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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/08/2007 MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2007 7:00 P.M. CITY HALL CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Pearson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioner Jeffrey James Chairperson Gary Pearson Commissioner Joy Tkachuck Vice-Chairperson/Secretary Beth Ulrich Commissioner Rita Andreoli Present Present Present Present Present Staff Present: Dave Fisher, Building Official Tom Ekstrand, Senior Planner Michael Samuelson, Code Enforcement Officer III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chairperson Pearson stated that Police Officer Steve Heinz was not able to attend the meeting. Commissioner Ulrich moved to approve the agenda. Commissioner Tkachuck seconded. Ayes - All The motion carried. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of the HRA minutes for July 11, 2007. Commissioner Ulrich moved to approve the minutes. Commissioner Tkachuck seconded. Ayes - James, Pearson, Tkachuck, Ulrich Abstain - Andreoli The motion carried. Housing and Redevelopment Authority -2- Minutes of 08-08-07 v. COMMUNICATIONS . Introduction of new member Rita Andreoli . Code Enforcement (Michael Samuelson) Michael Samuelson, the city's Code Enforcement Officer, went over his quarterly report. Commissioner Tkachuck asked if the city has the ability to take web-based complaints, and if so, are those numbers included. Mr. Samuelson responded that the city does have that ability. However, those numbers are not included because code enforcement does not have the capability to run a report on the way the complaint is received besides counting the number of phone calls received. Web- based complaints were not available until about three weeks ago. The last two city newsletters promoted the code enforcement department and notified residents of the new online complaint form. Chairperson Pearson asked if code enforcement is having any trouble contacting mortgage companies that represent foreclosed properties. Mr. Samuelson responded that it is difficult to find a contact person at mortgage companies that represent foreclosed properties. The assistance of clerical staff helps with this problem because the Code Officer does not have to spend the time tracking down a contact person. Chairperson Pearson asked for an explanation of the abatement process. Mr. Samuelson explained that after an attempt has been made to contact the property owner through mailed notices, sometimes multiple attempts are made depending on the severity of the violation, an abatement notice will be sent to the property owner. The original notice is mailed through certified mail, a copy is sent to the resident through regular mail, and a copy is posted on the property if it is known to be vacant. If the property is foreclosed, a copy is mailed and faxed to the bank that owns the mortgage and to the law firm representing the bank. This notice gives the owner a sufficient number of days, usually from 2-10 days depending on the violation, to remove the nuisance or the city will remove the nuisance at the cost of property owner. If the abatement needs to made, code enforcement will first document the violations with photos then fax a work authorization form to the contractor and the property will be abated within 48 working hours. Once the cleanup is made, then the cleanup is documented with photos and the case is either closed or kept open for further monitoring. Chairperson Pearson asked if the standardized compliance notice and the checklist are on the website. Mr. Samuelson responded that they are not on the website, but it is possible to do that. Chairperson Andreoli asked if there is a foreclosure with a drought scenario and weeds are Housing and Redevelopment Authority -3- Minutes of 08-08-07 growing, how the abatement is made. Mr. Samuelson said it is attended to as normal or the contractor will choose the best way to remove the weeds. The average bill is $250-300. Currently there is no administrative fee, but one may soon be added. Mr. Fisher added that fees are set every January and an administrative fee will be added when finance provides a fee schedule for the city this fall. Mr. Samuelson added that the city attorney confirmed that the city code does allow for an administrative fee to be assessed. Commissioner Ulrich asked if there is a fee for having multiple inspections for a property, and if not, has the city staff considered that. Mr. Samuelson said that is a possibility and right now the city is only allowed to give citations. An administrative fine is possible as well. Chairperson Pearson asked if it possible for Ramsey County to help assess fines. Mr. Samuelson responded that the city can assess a fine to a resident if needed. VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Proposed mission statement for the HRA Mr. Ekstrand introduced the drafted mission statement and gave it to the commission to discuss. Chairperson James asked how the Housing and Redevelopment Authority interact with the city council and that process should be articulated in the first sentence. Mr. Ekstrand responded that there will be cases that are advisory. These may include reviewing of TIFF applications and forwarding a recommendation to the city council. This process of interaction with the city council starts with an item being brought to the commission by city staff with a recommendation. The item is then reviewed and voted on to recommend to city council. The city council also receives copies of the HRA meeting minutes. Commissioner James asked who brings forth the topics of discussion. Chairperson Pearson responded that anyone who has an issue to be discussed can get it put on the agenda. Commissioner James asked, in regards to the 2nd to the last sentence, iflhere should be a fiscal element, as it promotes the health of the city, which is reasonable and rational to the city budget. Mr. Samuelson asked if the city staff should figure out correct verbiage and bring it back to the commission to approve. Housing and Redevelopment Authority -4- Minutes of 08-08-07 Mr. Ekstrand said he will bring the mission statement back to the next meeting with revisions. Commissioner Ulrich moved to table the mission statement until the next meeting. Commissioner James seconded. Ayes - All Mr. Ekstrand added that if anyone has any recommendations for the mission statement, please email him. VII. NEW BUSINESS a. Administrative cost for a non-homestead registration program Mr. Fisher stated that a non-homestead registration program would cost about $25 an hour and it would take about an hour for each registration. This is a basic registration program that would compile contact information for rental property owners, not a rental licensing program. Commissioner James asked if this would include the non-homestead homes. Mr. Fisher responded that it would not. These rental properties would be registered as businesses. Mr. Fisher was informed previously by Police Officer Stephen Heinz that Officer Heinz and another officer work with the rental owners already to create safe multi-housing and have monthly meetings. Officer Heinz will be able to go into more detail about this at another meeting. Commissioner Ulrich asked if the system used for the business registration will be used for the rental registration. Mr. Fisher said he hopes that is the case but is not sure yet. Commissioner Andreoli asked if rental properties are required to have insurance. Mr. Fisher responded that renters are usually encouraged to purchase their own renter's insurance. If a rental owner does have insurance, it would be in the best interest of the insurance company to inspect the property. It is difficult for the city to track down what insurance companies rental owners have. Mr. Samuelson said that insurance companies doing inspections of a rental property is rare. Mr. Fisher asked Mr. Samuelson how many complaints code enforcement received for rental properties. Mr. Samuelson responded that code enforcement has received 1 complaint on a multi-family building, since he has started. Mr. Fisher said that he has heard of about 10 rental properties that have had complaints overthe last year. There have been few problems with rental properties. Housing and Redevelopment Authority -5- Minutes of 08-08-07 Commissioner Andreoli asked if a property is a non-homestead with liability insurance but does not home insurance, can they replace any damage if any occurs? Mr. Samuelson said that if the owner has a mortgage, then usually the mortgage company would require the owner to have home insurance. This type of insurance is not business or home dwellers insurance, it is homeowners insurance. b. Open discussion about 2006 IPMC City staff is going to compare this document with the current city code to see which ordinances should be adopted. The International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) is a copyrighted document and Mr. Fisher said he is unsure as to how the IPMC will be edited. Commissioner Ulrich asked if the code is available electronically. Mr. Fisher confirmed that the city does have an electronic copy of the IPMC in PDF format. Permission is needed in order to be able to get an editable form of the document. Mr. Fisher asked if he is not able to organize this information side by side, how would the commission organized. Chairperson Pearson stated that however the staff sees as the clearest way will be fine. Mr. Fisher recommended that this should be adopted as a resolution, a reference with amendments added to it. City Staff will attempt to compile a couple of chapters for comparison for the next meeting. Commissioner Tkachuck asked if this is for commercial or residential properties. Mr. Fisher said that this will cover everything. Mr. Samuelson asked if there are any circumstances that will allow "grandfathering". Mr. Fisher said no, but that is a question that the city attorney should address. VIII. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Date of next HRA meeting is scheduled for September 12, 2007. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.