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<br />Councilmember Dehen stated that the City has been utilizing the services of the inmates in the <br />Sentence to Serve program and asked if there would be a possibility. of using these services for <br />mowing lawns or painting houses. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich noted that typically there is a contract for a certain number of hours a <br />week and the City has not used them as a piscount service provider for yard work or painting. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen asked why the City couldn't use them because it seems like it is a more <br />inexpensive option. <br /> <br />Chairperson Olson stated that she. thinks there may be issues of having inmates working on <br />private property. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look stated that he is a landowner in Anoka and one of the problems there is <br />that they do not evenly apply the ordinances across the board. He stated that he sees this as an <br />ordinance issue because the City has ordinances that state how the homes need to look. <br /> <br />Community Development Director Miller stated that there are no ordinances that deal with the <br />exterior of a home. <br /> <br />Commissioner Look stated that he thinks the City does, and if not, he feels the City should have <br />one. He stated that his concern is that people have gotten into problems by getting into homes <br />that the banks and mortgage companies made easier for them to get into and now they are in <br />foreclosure. He stated that when you start messing with the market and creating incentives to get <br />people into things easier than they should, it may create a situation where it is something that <br />they cannot maintain and just gets everyone back in the same boat with foreclosures. He stated <br />that he isn't sure he would support taking taxpayer money and spending it to give incentives for <br />people to buy a home. He stated that he feels that, if you can afford the home, buy it, and if you <br />can't afford it, you shouldn't buy it. He stated that the damage has been done with the <br />foreclosures and he isn't sure how a government entity can throw a few bucks at this to get <br />people to buy a home. He noted that the foreclosures have brought the housing values down. <br /> <br />Chairperson Olson stated that she agrees that home values are down, but that home ownership is <br />good for any community. She stated that it is a lot more difficult for first time home buyers to <br />get into a home than it was a few years ago, so she doesn't think it is a bad idea to give people <br />some incentive to buy a home. <br /> <br />Commissioner Strommen stated that she agrees with Commissioner Look that a lot of the <br />damage has been done with foreclosures, but there are homes just sitting on the market and she <br />sees benefit in getting people into the homes and off the market. <br /> <br />Commissioner Look stated that when a house sells it goes on record for a certain value and this is <br />how neighboring homes get hurt because their home is also devalued. He stated that he feels it is <br />better for the neighbors to have the home sitting in foreclosure than to sell at a low price. <br /> <br />Housing and Redevelopment Authority I July 22, 2008 <br />Page 3 of8 <br />