02-13-2013 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 13, 2013 With regard to the timing of inspections, the Council's consensus was that reinspections could be pushed out 2 years, so that they are required every 6 years rather than every 4 years. There was discussion of staggering the licensing and the inspections based on initial issuance of the license rather than the pre - determined time frame as currently exists. Keis asked if the two year licensing system proposed by the City Administrator will cover the City's costs. The City Administrator replied that it would. He noted that the current annual license covered the City's start -up costs for the program, and felt the two year license at $50 per building and $6 per unit would be adequate going forward. The Administrator relayed Council Member Montour's position that the proposed changes on inspections and licensing apply to the larger complexes, keeping the status quo for smaller rental units. Keis asked how many smaller units the City has, i.e. duplexes and single - family units. The Administrator estimated between 100 and 150. Keis pointed out that the City has not experienced significant problems with these units; therefore, he supported making the changes across -the- board. McGraw asked what the major issues would be, with Peilen indicating that egress windows and smoke detectors are likely the major items in smaller units. In summary, the Council supported the following: • retaining current inspection requirements and licensing fees for initial applications for rental licenses; • reducing license fees as proposed by the City Administrator for license renewals; • extending the inspection requirements to once every six years for renewals; • exploring the staggering of relicensing and inspection requirements based on when the initial license is issued; • reviewing inspection requirement information to be submitted by Peilen and making a recommendation on whether or not alternative inspection reports could be utilized for reinspections of larger complexes; • requiring the reinspection and relicensing of rental properties at the time of sale. MN PASS The next workshop topic relates to Municipal Consent for the MN PASS MUNICIPAL project. The Administrator submitted to the Council a revised Municipal CONSENT Consent Resolution, including Exhibit A -the February 12, 2013 letter to the City from Wayne Norris of MN DOT, for the project which has been modified based on very recent discussions with MN DOT and Ramsey County. The Administrator began a detailed review of these documents. 3