§ 249.25. Securing vacant buildings.

(a) In general, if any building becomes vacant or unoccupied and is deemed hazardous due to the fact that the building is open to trespass and has not been secured and the building could be made safe by securing the building, the director of regulatory services may order the building secured and shall cause notice of the order to be served upon the owner of the premises. Such notice may be served personally or by mail. Service by mail is complete upon mailing a copy of the order to the owner at the last known address. If the owner fails to comply with the order within six (6) days after the order is served, the director of regulatory services shall cause the building to be boarded up or otherwise properly secured. Whenever a building is boarded up pursuant to the authority of this chapter, the director of regulatory services may cause all openings to the building to be boarded and secured.

(b)

Emergency. When it is determined by the director of regulatory services or the chief of police, or the fire chief that an emergency exists with respect to the health or safety of persons in the community, and immediate boarding and securing of a building is required, and where danger will exist to children, transients or others in the absence of an immediate boarding or securing of the building, the director of regulatory services or the chief of police, or the fire chief may waive all requirements herein and immediately board or otherwise secure the building, provided that:

(1)

The conditions showing the existence of an exigency are documented in writing by the director of regulatory services or the chief of police or the fire chief or their designees.

(2)

Notice be mailed immediately by the department invoking this section to the address of the owner and taxpayer, and, if recorded on the assessors rolls, the address of the mortgage holder, of the date of boarding or otherwise securing and the reasons therefor.

(c)

After a vacant or unoccupied building has been boarded or otherwise secured under this section, should the owner fail to maintain the building in a secured condition until such time as it has been repaired and reoccupied, the director of regulatory services shall resecure any openings into the building whenever it again becomes open to trespass, without further notice to the owner. An administrative fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and all other costs incurred by the city for boarding or otherwise securing a building under this chapter, including, but not limited to the actual costs for boarding, inspecting, posting and monitoring the building, shall be assessed as provided in section 227.100. "Owner," for the purposes of this section, shall mean the person who is listed as the contact person on the current rental licensing application on file with the city, if any; or, if none, the person listed as owner by the city assessor on the homestead record; or, if none, the taxpayer as shown by the records of the city assessor. "Owner" shall not include a community development agency organized pursuant to the Laws of Minnesota 1980 Chapter 595.

(d)

After a vacant or unoccupied building has been boarded or otherwise secured under this section for a period of sixty (60) days, the owner of the building shall have the gas to the building turned off and the building winterized. If the owner fails to have the gas to the building turned off the director of regulatory services may order the utilities company to shut off the gas to the building. The director of regulatory services shall then require the building to be winterized to prevent the water pipes from freezing and damaging the building. The costs incurred by the city for winterizing the building shall be assessed as provided in section 227.100. (94-Or-123, § 1, 9-16-94; 2001-Or-054, § 1, 4-20-01; 2006-Or-065, § 1, 6-16-06; 2008-Or-008, § 1, 2-1-08; 2008-Or-073, § 2, 9-12-08; 2013-Or-165, § 1, 12-6-13)