Hacker said, regarding living in trailers near a highway “no one want to live that way”. Other residents cited concerns about being able to rent the lots, and also the fact that the property has an ancient Quaker cemetery on it.

Mark Shiralli, a town resident, said “let’s get a developer in here who wants to build homes – that’s what we need”.

Frank & Dave’s Opinion of This Story:

One thing that maintains the value of mobile home parks is the fact that virtually nobody in the U.S. wants a new one built in their city, town, county or state. If you ever want to unite a community – to get them marching with pitchforks and flaming torches – then all you have to do is to propose building a new mobile home park. And that’s great, because it keeps the supply of parks static, and creates a lot of the value in your park investment.

Park owner Kenney Shipley says that the bills are wrong, and have been in error since the city installed a new water meter. Right after installation, his water bills skyrocketed, so he has only paid the amounts for each month that he paid for 2008.

The City of Slaton has tested the meter and found it to be accurate, and says that the money is owed and past due. If they do not receive payment in full immediately, they will shut the water off before the end of June.

Shipley has vowed to keep the water flowing, even if he has to file a legal injunction against the city to keep them from shutting the water off.

Frank’s Opinion of This Story:

The old “my water meter is broken” excuse doesn’t work for your tenants, and it sure doesn’t work for the owner, either. If you dispute a bill, you need to get the meter checked, and also look for any leaks in the system. Many cities will give you a one-time reduction if there was a major leak. But after the test on the meter is completed -and if it is working properly -you better pay your bill. We’re shocked the city let him get away with this for over a year without threatening to shut off the water sooner. Do you think he should hire a lawyer and file an injunction (total price probably $10,000) or just apply those funds to his bill? And do you think he should proactively try to reach a payment plan with the city and put this issue behind him immediately? We do.

The citations stemmed from continuous violations that had been reported since the 1980s. Of these violations, the most damaging was an outside storage tank that leaked oil into a nearby stream. That violation has additional damages pending, as the EPA is putting together a plan for environmental remediation that is expected to cost $150,000. That cost will also be passed on to Sentry for reimbursement.

Frank & Dave’s Opinion of This Story:

What was the owner thinking? If you refuse to clean up your property for 30 straight years, you are definitely asking for trouble. In this case, the failure of the owner to address a leaking barrel of oil, which could have been removed for probably $100, has resulted in $150,000 in fines – if that even covers it. You can’t blame this on anybody but the park owner. We see this type of thing with mom and pop owners all the time, and all we can do is scratch our head and wonder how they can sleep at night.

As a result, the county has notified all property owners using their sewage system that they will have have to fend for themselves and create their own sewage treatment systems. The cost, in the case of Lake Canyada, would be about $250,000.

Lake Canyada has around 200 mobile homes residing in it. “Now what am I supposed to do if they kick us out of here?” said Carolyn Keller, who has lived in the park for 7 years.

Frank & Dave’s Opinion of This Story:

We guess the true definition of what too small and too poor a market is would have to be when they can’t afford to keep their sewage treatment plant running. We’ve never seen a story like that before -but you also have to blame the Department of Natural Resources for requiring an upgrade when the area is too poor to comply. Have we entered into an era in which the government shows no compassion whatsoever? Probably.

Alex Reck had an operating permit for each wastewater system, but had exceeded the maximum amount of daily discharge. He fixed this by hiring a new wastewater system operator in September 2008.

In addition to the fine, he must take steps to comply with the Ohio wastewater treatment regulations, a spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said.

Frank & Dave’s Opinion of This Story:

These are the kind of problems that park buyers get into when they don’t fully understand what “private sewer” means, or understand the consequences of their actions regarding sewage. Unless you want to get into these type of problems, stick with “city sewer” and you don’t have to ever worry about such issues.

The problem is the poor drainage at the mobile home park, which sits next to Lake Kenosia, says the Mayor. The current location of the park would never be allowed today.

The options the city is looking at include building a catch basins and a retention pond, which is the only affordable alternative, or building a seawall, which would cost around $15 million. Another option would be to put the homes on stilts, which would cost about $15,000 per home.

“We’re trying to see if, instead of the Cadillac or Mercedes plan, we can get the Chevy plan” said the Mayor. He is also working to get funding for a more in-depth review by the Army Corps of Engineers to explore other options.

The city also recently agreed to allow the park to connect to city sewer, and the infrastructure has begun to be laid.

Frank & Dave’s Opinion of This Story:

Here’s another example of the new attitude that cities have towards parks. Ten years ago, the city would have condemned the park and told everyone to move out. Now they are holding “town hall meetings” to work with the park owner and residents. It’s an incredible improvement in relations, and shows the growing respect that cities have towards this type of affordable housing.

This is also another example of the dangers of flood plain. Imagine how hard it would be to sell this park until the flooding issue is fixed – and it might take a decade. If you want to keep an exit strategy at the ready at all times, floodplain can really throw a monkey wrench into it.

The noise level at Leisure Lake is currently at 78 decibels. The wall will lower that sound level to around 60 decibels. A normal conversation is at a level of about 60 to 70 decibels.

This section of Highway 101, including the sound wall, will cost about $20 million. The park has 134 lots.

The city arts commission has also proposed to decorate the wall with 40 inch medallions depicting scenes of Petaluma history and culture.

“We’re ecstatic about it” said Carol Pederson, the manager and resident of the park. “We were afraid it was going to be put on the back burner. It’s a godsend for us”.

Work on the project should begin in 2011.

Frank & Dave’s Opinion on This Story:

Just further evidence of the new “love” city government has for mobile home parks. Somehow, mobile home parks have become the new favorite child of city hall. We think it’s because they have finally realized that mobile home parks are a far better form of affordable housing for cities than low-cost apartments. We just hope that low-cost apartment owners are ready for the same scrutiny and scorn that park owners had to endure for decades.

Waterhouse, who bought the park in 2005, is suing the city, claiming that the park has not been a senior park for years, since past owners did not do a census of residents’ ages, as required by law. As a result, he wants the park to be open to all ages.  Rents in the 200 space park are around $450 per month. Stick-built homes in the market are between $320,000 and $650,000. Many seniors contend that if the park becomes all-age, they have been harmed, since they bought their home with the assurance that it would be a senior park, and cannot afford to move.

“We’ve hired an attorney to go over the lawsuit” said Larry Asp, President of the American Canyon Manufactured Homeowners’ Coalition, a group that represents the park’s residents. 

Frank & Dave’s Analysis of This Story:

Expect to see more of these type of news stories, as park owners try to expand their customer base to soak up vacancies. There are many parks out there that are designated “senior only” which are no longer in demand by seniors, and the only way to fill vacant homes and lots are with families – and they are unable to move in due to age restrictions. If someone said to us “do you like senior parks?” we’d say “sure, as long as it’s not limited to seniors”. You can still have a senior park with no age restriction, if that’s the way that the demand takes it. But you want to be flexible to react as markets and trends change.

“We have to make decisions all the time on things like this” said Mayor Terry Clark. “We know there are things that have to be done to make East Brewton a better place to live”.

Under the terms of an agreement with Pitts, he has 180 days to make the repairs to the property. The city has identified 25 mobile homes in the park that have issues.

“He has already done some work over there and is progressing well with it” said city inspector Lawton Shipp. “I think he will do what he can to make things better there. He’s already shown he’s willing to work at this”.

Frank & Dave’s Analysis of This Story:

Our hat is off to Lynn Pitts! That’s exactly how you handle a situation like this. Go to the city and say “I want to make this better, here’s my timetable” – and then stick to it. He has turned a crisis into a great P.R. story. Do you think the city will work with him on problems in the future? Absolutely. A great relationship with the city is a tremendous asset.  Too many times the park owner gets combative in these cases. That’s the wrong approach. If you work with the city, then they’ll work with you.

Despite criticism by many groups claiming that the government is creating a nightmare by allowing these trailers to be sold without any oversight as to what they are actually used for, the government has decided to move ahead with the sale, since it has spent $220,000,000 in storage fees on these units over just the last three years.

Building inspectors in Fenton, Missouri recently found Katrina units, sold to be scrapped, being used for housing at a mobile home park.  “What if Toyota ordered a recall, then simply put a sticker on its vehicles saying that they were “unfit to drive” before re-selling them?” said Becky Gillette of the Sierra Club.

The sale is under review by the Justice Department.

Frank & Dave’s Analysis of This Story:

You have to hand it to the U.S. government. Where else can you find people dumb enough to spend $220,000,000 just to store trailers. That works out to $40 per month per trailer, which is what a normal retail self-storage facility would charge. Do you think they might have asked for a volume discount? That’s $40 per month for a vacant field with no infrastructure. too. We remember when Katrina hit and the government was renting every available lot in Louisiana for about $600 per month when the market rent was $150 – and then never used most of the lots but kept paying anyway. Now you know where the federal deficit came from.

You will need to be especially observant, after the auction is completed, to make sure any park-owned home you buy does not have the “sticker” and is O.K. to be used as a dwelling. We imagine some special designation will be made on the title. But it’s one more thing to worry about when you are looking at trailers to buy.