Dunn County weighs taking on annual inspections of manufactured home communities

Dunn County Health and Human Services members on June 26 discussed whether the county should seek delegated authority from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services to inspect manufactured home communities annually, after public commenters and staff raised concerns about dilapidated homes, sewer failures and expired licenses.

The issue matters because manufactured home communities often house low-income and vulnerable residents and county inspections could identify health and safety hazards earlier than the current complaint-driven state process, speakers said.

Public commenter Steve Carlson, board president of the Wisconsin Manufactured Homeowners Alliance, told the board he had reviewed state lists and found multiple communities with expired licenses and said residents report sewage backups, sand in tap water and abandoned, dilapidated homes. “Proactive annual inspections by the Dunn County Health Department would relieve MHC residents of shouldering the burden and risk of having to confront community owners individually,” Carlson said…