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Thursday, November 29, 2007

More law suits!

Please click onto the COMMENTS for the story.

11 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

Reprinted from the Villager News Paper.

By Jane McClure

Aurelia Tessmer, owner of a house at 332 Saint Clair has filed a lawsuit in Ramsey County District Court to block the City Council-ordered demolition of the more than 100 year old structure. The council accepted the court filing on November 14 and has filed a response. City officials still contend the house should be torn down.

Because appeals of housing demolition orders typically do not go to Ramsey County District Court, the case is likely to be sent to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

last months order that the house be torn down followed more than 2 years of contention between the city and the Tessmer family over the house's condition. Orders to abate the house's condition were filed in May of 2005. The city held off on ordering the homes demolition to allow time for repairs to be made and for Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) to make it's own recommendation. The HPC determined that the house does not merit preservation and should be torn down.

In court documents, Tessmer contends that because the property was in the name of a deceased family member, she did not receive motion from the city. She maintains she spent many months trying to have the property conveyed in her name, which finally happened in October. She says she has since spent about $4000 to paint the house and erect a new fence.

City officials issued the letter authorizing the demolition of the property during the first week of November. Tessner is asking that the city not demolish the property and to pay her a sum to cover the loss of the use of property and all of the fees she has paid to the city and to her attorney.

9:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

2 years... 2 years... not 2 weeks or 2 months... 2 years worth of extensions and discussion. The Council even sent it to the HPC if there wasn't ever a delaying tactic to give the land owner time, I can't think of a better one.

So, like I said find me a house in Ward 2 that hasn't been given an extension.

JMONTOMEPPOF

Chuck Repke

10:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

But they are tearing it down, after the city's show of window dressing.

11:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This city is so full of corryption it will not suprise me if there are many more lawsuits in the future. If the city were as good at serving the people as they are in violating civil rights, non of these crazy lawsuits would be going on.

7:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nancy, they mailed another dead person notice!

11:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This house sits right at the bluffs edge over looking the new housing developement and the river. The lot is probably worth a good amount of money.

I don't trust in the findings of the HPC. this is an organization which relies on cooperation from the city council. So, they could hardly be called independant.

7:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What can you trust when it involves St.Paul?

8:29 AM  
Blogger Nancy Lazaryan said...

Chuck, 1033 Colne was not given an extension, because the dead owner wasn't able to ask for an extension.

By the way, the documents that I HAVE been able to get from the City show, repeatedly, that the City has violated the due process rights of virtually EVERY person now has a "registered vacant building."

I will be posting the specifics, very soon.

Nancy Lazaryan

9:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Nancy,

The more and more I look into this I really see what you are talking about. The vacant housing situation and the fire department inspecting of single family rental homes under DSI has really gotten out of control.

I have some great concerns about this new DSI rental program and the fire department's role in this process. The heavy handedness that I am hearing about is really concerning.

There has to be an independent citizens review of the DSI department. The level of abuse and Chuck you do not want to hear this, but what I have discovered independently of Nancy or Bob is really shocking. There currently is no oversight of the DSI department to address the abuses of the fire department and some of the inspectors.

Chuck, you must know I was not so sure of Nancy, but after further review and making some calls, I see where she may have a point.

7:01 PM  
Blogger Nancy Lazaryan said...

Anonymous at 7:01 PM,

According to the St. Paul code, when there is a fire the building is exempt from "vacant" status for 90 days. The City is not complying with this law, and has even registered a fire damaged building as vacant, by coming to the building at the very time that the family was cleaning up after the fire...a fire that killed their family member that lived there.

There are other buildings that sustained fires and the owners "put in the proper paperwork" to keep the building from being designated vacant...but these buildings were still "put on the vacant building list."

And then there is the elderly woman that was sitting in her living room, of home that she has owned and lived in for over 40 years, and DSI came to her house posted her door "registered vacant building" and then told her to leave.

Can you imagine what is in the files that I haven't seen?

Nancy Lazaryan

12:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nancy you may be onto something here.

Chuck you are all wet. I have seen first hand some of the things Nancy is talking about.

So Chuck please explain why your friend, Dave Thune's building near downtown, that had many code violations several years ago (Tim C’s pictures) was not held to the same standard as DSI or fire is currently doing now?

Chuck, I have seen a neighbor of mine go through hell because he questioned a fire inspector during the inspection of a single family home. This fire inspector misused their office as a power trip. The minor things that the fire inspector found were NOT a fire hazard. The power that these inspectors are throwing around is really something. This house was inspected by a building inspector when the property was updated and all was in compliance. In fact the building inspector stated that the work that was done was excellent. It seems that this fire inspector seems to think the fire code trumps the building code or her interpretation of the fire code.

What this fire inspector does not know was that when the fire inspection was conducted this homeowner made a video of the inspection using hidden cameras. The news media now has these tapes and is preparing a news story on it. This homeowner did so based on information from this blog.

Bob, some of the city officials that have been mentioned on this blog are real and doing just what Bob and Nancy have stated here on this blog. I have heard the tapes and seen the video.

Chuck you had better wake up to what is actually going here.

Norm of St. Paul

3:52 PM  

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