A little over two weeks ago, the Cass County Board of Supervisors approved the use of ATV’s and UTV’s on designated County roads, with some stipulations. The Board however left it up to each city in the County to determine whether or not those machines could be used within their respective city limits. Atlantic Police Chief Dave Erickson warned during the City Council meeting Wednesday night (Feb. 21st), that ATV’s and UTV’s are NOT allowed on city streets within the city limits.

Erickson said the first violation is punishable by a $250 fine plus $85 court cost. The second offense is a $500 fine plus court costs, and the third offense is a $1,000 fine, plus court costs. The exception would be if a snow blade is attached for legitimate business use. Simply driving around with a snow blade attached to your machine will not exempt you from a fine. Erickson said it hasn’t been a problem so far, but with the Ordinance passed by the County may result in some confusion about where the machines can be used.

In other business, the Atlantic City Council Wednesday, discussed a proposed Rental Inspection Ordinance. The Community Protection Committee met Feb. 13th to discuss a draft inspection ordinance, and decided, after some contentious debate, against recommending the Ordinance to the Council for approval. The packed meeting drew passionate comments from landlords both in favor of, and against the Ordinance. Councilman Chris Jimerson is the CPC Chair.

Jimerson said “Some of them were a little bit out of line with some of their comments. The majority of them though, were pretty interested.” He said “Fear of the unknown,” was a lot of what drove their comments and concerns. “Because you’re going to ask somebody to come in and go through your property. What’s that inspection look like?” That was the biggest key, he said.

Jimerson said a similar Ordinance is working in Red Oak, and has since it began a few years ago. The proposed Ordinance for Atlantic, based on the International Maintenance Code, would have included an inspection every three years, at a cost of $25 per year, or $75 altogether. The inspections would look for things like mold, exposed wiring and other common sense issues that would assure the property is clean, safe and livable.

While the Ordinance died at the CPC meeting, the City Council had the option to approve it, but instead followed the CPC’s recommendation. Councilperson Ashley Hayes said some of the landlords she’s spoken with over the past couple of weeks have told her, efforts are underway to come up with an alternative proposal.

Councilman Dana Halder said the City needs to better focus its Minimum Maintenance Code, and going after those property owners who “Have porches falling in. Those aren’t necessarily rental houses. Some of them may [even] be empty.” Broken windows and vacant properties are another problem. He called for better enforcement of the Code.

Mayor Jones suggested the CPC, representatives from SWIPCO and the landlords get together and try to hammer out another solution and bring it back to the Council. The main thing, he said, is that Atlantic isn’t going to shell out money for pay for an inspector’s annual salary.