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Mayor Kuzma stated he likes the fact that they are trying to work with property owners rather than <br />penalizing them. <br /> <br />Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick reiterated that he would rather not involve the police <br />in this case if it is not necessary and added that he was hired to try to educate property owners and <br />work with them to reach compliance. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell asked if it would lengthen the process by this going through code <br />enforcement rather than the police. <br /> <br />Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick said it would likely shorten the process. He noted if <br />the Police Department was to issue a court ticket, it would likely be a long time until these would <br />be assigned court dates. He shared that through code enforcement they could penalize the property <br />owner, abate the nuisance and charge it back to the property owner, and take other actions to <br />correct the issue far faster than a court may be able to do so. He said if they do need to write a <br />ticket they would do so. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove asked if they are writing this code for only one incident of plowing <br />snow into handicapped spots that has occurred or if these are often occurrences. <br /> <br />Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick said he has dealt with this situation 15 times since <br />he started in his position. He noted that it varies by location. He added that even some of the public <br />parks have had these incidents. He shared they are already working with the Parks and Recreation <br />Department to fix all of the City owned properties to make sure they are in compliance. He added <br />that they want to make sure that this is being enforced across the board for everyone. He explained <br />that these parking spots not being able to be used is a big thing for those who need to use these <br />spots. <br /> <br />Mayor Kuzma asked if there was a consensus on this ordinance. <br /> <br />The consensus of the Council was to move forward with the changes to Chapter 54 pertaining to <br />traffic and vehicles. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell shared that they had previously discussed items I, M and R under General <br />Nuisances and they do not appear to be changed from the discussion that took place. <br /> <br />Zoning Code Enforcement Officer Swalchick said he does not recall this discussion; however, they <br />can make changes to these items as needed. He shared that these items were existing in the prior <br />code and can be changed or removed as the Council sees fit. He noted he believes that item I is in <br />the code because there are certain buildings and structures that have a roof that hangs over a <br />sidewalk and if the snow starts to come down on the sidewalk, it could injure or hurt someone and <br />they should try to insure that these properties do not have any of these issues. He added they have <br />also had issues with sump pumps pumping water across a right-of-way or sidewalk which then <br />freezes in the winter. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / January 23, 2024 <br />Page 5 of 9 <br /> <br />