News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Alpena City Manager Rachel Smolinski, left, addresses the Alpena Municipal Council about a proposed ordinance that would require property owners to take corrective action on structures damaged by fire. The ordinance will be read a second time at council’s next meeting.

ALPENA — Structures lost or damaged by fire can become a public health issue, or blight if corrective action isn’t taken soon after the blaze.

To encourage quick action by property owners who own properties impacted by fires, the Alpena Municipal Council is considering an ordinance it hopes will motivate property owners of burned structures to promptly clean up the fire’s aftermath.

At Monday’s meeting, the council heard the first reading of Ordinance No. 21-458, which establishes a timeline for appropriate remediation actions to be taken for a structure damaged by fire.

If the guidelines aren’t met, the city could issue citations of $100 per day to the property owner.

In the new ordinance, it states within the first 24 hours of a fire the building must be secured by locking or securing openings, boarding up broken windows or doors, and removing debris outside the structure to prevent access by children and others.

If that isn’t possible, the entire property must be fenced in. The ordinance states all utilities must be turned off, and contact information of the property owner and tenants should be filed with the fire department.

Within 90 days, a permit to start construction or demolition must be applied for, and clean-up on the property initiated as soon as possible. If a demolition permit is applied for, the applicant must submit proof of gas line cut and cap, and an asbestos survey, the ordinance says.

By 120 days, if a structure is burned beyond repair, it must be fully demolished and free of debris.

A property owner will have up to 180 days to renovate a damaged structure to make it livable again.

If progress is being made in any of those instances, the city reserves the right to grant extensions.

City Manager Rachel Smolinski said most times, if there is a fire, the property owner takes the proper course of action. Other times, she said, things aren’t handled the way they should be, and getting the property addressed takes longer than it should.

Smolinski said currently there isn’t an ordinance that gives the city the ability to manage how burned-out buildings are addressed. Passing the new ordinance gives the city more enforcement power to address the matter when it does become an issue, Smolinski said.

“The topic is addressed in other parts of city code, but there wasn’t really anything concrete that allowed us to manage structure fires,” Smolinski said. “We needed something very clear to let property owners know what’s expected of them.”

Smolinski said the staff began working on the ordinance after the city had issues working with the owner of a property on Washington Avenue that burned down. The house remained standing for months until it was recently demolished and excavated.

Smolinski said to help avoid a repeat of the situation, having an ordinance that outlines expectations should help.

“There isn’t a huge problem with this throughout the city, but it was enough that it prompted me to realize this needs to be addressed,” she said.

The second reading of the ordinance should take place at the council’s next meeting on May 3, and a vote may come immediately afterward.