TRUMAN– An update to the housing code ordinance was considered by the Truman City Council during its meeting on Wednesday. The update comes following a number of recent complaints of ordinance violations at properties within the city.

At the last council meeting on June 20, three different groups of people addressed the council regarding a nuisance property on 4th Street and said that numerous ordinance violations exist and citations have already been issued.

At that meeting, Steve Carson, the city’s previous commercial building inspector, was present and offered to assist the city with ordinance and nuisance enforcement and the council accepted the proposal.

On Wednesday, the council looked over the city of Mountain Lake’s housing code ordinance. Interim Police Chief, Mike Schutz, said he went over the code with Carson.

“There are some differences,” said Mayor Jake Ebert.

“If you don’t get down to the nitty-gritty.. people pull that card on you saying, ‘well, I didn’t know,’ and I tell them it’s their responsibility to know city code,” Schutz said.

Council Member Chris Mosloski pointed out that warnings can be given when codes are violated and Schutz said he will give several before he turns to a written report, which can carry a fine as a petty misdemeanor.

Deputy Clerk Carol Becker said that Carson has also been in contact with City Attorney Derrick Greiner, who said that some habituals can still end up in the court system, but that this code could help the police department.

Becker said that the council could model after Mountain Lake’s code but add what’s needed for their community. Ebert agreed it would need to be reworded in some areas.

The council passed a motion to have Greiner to reword the code and bring it back to the council for approval and adoption.

Moving to other matters, several different departments provided quarterly reports to the council.

Josh Kitzerow of the Truman Ambulance Service shared that they have been on 210 calls so far this year, which he noted is very high. Kitzerow said many of the calls have been falls and also transfers.

He broke down the calls and said they’ve responded to 115 calls to Truman, 16 to Fairmont, three to Lewisville and several to Vernon Center, St. James and Granada.

“Staffing-wise, we’re doing alright. We’ve had three step down, two for personal reasons and one to renew their license. Other than that, we’re doing alright,” Kitzerow said.

Fire Chief Dave Bentz said they’ve had 14 calls so far this year, which is slightly more than average. He noted that some have been for carbon monoxide alarms and there have also been some car rollovers that the department has responded to, as well as fire calls.

He said the department has tentatively scheduled to burn down the Bau house on July 29. For months the council has discussed what to do with the property and later on in the meeting discussed cleaning it up.

Bentz also spoke about some recent repairs on Engine #1. He said the technician that came to work on it ran into complications and it was suggested that the truck be brought to Lino Lakes for more work, with an estimated cost of over $8,000, on top of the work that’s been done.

“That’s about $16,00 in repairs for this truck if we go ahead with this,” Bentz said.

He added that the truck can still be used, but will leak more water than it should. Ebert asked Bentz to see if the repair could be put off a while longer so that the needed repairs can be budgeted for.

In his report, Street Superintendent John Bosshart detailed work the street department has been busy with in the last quarter, which includes getting the pool ready, spraying for weeds around town, mowing and repairing some catch basins.

Next, Mike Schutz, Interim Police Chief, said they have been working on responding to ordinance violations and issuing citations. He also said the Martin County Sheriff’s Office is letting the department use a UTV (Utility Task Vehicle) for Truman Days and that they may have a dedicated deputy on site.

In other news, the council discussed two different campground management software, RoverPass Central Reservation System, which is $99 a month or a minimum of 33 reservations at $3 for every reservation, and ResNexus, which is $49 a month. After some discussion the council approved a motion to go with ResNexus.