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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/10/1998 AGENDA MAPLEWOOD HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY NOVEMBER 10, 1998 7:00 P.M. CITY HALL MAPLEWOOD ROOM 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Minutes June 10, 1997 4. Approval of Agenda 5. Communications Commissioner Appreciation Dinner - December 2, 1998 6. Unfinished Business 7. New Business a. Truth-in-Housing Ordinance and Forms b. 1998 Housing Plan Update 8. Date of Next Meeting December 8, 1998 9. Adjournment c:HRAAGEND.MEM MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY NOVEMBER 10, 1998 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Fischer called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL HRA Commissioners: Lorraine Fischer, Tom Connelly, Joe O'Brien, Gary Pearson 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES June 10, 1997 Commissioner O'Brien moved approval of the minutes of June 10, 1997, as submitted. Commissioner Connelly seconded. Ayes-all 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Pearson moved approval of the agenda as submitted. Commissioner Connelly seconded. Ayes-all 5. COMMUNICATIONS Ken Roberts, associate planner, said he heard that on Wednesday, December 2nd, there was going to be a commissioner appreciation dinner and evening at the Community Center starting around 6:00-6:30 p.m. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Commissioner Fischer asked staff about the 1998 truth-in-housing compliance report. Commissioner Fischer said she thought that compliance was better this year than last year. Staff said they thought the percentage was around 60-70%. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Truth-in-Housing Ordinance and Forms Ken Roberts, associate planner, summarized the staff report saying that the housing evaluators are asking the city to stop requiring the property owner's disclosure section in the city's truth-in-housing report. Mr. Mike Moser, representing the Minnesota Society of Housing Inspectors, was present. Commissioner Connelly said the city had originally copied the St. Paul form and wanted to know if St. Paul still had the property owner's portion on it. Mr. Moser said that St. Paul never had the property owner's portion on their form. Staff said this portion was added by staff and the city council. Maplewood HRA Minutes of 11-10-98 -2- Commissioner Fischer said the council included this portion because there were several complaints from new home buyers about failed wells, failed septic systems, and easements which weren't disclosed at the time of sale. Staff said that the HRA needed to consider whether the city should keep any or all or none of the items in the form. Staff said if the HRA made any changes (by adding or dropping items) they would need to do a code amendment and take it to the city council for approval. Staff said that the forms would be changed based upon the council's decision. There was a discussion about having a separate disclosure form for the owner to fill out and what items should be included on that form. There was also discussion about having the housing evaluator send the form, along with his report, to the homeowner and the homeowner would be required to fill out the form and send it in. An extra copy could also be sent to realtors. Mr. Moser said that they felt the report the evaluator fills out should be very easy for the consumer to follow, it should be more specific, and follow a prescribed set of guidelines. Mr. Moser said the proposed form that they put together follows the exact numbering of the St. Paul form. The St. Paul guidelines go number by number, pointing out all the specifics that have to be called and why. Mr. John Perriard, representing the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors, was present. Mr. Perriard said he does most of the communications for the board and came to the meeting to get some more information about any problems the city was having in the truth-in-housing ordinance. Mr. Perriard said he would get a message out to his members to encourage potential home buyers to have their own home inspection done. Commissioner Connelly asked staff if an ordinance change would be necessary if the owner's portion was made into a separate form. Staff said the ordinance requires a signed statement by the owner and that a format change would not require an ordinance change. Commissioner Connelly said that this form could then be updated whenever necessary because it would be separate from the ordinance. There was a discussion about the inspection process, including license and report fees, insurance, etc. It was stressed that there was a need for housing inspectors and real estate agents to work more closely together in the inspection process. Mr. Moser said that the evaluators want to "self police" as much as pOSSible and they want to make sure every evaluator does the best reasonable report they can and continually get better. Commissioner Pearson said he didn't have a problem with moving the approval of this motion but he felt that as a commission they needed to take another look at our ordinance and is it serving the public need. Commissioner Fischer said that they should probably get some input from the council as to whether what was a good idea ten years ago still applies today. Commissioner Fischer asked what the evaluators' opinion was on having some type of mandatory compliance. Mr. Moser said that about three quarters of the compliance issues are minor things that don't require a permit, therefore, there would be no funds Maplewood HRA Minutes of 11-10-98 -3- for the city to do it. Cities with larger staff can handle this type of thing and do the follow-ups. The City of Minneapolis will be sending all of their people out but they are making everybody get a permit for almost everything to fund it. Mr. Moser said the thing to consider was can the city afford to send someone out and do all of these reinspections and certifications. City staff got the impression that realtors were very fearful that their paychecks were going to go because compliance would mean sales were going to be lost or held up and that they would lose their commissions. City staff didn't see this happening based on what they have read in Minneapolis, Bloomington, St. Louis Park, Hopkins, and other cities. Mr. Perriard said the realtors were opposed to the code compliance. Mr. Perriard said the Minneapolis ordinance has not gone into effect yet and there are a lot of realtors who are going to be watching closely to see what happens when it does. Mr. Moser said the only thing Minneapolis is requiring are hazard items on grounded outlets, exposed wires, monoxide backing, etc. Structural things, unless they are in danger of collapse, are not required and would still be listed as a below item as informational and a roof would almost never be required unless it is collapsing. Mr. Moser said that if the city used the St. Paul form line for line it would be easier for everyone involved. The staff said the city's main concern was that the reports be done so that the buyer has the information. There was a discussion between the commissioners and city staff about the contents of the form. They discussed what needed to be on the form and what didn't. The consensus was to make the city's truth-in-housing form as compatible with St. Paul's form, as prepared by Mr. Moser, as possible for the inspector's part, with supplemental pages required by the City of Maplewood for the owner's disclosure. The commission instructed staff to prepare a separate owner's disclosure form to be brought back to the next meeting. Commissioner Pearson said he felt that it would be better to use the word seller instead of owner on the property disclosure form. B. 1998 Housing Plan Update Ken Roberts, associate planner, summarized the staff report. Staff said that the report reflects updated numbers from the Met Council on what affordable was for them both for home purchasing and rental costs. The commission asked staff to check to see if the figures included manufactured homes. Staff said they were confident that manufactured homes were counted in the numbers. Commissioner Fischer asked staff if the long-term Federal contracts with landlords for the set aside of units for the Section 8 and Section 236 rental assistance programs had actually expired as mentioned on Page 58 of the staff report. Commissioner Fischer said they may be expiring because the owners are taking advantage of the prepayment not because their time is up. Commissioner Fischer thought that instead of using the word expired in the last part of this sentence that it should read were maybe prepaid by the owners and thus many affordable units were lost. Maplewood HRA Minutes of 11-10-98 -4- Commissioner Fischer said that on Page 58 the Archer Heights address should be listed as1816 Beebe Road and 1854 Beebe Road. Staff asked if the commission had any other changes to this portion of the comprehensive plan. Commissioner Fischer asked if the Livable Communities Act was included in the action plan on Page 70 of the staff report. Staff said it wasn't. Commissioner Fischer thought the Livable Communities Act (LCA) could be listed under the Funding column across from the sentence that starts with Explore all options. . . in the Action column on Page 70. There was a further discussion of the plan in general among the commissioners and staff. Commissioner Connelly moved approval of the Housing Plan as amended. Commissioner Pearson seconded. Ayes-all The motion passed. 8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next HRA meeting is tentatively scheduled for December 8, 1998. 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.