nuisance Abatement
Codes state that the City is required to contact the property .
owner and identify corrections which should be made in order to
have the structure meet the City's Code.
CR #91 -253
Page 3
The Westbrooke Patio Home Association is not the owner of each of
these units, and although they have been made aware of the
problem the City is not in a position to formally direct them to
make the improvements. In this case, the City followed its
procedure as outlined in the Nuisance Abatement and Housing Codes
by notifying each individual property owner of the violations. It
is the hope and desire of the staff that the property owners will
work out some suitable arrangements with the homeowners
association to expedite the correction and minimize the costs
associated therewith.
o What is the City's legal standing as related to the original
design and installation of the garage door headers?
The City Attorney was contacted and has been consulted during the
process, both prior to and after issuing the orders to the
homeowners effected. In the City Attorney's opinion, (letter
attached) the City Attorney feels that it is unlikely that the
City could be held liable for failing to detect, and therefore
require the original builder to construct the garage door headers
in a manner that complied with the building code in effect at
that time. The City Attorney advised staff that his major concern
was possible liability that could result from the City failing to
take action to correct the code violations the City is now aware
of, and which may constitute a safety hazard. It was on the City
Attorney's advice that the orders were written to the various
homeowners to make the corrections necessary.
o How was the timing determined for correction of the headers?
The City inspection staff at the end of the summer of 1990, and
after a complaint by several residents of Westbrooke, became
aware of the sagging garage door headers at Westbrooke.
In the original complaint that was lodged, there were several
maintenance issues that were raised and the garage door headers
were one of those issues. The staff made an initial inspection of
Westbrooke to look at all of the complaints and subsequent to
that inspection, contacted the Westbrooke Association to
ascertain what their maintenance schedule for Westbrooke was.
After the initial contact with the Westbrooke Association, and
after getting assurances that they would attempt to work with the
City staff to make corrections on the items noted, an inspection
was made by the City staff specifically on the garage door
headers in question. The staff again contacted the association
and was able to convince them that although they had taken the
position that the garage door headers would not be their
responsibility, that it would be helpful to the homeowners if the
association would hire an engineer to assess the headers and
provide some recommended solutions for correction. This engineers
report was prepared and submitted to the Westbrook Patio Home
Association and the City sometime in December of 1990. The City
CR #91 -253
Page 4
staff again discussed this issue with the Westbrooke Patio Home
Association with the idea of attempting to get the association to
play a more active role in resolving this issue.
When it became apparent that the association had gone as far as
they felt they could, the City staff began working on development
of correction notices pertaining to the garage door headers, with
input from the City Attorney. The correction notices were sent to
the property owners in September of .1991, and inspection
personnel established the November deadline for corrections to
the headers in order to provide sufficient time for corrections
to be made, as well as to allow for repairs to be made prior to
the heavy snows during the fall and winter months.
o How were specific headers identified for correction orders?
There are approximately 60 garage door headers that have
residential decks above them and are of the same general
construction as the 32 garage door headers that orders were
written on. After the inspection staff received the report from
the association's engineer that verified that the sagging headers
could and would present a problem, the staff had to make a
decision as to whether all of the headers be corrected at this
time or whether only those that were now showing signs of
distress should be corrected now. Staff made a visual exterior
inspection of all of the headers to look for signs of sagging. It
was determined that several of the garage door headers appeared
to be performing and were straight as viewed from the outside.
Others were showing varying signs of sag to the point that some
appeared to be at the point of complete and total failure. The
decision was made with input from the City Attorney that orders
would be sent initially to those that were showing visible signs
of a sag, and that those that were apparently performing would
not be written until signs of distress appeared.
o Has any public financing been identified for use by the
affected owners?
The City's current housing rehabilitation program is an option,
however the following conditions would have to be met:
o Owner qualify under current income and asset guidelines
o Owner have required equity in property
o All health /safey code violations would have to be
corrected
o Applicants would have to follow regular loan process which
currently involves being put on a waiting list
o Loans secured by mortgage on property
Alternatives
CR #91 -253
Page 5
Based on these conditions, it is questionable whether many
individuals would qualify. The City Council would probably have
to agree to waive some of these requirements in order to be able
to assist a large percentage of affected property owners.
However, other homeowners who have been denied based on these
guidelines may opposed to such an action.
The City could potentially also provide financing through the
economic development account. However, there are no established
guidelines for use of these funds for housing rehabilitation.
Guidelines would have to be developed in a short period of time
to facilitate such a program. The Council needs to be aware that
creating a program for undertaking these repairs which does not
meet existing housing rehabilitation program guidelines, whatever
the source of financing, does create a potential precedent which
could result in similar requests.
Financing options which may be identified through the Springsted
study will most likely come too late to be used by those owners
already given notice. Springsted has requested an extension to
the completion date of the analysis, and if approved, the results
of the study will not be available until mid to late January.
Additional time would also be needed to set up the financing.
If the Council desires staff to further pursue public financing,
a directive should be given to staff to do
1.Approve the Resolution and order the owners notified to
repair or replace the headers.
2.Do not approve the Resolution. Following this course of
action will subject the City to liability if a failure
occurs.
Date:
Name
Address
PID #
c
Sincerely yours,
T V
O F
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at
935- 8474.
H O P K I N S
Dear:
At the end of 1990, inspections were completed on garage doors in
the Westbroake Townhome area of Hopkins. At that time, an
engineer was hired to render an opinion on selected addresses
that appeared to have failed.
Enclosed you will find a letter from the engineering company
defining the problem and outlining 2 possible solutions. The
association has informed us, "these failures will be the re-
responsibility of the owners."
Your unit has been found to have a garage door header that has
failed. You are hereby ordered to repair or replace the failed
header within 60 days. Permits are required and work commenced
within 60 days or the building could be posted and the City may
proceed to cause. the work to be completed. You may appeal this
order in writing to the building official within 30 days.
Failure to act within this time period will constitute a waiver
of all rights to an administrative hearing.
Pat Graham
Building Inspector /Housing Specialist
1010 First Street South, Hopkins, Minnesota 55343 612/935 -8474
An Equal Opportunity Employer
verenz:
t na, Meld'_ measure menta:''and : the codes of standard
Dads r and * allowable stresses on • a beam supporting a • si ert l ia3e t�ts =the g dou ble
.lend 'an :►pars = Th r
c oncer n = he
NOV. 30
10100 Morgan Avenue S
Bloomington. MN 55431
PH (012) 888 -6516
FAX (612) 885 -258
gited ::the Weatbrooke patio Howes .: in Hopkins on .
. r rurpose.: of . the visit � vae. to investigate . the
�zg v zne .g ara g e , door` =�headere at -the addreese9 :described . in the
.iii flr. ' a t '' C� r�ttls�s, i Building ,Inepectbr : fo r gop to Kr.
t a r b ier. Presid of t
aoci d :Aug ust 30,
o. ��ve_ f ound .t he garg e door .headers at . the adresses in
...4n::' are 'a . ll deflea •lat the:: center of ' span : a. significant amount.
Ni, iao E observed that - =these .headers are-faupporting residential decks
- 1... = xai "i af�tige. M The headerat.- vh = -do snot have a:-deck over the
e support .only • a roo -wire not deflecting a significant
y
r and jyEig 1of = the header; 1: ve ;took several field :measurements
, aeigbe :Zest - *�loadsf including deflections of several
A
oflectio is ng
raez'fom r :1l2' to.: 1/2 *^at the center - of the
•
is " tilh /wader; •
c alculated . 'deflect ion of
° calculated ':total load deflection
q i loads;
::�e u red equals
eeei�s: p anning.:16' -0"
ia.conelusions : :above,
ere fore,. ire have
_garage door headers.
� ': :the "existing. header
exiatirig':`header.
ith.: three ' details which
ed: headers.
e :;:.ex
si1 s�`i /S1, i /S2 and 2/S2
2x12's
gi�ed: ;_Th
'`'overstress
.y:
November 27, 1990
t
tmecond : recommends .on requires' jacking- "the roof: of .` the garage up, near
g arage door, rernov ng the existing double 2x12 header and replacing it
th folloving7wember t
) :1 -3l4" x11- :7 /$"' beams: (use same• as existing 2x12's)
2 650p .
285 r;
2, 200, 000 :: ps
• 500pa
;.micr..ola1 beams together vith ...a minimum of 2 rows of 16d nails at
.. ;centez>#: Bred
icrolam . bea* . h a . 1 - :; bear on existing; 2x4 vertical studs : (trim 2x4
}b'ni Ja...
i:Yfit dep�thY#i cro laml:. and to+ n$fl 2x 4a ' to' <Hicrolam rith 2 -10d
Attach $ick ol am 'bean to 2x4, continuotu , p .ateT above vith led nail at
enter. ' O M odrae, ;for. this - aethod =tof `- repair, -: the siding will have
f *owed and M t1i .igarage door and t track ! have ' to be removed.
_ w w
, header is - o■Aerstreaee
si iously, , atete
,a iabading on
1�3
�vever
al f or r *a
Overatreeaed :hea
c?c d `r xe: • recola»aend't
and.snov.loading,;
be adeq "irate fo
r esent can • Age to odour.
otir` underetand�
oor ahead4iei
`ppgir of . these headers as required „
•
under.: full load. Because
`deck "are intermittent
er�tial use at the,
header end deck; there ' is
skould add to the ° problem of
}. of the ' potential l or= this problem to
�Y
e repairs :be made': in the' •near 'future.
the' °scope `of this:':MOrk' • is aiatited to observing the
'th .addresses ih < question : : awaking recommendations
awe :any:= questf ona .regarding. this letter.
10100 Morgan Av "tn:'
8loor inaton, MN Sr..! :
PH (fi'?) PRA r:
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September 19, 1991
Mr. Pat Graham
Building Inspector /Housing Specialist
City of Hopkins
1010 First Street South
Hopkins, Mn. 55343
RE: Westbrooke Patio Homes
Garage Door Headers
Dear Mr. Graham:
We, the undersigned, acknowledge your letter of 9/9/91 and the
copy of the letter of 11/27/90 from Wenzel Engineering, Inc.
addressed to a Mr. Thomas Leverenz, United Homes Corporation,
Minneapolis.
We have been furnished a list of 31 units of (according to
the first paragraph of your letter) "selected addresses that
appeared to have failed
There are other garages with headers which are 'warped' and
are not on the list of "selected addresses Further, it ap-
pears that some of the "selected addresses" are not in need
of repair. In many cases the headers settled 10+ years ago
and have not, in the majority of cases, changed position since.
In the second paragraph of your letter you state, "The Associ-
ation has informed us, 'these failures will be the responsibil-
ity of the owners' ". Who informed you of this ° fact ° ?
1. According to the Westbrooke Patio Homes Non- Profit
Corporation's Declaration of Covenants (Article VI,
Page 17 and 18):
"The Association, subject to the rights of the
Owners and Owners /Tenants as set forth in the
Declaration, shall be responsible for
the maintenance and repair of the exterior
of all Living Units and Garages located on Lots,
which responsibility shall include, but not limited
to, the following: The maintenance and repair of
exterior surfaces of all buildings on the Property...
necessary painting, staining and repair
of patio structures on a lot as originally built."
Further, quoting from the second paragraph of the Wenzel Engineer -
ing letter of 11/27/90, "it was also observed that these headers
are supporting residential decks over the top of the garage
Mr. Pat Graham -2- September 19, 1991
In view of the above, it would seem obvious that the headers
supporting the patio decks are an integral part of the patio
and therefore the responsibility of the Association.
2. We request a written legal and technical explanation
from the Westbrooke Patio Home Board of Directors as
to why the replacement or repairs of these headers is
the responsibility of the homeowners and not the As-
sociation.
Also, we request that these written explanations be
furnished to the City of Hopkins.
3. From the City of Hopkins we request a copy of the
original design and who approved it Also, a docu-
mented summary of building inspection during the
initial installation of the headers in question, and
also the name(s) of the contractor(s) who did the in-
stallation.
4. We question why an inspection was made in 11/27/90
and nothing said to the homeowners until September
1991. Why is an arbitrary deadline set for November
1991? If this work, with necessary painting, etc.
has to be done, wouldn't spring, summer or fall be a
better time to do the work?
5. We intend to secure header replacement bids from re-
sponsible and proven contractors.
6. In reference to the last two sentences of the third
paragraph of your 9/9/91 letter, we submit our letter
as an appeal to the City within the 30 days allowed.
We realize that this matter may well end up in an
administrative hearing.
It is our belief that this entire matter has been approached
without proper legal guidance.
Your letter (third paragraph) states that "Your unit has been
found to have a garage door header that has failed ". We be-
lieve the word "failed" is incorrectly used. What appears to
have occurred, in all but two cases, is that the original City
of Hopkins approved design has settled somewhat and has re-
mained that way for many years.
The letter from the engineers refers to water leakage, etc.
We feel that much of the water leakage proglem is caused by im-
proper maintenance by the Association, i.e., lack of caulking
the concrete stairways and lack of properly caulking and main-
M
Sincerely,
6.
Pat Graham
taining the construction behind the furnaces. Also, the lack
of waterproofing /tarring the area underneath the outside fur-
naces. Where there is leakage, we believe it is caused by
lack of maintenance.
Photographs of all garages with patio decks are included for
your reference. The photographs of the "selected addresses"
have a black X on a white background visible in the photo-
graphs.
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Mr. Pat Graham
taining the construction behind the furnaces. Also, the lack
of waterproofing /tarring the area underneath the outside fur -
naces. Where there is leakage, we believe it is caused by
lack of maintenance.
Photographs of all garages with patio decks are included for
your reference. The photographs of the "selected addresses"
have a black X on a white background visible in the photo -
graphs.
Sincerely,
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Mr Pat Graham -3-- September 19, 1991
taining the construction behind the furnaces. Also, the lack
of waterproofing /tarring the area underneath the outside fur-
naces. Where there is leakage, we believe it is caused by
lack of maintenance.
Photographs of all garages with patio decks are included for
your reference. The photographs of the "selected addresses"
have a black X on a white background visible in the photo-
graphs.
Sincerely,
1 • 472
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Mr. Pat Graham
taining the construction behind the furnaces. Also, the lack
of waterproofing /tarring the area underneath the outside fur-
naces. Where there is leakage, we believe it is caused by
lack of maintenance.
Photographs of all garages with patio decks are included for
your reference. The photographs of the "selected addresses"
have a black X on a white background visible in the photo-
graphs.
Sincerely,
1.
4.
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Mr. Pat Graham -3- September 19, 1991
taining the construction behind the furnaces. Also, the lack
of waterproofing. /tarring the area underneath the outside fur-
naces. Where there is leakage, we believe it is caused by
lack of maintenance.
Photographs of all garages with patio decks are included for
your reference. The photographs of the "selected addresses"
have a black X on a white background visible in the photo-
graphs.
Sincerely,
1. / 6-41 l ' e> f"
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Date: October 9, 1991
To: Tom a
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C I T Y O F H O P K J N S
MEMO
•
Pat Graham, Inspections Department
From: Jerry Steiner
Re: Non- complying Garage Door Headers at Westbrooke
1010 First Street South, Hopkins, Minnesota 55343 612/935 -8474
An Equal Opportunity Employer
It is my understanding that Pat has inspected a number of
garages at Westbrooke and has discovered that the overhead
garage door headers in these structures are inadequate,
possibly unsafe and did not comply with the building code at
the time of their installation. You intend to issue
correction orders ordering the owners of the affected
properties to replace the non- complying garage door headers
and have asked that I provide you with this memo as to the
City's potential liability in this situation.
In my opinion, it is very unlikely that the City could be
held liable for failing to require the original builder to
construct the garage door headers in a manner that complied
with the building codes in effect at that time. Under the
so- called "public duty" doctrine established by the Minnesota
Supreme Court in the 1972 case of Hoffert v. Owatonna Towne
Motel, 199 N.W.2d 158, and the 1979 case of Cracraft v. City
of St. Louis Park, 279 N.W.2d 801, a municipality cannot be
held liable for negligent inspection unless special
circumstances exist to create a special duty to individual
members of the public. Based on the circumstances as you
have explained them to me, it does not appear that any such
special circumstances existed when the garage door headers
were originally installed. Therefore, I believe that it is
very unlikely the City could be found liable for failing to
require the original builder to construct the garage door
headers in a manner that complied with the building code in
effect at that time.
significant cause for concern is the possible
that could result from the City failing to take
correct code violations that the City is aware of
constitute safety hazards. If the garage door
headers do not comply with the building code, and they
constitute a safety hazard, the possibility does exist that
an individual injured as a result of the failure of one of
the garage door headers could claim damages from the City for
failing to take action to see that the defective headers were
replaced. While the public duty doctrine may also protect
the City from liability in this situation, the City may have
acquired a special duty to see that the defective garage door
headers are replaced because you have become aware of their
defective and unsafe condition. For this reason, I believe
that liability concerns dictate that the City take immediate
action to have the defective headers replaced if they do, in
fact, constitute a safety hazard.
JSS
C I T Y O F H O P K I N S
November 5, 1991
Mr. Eugene McNal1
1240 Wagon Wheel Road
Hopkins, MN 55343
SUBJECT Westbrooke Patio Homes Garage Door Headers
Dear Mr. McNall:
In the 9 -19 -91 letter sent to the City of Hopkins from 26
Westbrooke homeowners, an appeal was made to the orders
given by the City of Hopkins to repair the garage door
headers on certain units located within the Westbrooke Patio
Homes development. As I believe you are aware, the Hopkins
City Council has scheduled a hearing on this appeal for its
meeting at 7 :30 p.m. on November 19 in the Hopkins City
Hall.
In this same letter, several questions were raised regarding
the City's actions on the header issue. What follows is a
brief response to the questions raised:
A. Problem identification /timing issues
A question was raised in the letter regarding how the
header issue was brought to the City's attention, as
well as the timing for the City's actions on this
matter.
At the end of the summer of 1990, several residents of
Westbrooke came to City Hall to complain about a number
of items relating to the maintenance of the
development, including questions regarding garage door
headers that were sagging. As a result of these
contacts, the following activities ensued:
City Staff contacted the Westbrooke Association to
ascertain the maintenance schedule for Westbrooke.
Inspections were made by City staff of the garage
door headers in question.
An engineer was hired by Westbrooke to assess the
problem with the garage door headers and provide
recommendations for correction.
1010 First Street South, Hopkins, Minnesota 55343 612/935 -8474
An Equal Opportunity Employer
An engineer's report was prepared and submitted to
Westbrooke Patio Home Association and the City.
City staff again discussed the issue with
Westbrooke Patio Home Association.
City staff began working on the development of
correction notices pertaining to the garage door
headers.
The correction notices were sent to the property
owners in question.
The City established the. November deadline for the
corrections to the headers in order to provide
sufficient time for the corrections to be made, as well
as allow for the repairs to be made prior to the heavy
snows during the fall and winter months. Additionally,
as with any correction notice that the City makes, some
type of date needs to be established to ensure the
corrections are addressed.
B. Responsibility for repairs
A question was raised in your letter pertaining to the
Westbrooke Patio Homes' obligation to correct the
repairs. In response to this point, I have attached a
copy of a letter from the Westbrooke Patio Home
Association, dated 12- 14 -90, which indicates that the
Association determined that it was not responsible for
making the necessary repairs to the garage door
headers.
It should be noted that the City's housing code states
that the City is required to contact the property owner
to identify corrections which should be made in order
to have the structure meet the City's housing code. As
the Westbrooke Patio Home Association is not the
official property owner of each of the units, the City
was not in a position to formally direct them to make
the improvements. Additionally, the City is not in a
position to mediate a question of responsibility
between the individual homeowners and the Westbrooke
Patio Home Association as to who is responsible for
making repairs. In this case the City followed its
procedure as outlined in the housing code by notifying
each individual property owner and assumes that the
property owners will work out suitable arrangements
with the Association.
C. Original design
In the letter a request was made for a copy of the
original building design and who approved it. Also, a
request was made for a documented summary of building
inspections made during the initial installation of the
headers in question and also the names of the
contractors who did the installation. In response to
this question, I would indicate that copies of
blueprints for the patio homes, as well as inspection
records and permits, are available for inspection at
the Hopkins City Hall. If you wish to see these
documents, please contact me and I will have these
items available for your review.
The name of the building inspector at that time was Ray
Koehnen. The name of the' contractors who did the
installation was Centurion Company.
D. Selection of headers to be replaced
A question was raised in the letter regarding the
City's methods for determining headers which should be
replaced. In response to this question, the City sent
letters out to those property owners who owned garages
with headers in a sagging condition. Please be advised
that this action does not dismiss the possibility that
the City will write repair orders for other properties
as well.
The City of Hopkins and the Inspections Division is more
than willing to meet with your group to discuss the
situation and resolve as many of the issues as possible
prior to the public hearing. Hopefully, the contents of
this letter will have answered some of the questions which
have been raised.
If I can be of further assistance, or if you should desire
to establish a meeting time and date, please feel free to
contact me at 935 -8474.
Sincerely,
Pat Graham
Building Inspector /Housing Specialist
PG: jf
cc: 26 affected Westbrooke homeowners
CITY OF HOPKINS
Hennepin County, Minnesota
RESOLUTION NO. 91 -141
RESOLUTION TO DENY APPEALS OF WESTBROOKE PATIO HOME
OWNERS TO BUILDING DEPARTMENT ORDERS
WHEREAS, certain Westbrooke Patio Home residents
notified the City Inspection Department concerning sagging
garage door headers; and
WHEREAS, the Inspection Department found structural
defects upon inspection of Westbrooke Patio Homes consisting
of sagging garage door headers in violation of the Uniform
Housing Code and Section 615 of the. Hopkins City Code; and
WHEREAS, the hazardous condition was recognized and
confirmed by an engineer retained by Westbrooke Patio Home
Association who found structural defects consisting of
sagging and overstressed garage door headers; and
WHEREAS, the Hopkins Inspection Department and the
Association engineer found the garages to be in danger of
collapse because of the extent and nature of the
deteriorating and sagging headers; and
WHEREAS, orders were written to each affected patio
home owner on September 9, 1991 requiring repair or
replacement within 60 days therefrom; and
WHEREAS, the proPerty owners have appealed the orders
pursuant to Section 615 of the Hopkins City Code; and
WHEREAS, the Hopkins City Council conducted a public
hearing pursuant to said Code. on November 19, 1991 at which
time all parties were heard and all evidence submitted to the
Council reviewed.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of
the City of Hopkins that the City Council finds the condition
of the properties duly inspected, reported upon and ordered
by the Inspections Department for repair or replacement of
structural defects of garage door headers is in all respects
confirmed, that the testimony of the Inspection Department,
the Engineer's Report and all other testimony and evidence
submitted supports the code violations; accordingly the City
Council orders and directs the property owners whose names
and addresses appear as an attachment to this Resolution to
abate said condition by January 1, 1992 and that if said
condition is not corrected by said date, the City of Hopkins
shall abate the condition as provided in accordance with the
ordinance.
Adopted by the City Council of the City of Hopkins this
19th day of November, 1991.
Attest:
James A. Genellie, City Clerk
Nelson Berg, Mayor