Loyal utility committee approves 2 RVs for trailer park
By Valorie Brecht The Loyal mobile home park owner is hoping to provide another affordable living option by expanding the types of structures allowed in his park.
Last Wednesday, Sept. 4, the city’s utility committee met with Steve Enquist, who owns the mobile home park on the east side of town. Enquist was requesting the city allow recreational vehicles (RVs) be permanently installed at the park as mini homes.
“It’s a less expensive option, with smaller square footage. They will be permanent homes. It’s kind of like the tiny homes that were all the rage six or eight years ago” said Enquist. “We’re trying to help the lower-income folks out there.”
Enquist said he wanted to provide an affordable rent-to-own option for people who had nowhere else to go. He had one individual in mind specifically that he would like to get into a home before the winter.
“The program we’re kind of trying to look at up here is, I get a lot of calls, especially up here. The average guy that’s retired, their Social Security is about $940-some a month. I don’t know how the hell they live on it; it’s almost impossible. If they rent a house for $700, $800 a month, you’ve got no money. Something like this would make them live a little better, so we thought about starting a program and trying this out,” he said. “Some of these small houses would work for a guy like that. If we stuck with something that was a quality house, not new but in good shape.
“It would be efficient and not as expensive… We can’t go lower on mobile homes, so thought we would try this. I’m thinking it would be about 200 dollars per month savings, which when you’re living on 900-some dollars a month, everything helps,” he added.
He has several requirements for the RVs he would like to put in the park. They would need to be a C3 through C6 series, 1998 or newer, hard sided, a minimum of 40 feet by 8 feet, and have a flat roof. No fifth-wheel campers will be allowed.
“So the C class, most people don’t buy because they’re higher end — better insulated floors, ceilings, all that stuff,” he said.
In addition, the unit would need to be well-insulated, with a 3-inch core, double windows — no single panes, and a forced air furnace. The unit would be installed just like a regular mobile home, with it being hard parked, bricked and leveled, skirted and hooked up to city electric and water. It would be required to have two doors and a 6-foot by 6-foot landing with steps.
“They can be made to be pretty comfortable and livable, and more economical, if you do it right,” said Enquist. “We can come into a price factor for these guys where they can live a little better and still have some money at the end of the month.”
He said he intended these to be permanent living sites, with no camping or short-term RV parking allowed. He did say he had some people who were snowbirds, who lived in the mobile home park during the summer and somewhere else in the winter, but their unit stayed put, and he was fine with that.
He also said he would examine each individual unit and make sure it was good condition before installing it, regardless of what the specs were.
“After 2002, they are HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) approved. So that’s another factor we need to look at. I’m pretty good at this; I’ve been doing mobile homes since the 80s,” said Enquist.
He said he was retired from his trucking job of 48 years and now just focused on mobile homes. He owns a park on the east side of the Wisconsin Dells and also used to own one in Oklahoma.
“You’ve got different areas and they’re all based on income for the area and what we can do. I like to see people have a decent home and have money at the end of the month,” said Enquist. “I’d like to try four or five and see how it works out.”
Utility committee member Curtiss Lindner asked how the residents were vetted. Enquist said he used a software program to conduct an extensive background check on applicants before they would be allowed to live there. Any criminal record, drug activity or sex offender registration immediately disqualifies a person. He also takes into consideration the person’s credit score and history.
City officials were a bit concerned about cleaning up the park, as it had gotten into rough shape under the last owner. Enquist said he had put in over $100,000 into the mobile home park over the last year, fixing it up. He said it was a lot better than when the previous owner had it. He shut down six older homes that he planned to have carried out this fall. He also installed three homes that are not brand new but are in good condition. He expected to have five units ready for renters within the next month, four of which were completely remodeled. He said there were about 12 empty lots currently.
“What’s the long-term goal to clean it up? Because I’m on the fire department; I’ve been on calls there. What kind of time frame are you looking at to get it cleaned up?” said utility committee member Dave Geier.
“Well, this isn’t an overnight project. You’re looking at over a half million dollars to get this park — I’m at a loss of words, but you’re looking at probably three, five years to get this thing where it’s a nice, clean park again, that’s modernized. I also got 3.6 acres in the back I’d like to develop, but that’s a ways off,” said Enquist.
“So where does this new endeavor fit in with the cleanup efforts? That sounds like a lot to take on,” asked Curtiss Lindner.
“Well, we just obtained a line of credit from the bank. It’s a type of line of credit, add and take. We use it to get houses put in. That’s the reason I like to sell a lot of them… Because I can sell a house, put the money back in there, and get on to the next one,” said Enquist.
“We spent seven years on the Dells park. I should have brought pictures. It was worse than this. But it’s a very nice park now.”
He said he would like to install one RV-turned-mini-home at a time. Lindner also asked about location —if the city approved RVs in the park, would he want them just in one area or sprinkled throughout? Enquist said he would like them spaced out throughout the park so it didn’t end up looking like a campground.
“What’s your timeline for this?” asked city deputy clerk Viki Pieper.
“I’d like to do a couple this year,” said Enquist. Lindnermadeamotion,secondedbyGeier,torecommend to the council that the city allow two RVs through the calendar year 2025, and reassess at the end of next year. The committee approved that motion unanimously. It will now go the city council on Sept. 17.
As a side note, the committee also talked about water meters and Enquist said he would like to see each mobile home metered separately if that were possible. Pieper said he could talk to city clerk Shannon Toufar and get the numbers on that.
Other business The utility committee approved a 12-foot by 18-foot hard-sided shed for a Division Street resident. It is a double lot, so the resident is allowed to have two accessory buildings, and currently only has one. The ordinance specifies that outbuildings can be a maximum of 12 feet by 16 feet, but the committee decided that 12-by-18 was close enough and there was enough room on the lot that they would allow it. The council will vote on the committee’s recommendation.
The committee also approved a contract with Lane Tank for the 2025 reservoir inspection. The city’s well houses 8, 9 and 10 are located just west of Main Street along the new walking trail, near the city limit on the south end of town. The water from those three wells collects at an underground reservoir, which is essentially like a below-ground water tower. It will cost $3,200 to have the reservoir inspected and it’s good for five years. Pieper said she had checked around and Lane Tank was cheapest to do this.
The committee voted unanimously to approve the contract and send that recommendation to the council. They did request though that the city solicit a couple of other quotes, in writing, just to verify that Lane Tank was the cheapest.
The council meeting will take place Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Loyal City Hall. It is open to the public.
A yummy breakfast Harper Blume says hi while at the Spencer FFA Alumni Fall Harvest Breakfast Sunday, held at Marshland Dairy. For more photos of the event, see next week’s TRG.
VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO
