Everglades City officials want to sort a messy and often drawn-out code enforcement process that frequently ends in reduced fines and forgone administrative fees.

The city’s code enforcement board on Tuesday cut one landowner’s code violation fees to $7,500 from $75,250, plus administrative costs. It also continued for a second time the amount of administrative costs the owner of the Railroad Depot needs to pay so the board can ask City Council to set a standard rate for administrative fees for such cases.

Board says code fines aren’t meant to be city money makers

The city’s code enforcement fines are not meant to be a money maker but to ensure code compliance, board members have said repeatedly, which is why they tend to lower fines for building owners when they comply. However, staff time should be taken into consideration, they agreed.

Terry Smallwood, head of the city’s code enforcement department, said costs to send certified letters of code violations to Bill Odrey, owner of the historic but dilapidated Railroad Depot, were $36. The board said that’s not enough – what about Smallwood’s time? And Clerk Dottie Joiner’s time? And then the city attorney?Smallwood said staff will present a proposal for a standard administrative fee to City Council.

Waiting for admin costs

Meantime, Odrey and Nathan Everett Terry, who owns property at 202 Allen Ave., will wait to find out what they need to pay the city.

“I think it’s about time they set a baseline for administrative fees, but I don’t think they should use Bill as a guinea pig,” said Glenda Hancock, who works as the property manager for the 1928-built Railroad Depot. “How are they going to go back and make this retroactive? … Are they going to double charge? Are they going to charge because they were doing their job?”

Hancock said in a telephone interview Wednesday that she was surprised the attorney gave the board the option to set a fee amount Tuesday or wait until City Council sets a standard fee.

“Why did I have to go to a meeting when they didn’t have it figured out,” Odrey said in the same telephone interview. “I think I’m the chosen one.”

In April, the code enforcement board reversed fines on Odrey of nearly $7,000 that were imposed in February for safety concerns, lack of mowing and failing to repair the building in a timely manner. Michael Cruz, captain of fire and life safety for Greater Naples Fire and Rescue said in November that the building was too dangerous for fire and rescue to enter if there was a fire.

After securing a roofing permit in January, the board agreed Odrey need only pay the administrative costs the city spent because he had complied with a deadline to apply for the permit. The building is flanked by docks and a seawall that are falling into the water, but Odrey doesn’t own those.

Terry was fined for work done at the residential home without permits, including building a concrete pool and building a handicapped ramp in the city’s right of way. The board reduced the fine because Terry didn’t receive the certified letters beginning in May 2023 that were sent to the address of record in Montana, and now had the proper permits. Terry’s wife, Mary Terry, attended Tuesday’s meeting via Zoom and said the couple was unfamiliar with all the rules in Florida for building. She asked where to change their address and to whom, how and when to pay the fine.

Odrey had the same issue. Certified letters about compliance meetings were being sent to his home in Atlanta, as shown on the Collier County Property Appraiser website and as required by state statute. City attorney Lenore Brakefield said Tuesday that the owner address for the depot remained in Atlanta. A check Wednesday by the Naples Daily News shows the address is now P.O. Box 232, Chokoloskee, which is just outside of Everglades City.

Odrey, on Tuesday asked for an itemized list of costs once the administrative fee is set.

“When you do a statement, I want to know the hourly pay,” he said. Were the employees using a county vehicle? If so, “I want the GPS records.”

More: Did Everglades City Railroad Depot owner get reprieve on code enforcement fines?

Previously Everglades City approves lien on historic Railroad Depot

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Everglades City works to sort code enforcement, recoup admin costs