City Code and Ordinance Department Issues Annual Building Report

(Le Mars) — The Le Mars Code Enforcement and Building Department issued its annual report and offered it to the city council during Tuesday’s meeting. Code and Ordinance Enforcement officer Greg Schmid informed the city council there
were 114 requests for building permits in 2017, which was one fewer than the previous year. However, the fees from the building construction and costs were considerably lower. In 2016, the city collected more than $90,000 in construction fees, but in 2017 the city acquired slightly less than $72,000.
The construction costs fell $6 million dollars from the 2017 figure compared to the 2016 figure. Schmid attributes the loss of revenue due primarily to the construction of the Nor-Am cold storage facility. He says the new Nor-AM expansion last year gave the city a bigger boost in the collected revenues.
Schmid reported there were 19 newly constructed single family homes constructed in Le Mars during 2017, which compares to the 26 new homes from the previous year. There were five commercial construction projects during 2017. In 2016,
the number included seven commercial properties under construction. Although, single family homes were down, the city did see a boom with multi-family units being constructed. Four new apartment complexes are in the process of being
built, and Schmid told the city council, he expects most of them will start renting to families beginning in the spring.