Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Councilmember Dehen suggested that the fees could be assessed if the ruling is in favor of the <br />City which is done in the court system. He stated that this would ensure that people make sure of <br />their case before they come into the process. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich stated that he will take a look at this possibility. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvigstated that this IS a complaint based process and asked where the <br />"common sense" factor steps.in. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way stated that when a complaint is received, they go out and take a look. He stated <br />that some cases are pretty easy, but others come down to a question of "what is junk?" and "what <br />is not junk?". He stated that many are related to vehicles, but noted that there are a lot that have <br />been cleared already. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look asked about the process after a cleared complaint comes back again. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way noted that they have sent a letter and also ticketed people. He stated that if it <br />is a different complaint, at the same address, they handle it case by case. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look asked about the ticket amount. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way stated that he believes it is a $50 ticket. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich noted that there has been work on a proposed ordinance for repeat <br />offenders that will be coming before the Council in the future. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated that some people just don't know or understand the ordinances and <br />he doesn't want to hammer people for that, but if they are multiple offenders, then he is out of <br />mercy. <br /> <br />Police Chief Way stated that,' overall, he thinks things have gone well with the abatement <br />ordinance. He noted that there are currently 49 cases pending and 145 cases that have been <br />cleared. He noted that there was something included in the packet regarding Elk River stepping <br />up their code enforcement. He stated that he is planning a similar article for the Ramsey <br />Resident. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich noted that the difference between Elk River and Ramsey is that <br />Ramsey is complaint based and officers are not doing a systematic search of the community. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec asked about the costs in officer time. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that, in his experience, the costs are higher during the initial <br />push, but tend to level off over time. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated that he just wanted the Council to be aware that there are costs associated <br />with this program. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / June 3, 2008 <br />Page 3 of 16 <br />