Agenda - Council - 04/08/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Zimmerman inquired if a business was a secondhand dealer would they only be able to sell what is identified in the permit. Captain Dwyer replied yes. He inquired if the secondhand dealer ordinance is something that the Council would be interested in. Consensus of the Council was that they would like to see a separate secondhand dealer ordinance. Councilmember Zin'nnerman inquired as to what the current costs are to the City to monitor the pawnshop. Office Manager Weimann explained that currently Ralph's Pawn and Gun shop is paying $5,000 a year for his license,- which includes investigating fees. The APS system costs $1.00 per transaction. The City would be charged the $1.00 and then the City charges the pawnshop however they see fit. The start-up cost would be $1,050 that would be billed to the Police Department. Mayor Gamec inquired as to where the funds would come from to pay for the APS system. Office Manager Weimann explained that they would be looking at implementing the program the first of the year since the pawnshop has already paid their license fee for the year. The City Council directed staff to review the current Pawn and Secondhand dealer ordinance and introduce a separate Secondhand Dealer ordinance. Additionally, evaluate the implementation of an Automated Pawn System to enhance the investigative capabilities within the Police Department. 3) Administrative Hearing Procedures Principal Plarmer Trudgeon explained that currently the City handles code enforcement issues on a complaint basis at which time staff would review the situation and determine if it is a legal complaint. If the complaint is legitimate, a letter is sent to the property owner giving them 30 days to correct' the problem. In the meantime, if the property owner contacts the City, staff makes an attempt to work with them. At the end of 30-day period and the property owner has not complied with the letter or contacted staff another letter is sent out giving them an additional 14 days. After the 14 days if no action has been taken the issue is forwarded to the City Attorney. All along, the goal is to work with the property owner, not bring them to court. The problem with that system is that it does not get' fast results, which ends up in a lose-lose situation. Staff has researched Administrative Hearing programs that other cities have implemented. There appears to be a number of advantages to this type of system compared to the criminal .justice system. The Administrative Hearing process allows municipalities to conduct local, informal hearing to resolve code violations. This type of program may help expedite abatement of code violations that occur in Ramsey. City Council/March 4, 2003 Page 8 of 16 I I I i I I I I I I I I I I i I I I I