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She noted that there are also other avenues that they can advocate for tenants' rights as well as <br /> property owners' rights by having an open dialogue to allow tenants to talk to their landlords about <br /> concerns. She added that they can come up with other ways to protect the tenants without lessening <br /> what they are doing with this policy. <br /> Mayor Heineman noted the spirit of this policy to ensure there is a safe environment and that <br /> tenants and landlords are not taking advantage of each other. He said he would like to still allow <br /> the tenants to have security and privacy while the City is ensuring their living conditions are safe. <br /> Councilmember Specht said he is not concerned with this being a trust issue with Staff. He stated <br /> he is struggling with finding the balance with this policy where they are ensuring that tenants and <br /> landlords have a safe environment while not infringing upon anyone's right. He suggested scaling <br /> down the inspection checklist. <br /> Mayor Heineman shared that even when the Police Department is issued a warrant to search <br /> someone's residence, there are limitations to what they are able to search through. He noted that <br /> the inspectors are only entering these units to inspect certain things and anything that is outside of <br /> these set items would be off limits. <br /> Councilmember Buscher asked how many complaints they have received from tenants in the City <br /> about this being an overly restrictive policy. <br /> Community Development Director Hanson said they have only received one complaint. <br /> City Administrator Hagen shared that last year they had an apartment tenant who completely <br /> disagreed with letting the inspector in and they were able to address this situation right away with <br /> the concerned resident and they worked out an agreement that they would just inspect the unit after <br /> the tenant moved out. He explained that when they brought on a new Code Enforcement Officer a <br /> few years ago the code enforcement process began to move forward. He shared that during this <br /> time they were receiving calls from renters who were concerned with the state of their units. He <br /> said they have gotten support from the residents on this policy so far. <br /> The consensus of the Council was to direct Staff to scale back the inspection requirements and <br /> continue this discussion at the next Work Session. <br /> 3. TOPICS FOR FUTURE DISCUSSION <br /> 3.01: Review Future Topics/ Calendar <br /> Noted. <br /> 4. MAYOR/ COUNCIL / STAFF INPUT <br /> Councilmember Peters shared that he had residents contact him about the new State flag. <br /> Councilmember Stewart shared that she was also contacted by a resident in regard to the State flag. <br /> City Council Work Session/January 28, 2025 <br /> Page 8 of 9 <br />