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River Heights offers 25% one-time rent credit to Humanitarian Center after January heating issues
Summary
After tenant complaints about limited heat in January, the council approved a 25% one-time rent credit for the Cache Valley Humanitarian Center (excluding CAM fees); the same credit was made available to other tenants upon request. Councilmembers debated precedent and building maintenance.
River Heights — The River Heights City Council voted Feb. 17 to offer a 25% one-time credit on January rent to the Cache Valley Humanitarian Center, in response to prolonged heating problems at the city-owned old school building.
Mayor Blake Wright explained the center’s request for a rent reduction following heater failures in January. Treasurer Michelle Jensen said any approved amount would be applied as a credit to future rent rather than issued as a check. Public Works Director Clayten Nelson told the council he ran the heating system daily for several hours during the affected period and that tenant thermostat settings had at times limited the warmth in specific rooms.
Councilmember Mark Malmstrom moved to offer a 25% one-time discount to the Humanitarian Center on January rent (excluding CAM fees), to be issued as a credit, and made the same offer available to other tenants upon request. Councilmember Kandi Evans seconded. The motion passed with Evans, Malmstrom, Chris Milbank and Lance Pitcher in favor; Councilmember Janet Mathews opposed.
Council members expressed concern about precedent. Chris Milbank noted the center already benefits from subsidized rent because of nonprofit status; Mathews said some tenants had been unable to use their rented space for business purposes and urged compassion. The council discussed long-term solutions: Engineer Craig Rasmussen said he had contacted a mechanical engineer to evaluate the building’s heating system and that a full HVAC replacement could cost on the order of $250,000; scheduling for an evaluation was underway.
Councilmembers agreed the credit would be processed as administrative documentation and applied to accounts as a rental credit for those tenants who requested it.
What’s next: The city will document the credit as a rental account adjustment and continue mechanical evaluation for longer-term repairs to the building’s heating system. The council did not authorize an immediate capital expenditure at this meeting.
For the record: The motion text approved by the council was to offer a “25% one-time discount to the Humanitarian Center on their January rent (excluding CAM fees) which would come in the form of a credit. The same discount would be available to the other tenants in the building upon their request.”
