Monday marked the deadline for tenants of the crumbling and condemned Royal Towers Apartments to vacate their residences.
Manhattan City Commissioners Tuesday heard from Royal Towers tenants and Renters Together MHK representatives who say the vacating process was extremely difficult and lacked the proper city support. Renters Together MHK Representative Noah Rude.
Rude suggested financial reparations be made by the City of Manhattan, since many residents had to leave valuables behind, including furniture, due to safety concerns in walkways and stairwells.
Rude says the information they learned from tenants was shocking, but Renters Together Representative Justin Yeary says the most shocking information they learned was the consequences tenants were facing if they did not vacate the building before May 1.
The group also called out the city for spending $25,000 to support Aggieville businesses with gift cards to help struggling businesses, but not offering financial assistance to renters forced to vacate Royal Towers through no fault of their own.
Commissioners and city staff did not respond to the public comments made at Tuesday’s meeting.
(Full public comments are available at the bottom of this article)
Residents were notified on March 3 that the property owner was responsible for fixing the infrastructure issues by March 16, and after the owner failed to comply, tenants were informed they must vacate the apartments by May 1.
The city provided information to impacted residents, such as other available rental properties and contact information for social service agencies in the Manhattan area.
Manhattan Fire Department Building Official Darren Emery joined KMAN’s In Focus Wednesday and noted the property is now vacated, though says some belongings, such as furniture remains in some of the apartments.
The engineer that worked with Risk Reduction and the apartment ownership established maximum weight guidelines for walkways and stairwells, leaving some items unable to be moved out. It’s unclear when or if residents will be able to get those personal belongings from the apartment building.
Anyone with further questions regarding their property should contact the Office of Risk Reduction at 785-587-4506.
Public Comment Audio:
Noah Rude comments start at 00:00
Justin Yeary comments start at 04:54
Shamus Neel comments start at 09:33
Alfonso Bustos-Bravo comments start at 14:58
Melissa Morrill comments start at 16:30
Tyrone Townsend comments start at 22:02
