Typical in this region!
From a newspaper article (shortened)
City warned about repairs
Defying federal laws could bring suit
A $585 bill for unnecessary wiring changes resulted in a warning from a state official Friday to the city of Belleville: obey national regulations for manufactured homes or face a federal lawsuit.
The warning resulted from an inspection in November by city electrical inspector Robert Dohm. He insisted on wiring changes and failed to grant an occupancy permit. Belleville requires that only certified electricians from their list can do such jobs. An electrician finally showed up in January to do the work. This was more than two months after Dohm's inspection. Rick Brown, an advocate for mobile and manufactured home dwellers, said the inspection of Cullen's home is only one of numerous inspections of manufactured homes where city officials have required unnecessary repairs. It's illegal for city inspectors to require more than the federal statute. Brown took photographs of the wiring changes to Cullen's home and compared them to illustrations in federal regulations. He sent the photographs to Metz. Metz said Friday that the photographs showed that changes required by the city were not needed and that city officials could not require them to be made. He said federal manufactured and mobile home regulations take precedence over any local regulations. Kern admitted that Dohm "may have erred."
Dohm could not be reached for comment.
Rowdy
