Agenda - Council - 10/08/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Howell agreed with Councilmember Specht and suggested $35 to $45 per apartment unit. Councilmember Woestehoff asked if they could charge for inspections by the quarter hour as a way to incentivize landlords and tenants to do the work to keep their units in compliance to minimize the inspection time. Community Development Director Hanson said she is not sure if they have the staffing capacity to handle the invoicing that would be associated with that. City Administrator Hagen shared that this could lead to speculation of people thinking the inspector is not working as efficiently or finding reasons to come back for a re-inspection just to charge more. Councilmember Woestehoff shared that he does not have an issue with charging a flat rate; however, this rate is hard to determine when they do not have good data with only being a year into the program. He said he would like to know how long an average single-family home inspection and apartment inspection are taking. He noted that would be okay with reducing the flat fee to $225 but would not want to go above $30 per unit. Councilmember Howell explained that she had a discussion with Community Development Director Hanson on making the fines for violations being less exorbitant but requiring people to pay them rather than holding off on collecting the fee. Planning Manager Larson noted that with code enforcement violations they are sending warning letters as the first notice before issuing a fine and violation and they are doing the same with the rental properties. He added that all landlords are provided a checklist that outlines what all needs to be in compliance. He explained that when the inspector goes out to the property, they ask the property owner to be there with them so they can point out things that need to be fixed or addressed. Councilmember Musgrove stated the Phase#1 violation is set at a$500 fine. She asked what kind of violation this would be that they are charging$500 for. She said there seems to be a wide range of violations that are all charged the same. Planning Manager Larson explained that this is under the crime free housing penalties and these fines are charged for crime related violations, not compliance violations. Councilmember Howell asked if the landlords have this information spelled out for them on what items would cause them to be fined. Community Development Director Hanson said it is a part of the crime free housing program. Councilmember Howell suggested making the single-family license somewhere between$175 and $190, making the multi-unit buildings license $750 with a per unit fee of$35. Councilmember Specht agreed. City Council Work Session/ September 24, 2024 Page 7 of 13