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05. Carrie Mitchell - Concern about the Building Official Staff Report Date of Meeting: November 6, 2024 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Kyle Morell, City Administrator Subject: Carrie Mitchell’s Concerns about the Building Official Background: Carrie Mitchell, 14192 209th St N, has asked to address the Council regarding the letter and report she distributed at the September 17, 2024 Council meeting. I have attached the letter and report for your review. As the letter states, she has concerns over the actions of the Building Official, who works for the City on contract and is an employee of the City of Hugo. After the September meeting, at our City Attorney's recommendation, I forwarded Carrie’s letter to the City’s insurance carrier. They have opened a claim and are in contact with Carrie. Carrie wishes to address the Council to know what the City is doing about this issue. I told her the City is not doing anything at this time because the Council has not been made aware of the issue and has not directed staff to take action. Carrie sent the attached emails to Councilmembers Cusick and Lubke in an email dated October 28, 2024. I have also included the agenda item from the October 2, 2024, Work Session. These items will give you the complete history of Carrie’s concerns and information provided to the Council. 1 Kyle Morell From:Mike Lubke Sent:Monday, October 28, 2024 9:45 AM To:Kyle Morell Cc:j.cusick Subject:Fw: Need for your assistance in resolving Building Official errors Attachments:Fw_ September 13th meeting follow up.pdf; Complete Permit history for 14192 209th Street - Oct 27 2024 - 9-36 AM.pdf; May 2024 Email RE- DLI File RBC2403-0007JM Elysian Construction - Oct 28 2024 - 7-04 AM.pdf; Fwd_ Carry's House repair.pdf Follow Up Flag:Follow up Flag Status:Flagged Fyi, will give you a call Kyle From: Carrie Mitchell <carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, October 28, 2024 9:27:24 AM To: j.cusick <j.cusick@ci.scandia.mn.us>; Mike Lubke <m.lubke@ci.scandia.mn.us> Subject: Need for your assistance in resolving Building Official errors Dear Council members Cusick and Lubke, I urgently need your help in resolving Building Offical errors including the documentation problems I mentioned at the last city council meeting. Last week I asked the Mayor to call a special council meeting, however she is physically not up to it. I’ve spoke or met with Hugo Administration 8/13, 9/6/ and 9/14, and Scandia Administration 8/15, 9/4, and 9/20. Despite this, no progress has been made to inspect the homes corrective repairs, or correct documentation errors that are inaccurate, misrepresent facts, and favor the contractor. Some of the documents are attached here, that I’d like to review with you. Last Friday when Brenda pulled the file, more serious inaccuracies were discovered. * I see that the Council no longer has work sessions or meet and greet hours. I think my situation is best suited for something of that nature rather than a full council meeting. *I have recently learned that others have had problems over the years with the city of Hugo’s inspections. Please let me know of your availability to provide assistance. Thank you, Carrie Mitchell 651-491-515 From: Joel Hoistad <JHoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> Sent: Monday, October 14, 2024 10:24 AM To: Carrie Mitchell <carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com> Cc: Bryan Bear <BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us>; Rachel Juba <RJuba@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: RE: September 13th meeting follow up Ms. Mitchell, Would you like us to come out and do the inspections? If you prefer I not come out and do it, I can have Terry come in on a Tuesday and he can come out and do the inspections. I will let you know right now, your stairs going out the back door do not meet code. You have to have at least a 36 inch travel distance (platform) in the direction of travel. Joel S. Hoistad Building Ofﬁcial City of Hugo City of Scandia O: 651-762-6313 JHoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us From: Carrie Mitchell [mailto:carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, October 14, 2024 9:06 AM To: Joel Hoistad <jhoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> Cc: Bryan Bear <BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us>; Rachel Juba <RJuba@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: Re: September 13th meeting follow up Caution: This email originated outside our organization; please use caution. I have written confirmation that you were invited to inspect the door after all work was complete as well as phone calls that were made to Hugo. On Oct 14, 2024, at 8:53 AM, Joel Hoistad <jhoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> wrote: I don’t remember that conversation and I deﬁnitely wouldn’t have said I didn’t have to come and inspected the door replacement or the smoke and co inspection. This is an inspection we do regularly in Hugo and Scandia. Joel S. Hoistad Building Ofﬁcial City of Hugo City of Scandia O: 651-762-6313 JHoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us From: Carrie Mitchell [mailto:carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, October 14, 2024 8:51 AM To: Joel Hoistad <jhoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> Cc: Bryan Bear <BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us>; Rachel Juba <RJuba@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: Re: September 13th meeting follow up Caution: This email originated outside our organization; please use caution. I personally asked you to come for an inspection for the door permit I had pulled and you said it wasn’t necessary since you had the photos. If an onsite inspection is needed, why didn’t you come for one when I called to notify you I was ready? On Oct 14, 2024, at 8:27 AM, Joel Hoistad <jhoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> wrote: Ms. Mitchell, The photos you are taking about, were for the permit applied for and issued to AMW Construction, LLC on 12/15/2023. Every licensed contractor in the state of Minnesota knows , per code, that when a window or door is replaced, all smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors need to be updated in the home. This is not an inspection we do with photos, this is an inspection we do onsite and in person, so we can check each sleeping room to make sure the smoke alarm was updated and working, check that within 10 feet of all sleeping rooms there is a smoke/co detector, per code and to make sure there is a co detector on each level of the home. The window/door permit was applied for by you and issued to you on 8/7/2023. When a homeowner applies for a permit it makes them the general contractor and code states it is the responsibility of the applicant to call in for inspections. If this information was not related to you by the contractor that replaced the door, it should have been. Also, we let homeowners know that they should always have the contractor apply for the permit, this way if something does happen the homeowner has access to the Contractor Relieve Fund through the Department of Labor and Industry Joel S. Hoistad Building Ofﬁcial City of Hugo City of Scandia O: 651-762-6313 JHoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us From: Carrie Mitchell [mailto:carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, October 11, 2024 8:17 AM To: Joel Hoistad <jhoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> Cc: Bryan Bear <BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us>; Rachel Juba <RJuba@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: Re: September 13th meeting follow up Caution: This email originated outside our organization; please use caution. On 1/8/24 2pm and 1/22/24 12:21 pm the contractor emailed the building official 37 related images of the door work and a call to come inspect. I corresponded and spoke with the contractor again yesterday to confirm that he was told the partial roof repair permit he obtained and the door permit I obtained were both approved when all this work was performed and completed at the same time. The contractor says the email exchange with pictures was the entirety of the approval process per the inspector. The contractor made numerous invites to the inspector to tour as the work progressed. I invited the Building Official to tour and inspect as well, and was told the images provided by the contractor would satisfy the inspection approval. After these repairs, there was no water intrusion in this area. Hardwood floors were then installed during a period of significant rainfall and no water intrusion here. —3 days after the corrective orders were completed 8/12/24, water began pouring into the home in this area as well as the second floor and in more areas than was previously noted; everyone on this email was made immediately aware of these problems. *** In light of this, please refer to the MN Administrative Rules 1300 and revoke the August 2024 completion certification provided by Hugo to Elysian Construction and confirm this with me. On Oct 10, 2024, at 1:58 PM, Joel Hoistad <jhoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> wrote: This permit was issued on 8-7-2023 to the homeowner, no inspections were called for and being over a year old, was closed out. Joel S. Hoistad Building Ofﬁcial City of Hugo City of Scandia O: 651-762-6313 JHoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us From: Bryan Bear Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2024 11:16 AM To: Joel Hoistad <JHoistad@ci.hugo.mn.us> Cc: Rachel Juba <RJuba@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: FW: September 13th meeting follow up Joel – please get back to her with this information. Thank you. From: Carrie Mitchell <carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2024 9:01 AM To: Bryan Bear <BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: Re: September 13th meeting follow up Caution: This email originated outside our organization; please use caution. Bryan, I am unaware of any open permits. Please provide me with the related information. Carrie Mitchell 651-491-5151 On Oct 10, 2024, at 8:53 AM, Bryan Bear <BBear@ci.hugo.mn.us> wrote: Good morning Carrie, The work concerning the corrective orders that Joel inspected at that time met code and passed inspection. I have come to understand that we have an open permit at your address for doors/ windows. If that work has been complete, there was not a call made by the installer to schedule an inspection. Bryan From: Carrie Mitchell <carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2024 12:09 PM To: Bryan Bear <bbear@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: September 13th meeting follow up [You don't often get email from carriemitchellwrites@gmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] Caution: This email originated outside our organization; please use caution. Bryan, I’m following up on our September 13th meeting. You were going to check and see why the corrective orders repair were signed off. Attached is the video we watched during our meeting where water is coming in through the top of the door and onto the floor. Please let me know what you found out. Thanks, Carrie MItchell 651-491-5151 Forwarded Conversation Subject: Carry's House repair ------------------------ From: Terry Hagstrom <THagstrom@ci.hugo.mn.us> Date: Tue, Jan 23, 2024 at 8:42 AM To: andrew.m.wallace64@gmail.com <andrew.m.wallace64@gmail.com> Good morning Andrew, I just finished looking at the pics you submitted. Excellent Excellent work! When I was a contracted I took pics along the way for everything as you do. I certainly helps when an issue arises. Thank you Terry Hagstrom Building Inspector thagstrom@ci.hugo.mn.us 651-762-6319 ---------- From: Andy Wallace <andrew.m.wallace64@gmail.com> Date: Tue, Jan 23, 2024 at 8:51 AM To: Terry Hagstrom <THagstrom@ci.hugo.mn.us> Hi Terry- Thanks for the nice feedback! It is easy to document once you get in the habit, the headache is organizing all the photos and filing them. I probably have 250 pictures from that little repair! -Andy ---------- From: Terry Hagstrom <THagstrom@ci.hugo.mn.us> Date: Tue, Jan 23, 2024 at 9:06 AM To: Andy Wallace <andrew.m.wallace64@gmail.com> I believe it. I did a structural garage floor on site in Roseville 18 years ago. I had been raining for 20 days. Finally got a break and my concrete guy decided to go for it. He was supposed to call for a re-bar inspection. At the finally , Jerry the Building official calls me, says’ “You have a problem”. Luckily I stopped the morning he was setting the re-bar and took 3 pics. My engineer signed off on them otherwise I was going to have to break apart the 20 x 24 floor ot have it X-rayed. Ouch! You don't often get email from andrew.m.wallace64@gmail.com. Learn why this is important From: Andy Wallace <andrew.m.wallace64@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2024 8:51 AM To: Terry Hagstrom <THagstrom@ci.hugo.mn.us> Subject: Re: Carry's House repair Caution: This email originated outside our organization; please use caution. Staff Report Date of Meeting: October 2, 2024 For: Honorable Mayor and Council From: Kyle Morell, City Administrator Subject: Carrie Mitchell’s Concerns about the Building Official Background: Carrie Mitchell, 14192 209th St N, has asked to address the Council regarding the letter and report she distributed at the September 17, 2024 Council meeting. I have attached the letter and report for your review. As the letter states, she has concerns over the actions of the Building Official, who works for the City on contract and is an employee of the City of Hugo. After the September meeting, at our City Attorney's recommendation, I forwarded Carrie’s letter to the City’s insurance carrier. They have opened a claim and are in contact with Carrie. Carrie wishes to address the Council to know what the City is doing about this issue. I told her the City is not doing anything at this time because the Council has not been made aware of the issue and has not directed staff to take action.