Mobile Home Listings & News

Mobile home owners want answers at meeting


SAUK RAPIDS — The closing of Blue Skies Mobile Home Park in Sauk Rapids has left residents with questions city officials hope to answer Monday.

In January, park owner Curt Baumgart filed a closure statement, which serves as a nine-month notice that the park will be closing this fall. It is one of two mobile home parks in the city.

"I don't know what we're going to do," said resident Ruth Bakeman, who has lived in the park for 13 years. "(My questions) haven't been answered, not yet."

The City Council will hold a public hearing Monday and could decide on relocation and compensation costs Baumgart will be required to pay residents.

Officials have stepped in, as required by state law, to ensure occupants of the 12 mobile homes receive fair compensation for the financial blow of having to relocate their homes or find new housing.

Baumgart did not comment about the decision to close the park, the proposed compensation plan or how the land will be used.

For Bakeman, the City Council decision will influence where she lives next. Her 1966 trailer may not survive a move, and many nearby parks will not rent to her without costly upgrades. She would like to abandon her trailer and find housing elsewhere, she said.

"We really don't know what's going to happen," Bakeman said.

City officials have outlined scenarios in the proposal that they hope will help residents.

One would require the park owner to pay full relocation costs to move a trailer within 25 miles of Blue Skies, and up to $1,300 for updates required to meet standards in other parks.

Another would compensate residents who wish to abandon their mobile home and transfer responsibility of the homes to the park owner. Residents would receive whichever is greater: the assessed value of their home for tax purposes or six months rent.

"I want to make sure the people in this area, the residents in Blue Skies, are able to find housing for themselves so they do not end up homeless," City Council member Marilyn Patterson said.

City officials have met with residents and formed a sub-committee to research relocation costs and structural standards in nearby parks. They also considered other city's ordinances and hope to eventually adopt their own.