City follows up after resident complaints and dumpster fire

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - A Sioux Falls man living in the same apartment complex is disappointed in the state of disrepair it has fallen into. Last month, we told you of a dumpster fire at the Valley West Apartments. He hopes the city will finally step in.

After living in an apartment on South West Drive for over 20 years, JR Murray says the owner and new property management company have been a source of frustration. He’s watching the place he called home fall into disrepair.

“He had sent us letters that they were only doing emergency maintenance, and that’s where it’s still at,” Murray explained. “The roof literally caved in in the laundry room from a water leak onto the boiler and hot water heater. So that’s where my issue of safety concerns were. There’s sewage backing up with feces and everything on the floor.”

The process of finding the right person in the city to share his concerns took some time.

“The first time I called them about the laundry room to the Health Department. They said, ‘Well, you need to call code enforcement.’ I called Code Enforcement. They said, ‘Well, you need to talk to the health department.’ So then the Health Department said ‘No, no, this is the number you need to call,’ so I’d call this other number they gave me, and they said ‘We’d talk to your property manager,’ and I was like, Well, I can’t get ahold of him. I would if I could,” Murray said.

Last Friday, the City of Sioux Falls inspected the property. Dwell Property Management’s Phillip Vera, operating from Georgia, said he was in Sioux Falls last week to see the properties for himself.

“We’re working on it, and it’s you know. We have a lot to solve and to work through, and that’s what we’re doing,” Vera explained.

Tenants including Murray said when they call, they don’t get a return call.

“Like we’re just out here on our own, with nobody to go to,” Murray explained.

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