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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/10/2007 MINUTES OF THE MAPLEWOOD HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST, MAPLEWOOD, MINNESOTA WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2007 CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Pearson called the meeting to order at 7:17 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioner Rita Andreoli Commissioner Jeffrey James Chairperson Gary Pearson Commissioner Joy Tkachuck Vice-Chairperson Beth Ulrich Present Absent Present Absent Present Staff Present:Michael Samuelson, Code Enforcement Officer III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Commissioner Ulrich moved to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner Andreoli seconded. The motion carried. Ayes - all IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Since there was not a quorum present for approval of the September 12,2007 HRA minutes, the minutes will be added to the November 14 agenda. V. COMMUNICATIONS . Report on Code Enforcement Michael Samuelson presented the staff report. Mr. Samuelson updated the commission on code enforcement statistics, discussed his job description, and gave a history of the previous environmental code enforcement role with the city. He then reviewed the current process of conducting inspections, issuance of notices and follow up to verified violations of city codes. A review of "best practices" in the field and the future direction of the program was presented. Mr. Samuelson noted that the city cleanup day is October 20, 2007 at Gethsemane Church. Mr. Samuelson said the commission needs to begin to compile a strategic plan for the future. Commissioner Pearson suggested sending a letter to the open code enforcement cases dealing with junk issues notifying them of the October 20 cleanup day opportunity. Commissioner Andreoli asked staff to comment on the question of rights and freedoms of residents when enforcing codes and avoiding retaliation and lawsuits. Mr. Samuelson responded that a community needs to develop fair standards for neighborhoods to live up to and to enforce these regulations uniformly. The commission at this time moved ahead to the related agenda Item VII. - Budgets. VII. NEW BUSINESS Housing and Redevelopment Authority -2- Minutes of 10-10-07 . Code Enforcement Program Budgets for 2007 and 2008 Michael Samuelson presented information on the budget projections for the code enforcement program for 2007 and the draft budget for 2008 as has been presented to the city council. A commissioner asked if the city will be able to implement the rental registration program with current budget constraints. Mr. Samuelson responded that if implemented the rental registration program will not be the responsibility of the code enforcement program, but will be part of citizen services department. Commissioner Pearson requested a current copy of the departmental flow chart regarding job descriptions and supervisors. Mr. Pearson also requested data comparing code enforcement personnel and costs for comparable cities. Commissioner Pearson moved to ask staff to draft a letter to the city council regarding the personnel cuts being planned and about what administrative assistance for code enforcement responsibilities might be anticipated to replace the help being cut from the budget. Staff was also asked to find and review data comparing code enforcement personnel and the costs for other municipalities. Commissioner Ulrich seconded The motion passed. Ayes - all VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS . Proposed revised mission statement for the HRA Commissioner Ulrich moved to approve the amended HRA mission statement, adding "budget" to the third line of the draft statement after the word "development". Commissioner Andreoli seconded The motion passed. Ayes - all . Continue review and discussion on the 2006 International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) and Chapter 12 of City Code. Michael Samuelson briefly reviewed the remaining three chapters in the 2006 IPMC. Commissioner Pearson moved to table this item until the next meeting. Commissioner Ulrich seconded The motion passed. VIII. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Ayes - all . November 14, 2007 IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.