05-13-09 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL APRIL. 9, 2009 Zirmer questioned the level of difficulty for inspectors to obtain City licensing. The City Administrator indicated that if an inspector is licensed in the Cities of Minneapolis or St. Paul, they will be eligible for a Little Canada license. He noted that most of the inspectors have these licenses. Z,inner asked if there will be a fee for the City's license. 'I he Administrator indicated that he will have more specific details put together at the time of ordinance adoption. Oue property manager asked the about the tenant listing that is required under the ordinance and how often the City wants that updated listing. The Administrator indicated that management is required to maintain a up- to-date tenant listing that would be available to the City an an as needed basis. One property owner asked about tenants that maliciously cause damage to a unit and the impact of this on violations. The Administrator replied that the City would work with property owners in those situations. One property manager noted that some of their units just had Section 8 inspections and asked if these inspections would suffice. The Administrator replied that for the first cycle of inspections, independent inspectors would be used. Once fhe City has information on property conditions, it may be possible to substitute other inspections such as the Section 8 inspections. The next issues discussed related to license fees and ordinance implementation date. The consensus of the Council was for a July 1, 2009 implementation date delaying actual implementation until August 1'r given the new carbon dioxide detector regulations. Property owners would have four months to have inspections done and corrections made. The Administrator noted that he has a draft of housing evaluator guidelines that would be tttilized Uy the inspectors. Phis draft will be finalized and an inspection checklist developed. That checklist will be sent to the various property owners to they can do some proactive work on units prior to inspections beginning. 'T'he length of tinge required for individual unit inspections was discussed, and it was estimated that inspections will likely talcs about 10 minutes per unit. One property owner asked about inspection costs. The City Administrator noted that the property ownership will be in a better position to negotiate prices with contract inspectors. The Council discussed that one goal is that all the rental housing units will be well-maintained and that the City will be able to eliminate the 25