Oakdale City Council Requires 29 Pines Install Shelter by June 30

Oakdale City Council members called 29 Pines Manufactured Home Community “lucky” that its lack of a storm shelter hasn’t resulted in injuries or death up to this point, and said it’s time that the management there build an onsite shelter.

The council voted unanimously at its meeting Tuesday, March 8, to require the trailer park’s management to have a shelter up by June 30.

“I don’t want to be sitting up here in August or September and have a storm hit and there be a casualty or injuries up there and know that we kind of dragged our feet with the information that we have here,” said Oakdale City Council member Kent Dotas. “My hope is that you get it done far in advance of the June 30^th date.”

A representative for the park’s management, attorney Thomas DeVincke, had asked for more time to arrange financing for what he said would be a $200,000 project.

“The timeframe contemplated by this resolution would be very onerous for my client,” DeVinke said. He asked for, “time to arrange financing so this storm shelter will not result in the potential demise of my client’s investment here in 29 Pines.”

City officials previously told 29 Pines management that they could find an acceptable off-site shelter as an alternative to building a new one, and management had spent about a year trying to locate a potential site in the area, DeVincke said. He said management disagrees with the city’s contention that an off-site shelter must be within walking distance of the park.

Oakdale Building Official Bill Schmitt said in an emergency situation, “time is so precious,” that having a shelter that’s not within walking distance could put lives at risk.

Schmitt estimated that under state statute requirements, the shelter will have to be approximately 1,200 square feet.

Under the resolution, the mobile home park’s managers have until April 8 to bring building plans to the city.

The park was established in 1969, and its emergency management plan was created in 1987, according to a staff report.

“We’ve missed the bullet this far, we’ve gone a lot of years, we haven’t had a disaster and we’re thankful for that,” Schmitt said. “We sense real urgency. We’re just worried that with the storm season coming on, peoples’ lives can be at stake.”