04-27-05 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL APRIL 27, 2005 the City has adopted the State Fire Code, and there are property maintenance standards addressed in this code related to fire safety. There was some discussion about whether or not the State Fire Code gave the Fire Marshal enough authority. The Fire Marshal felt that it did. He also noted that over the past several years, the fire inspection program has made substantial fire safety improvements within the City. The Fire Marshal noted that the City has adopted Appendix H of Che State Fire Code which bans grills on balconies. The reason for this ban is the potential danger to other people given that a fire would start on the outside of the building and could easily spread. The Fire Marshal noted that there have been some resistance on the part of apartment and condo dwellers to the prohibition of grills on decks, and this is an on-going educational effort. The City Administrator noted that all of the surrounding cities except for Vadnais Heights have this same prohibition. The City Administrator reported that the Fire Marshal is doing an excellent job for the City and his approach is tough, but fair. The Council discussed the issue of hiring supplemental help for the Fire Marshal as has been done in the past. The City Administrator indicated that funds have been budgeted for this additional help. It was the consensus of the Council to proceed with hiring the additional help as recommended. The City Administrator noted that staff is working on putting together a recommendation on implementation of amulti-family housing licensing program which could help to offset the cost of City's fire inspection program. This reporC will be presented Co Che Council in the near future. CODE The City Administrator reported that Che City's code enforcemenC program ENFORCE- tends to be reactive or complaint based. Proactive efforts are MENT predominantly focused on junk vehicle enforcement, yard maintenance, and sign permits. LaValle suggested that the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department should be more involved in junk vehicle enforcement. His thought was that the Sheriff's Deparhment should be patrolling parking lots looking for inoperable and/or unlicensed vehicles and issuing citations. The City Administrator reported that the Sheriff's Department is utilized by the Code Enforcement Officer for running licensing plates. Letters are sent to vehicle owners requesting that they address Che violation. if violations are not addressed within a specified time frame, citations are issued. The Administrator felt that the City can consistently stay on top of the problem of junk vehicles better than the Sheriff's Department. He also