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