Agenda - Council - 03/25/2025 - Laserfiche WebLink

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inspector is writing up every single tenant who has a small rip in their carpet, then the Council would be hearing about it from the residents. He said focusing on these small details is not a good use of time and they need to be able to trust Staff that they are treating residents and landlords right. Community Development Director Hanson shared that she works with the inspector daily and there are instances where she is inspecting a unit and the carpeting is completely ripped up and causes a tripping hazard which would be a concern that needs to be addressed; however, there are also instances where a rip is very small or just has normal wear and tear that does not need to be addressed. She noted that when it comes to safety and the concern could be a hazard then that is when it needs to be addressed. Councilmember Buscher asked if they could put this item on a future Work Session agenda to fully iron out. Mayor Heineman noted that the Council does trust Staff to do what is right; however, they still want to do their due diligence for the residents. He added that they have a complaint -based system so if something is not being addressed it can be reported to the City. Councilmember Stewart asked if the inspector will still be looking in closets during inspections. She added that if a tenant does not want photos taken of their home, she thinks they have the right to say no to it. Mayor Heineman suggested adding a section that if a tenant declines to have photos taken in their unit then this would admit fault to the issue. Planning Manager Larson explained that the photo is to help identify the issue and work out the solutions with the property owner or manager. He said they are not taking broad pictures, just close-up pictures of the area of concern. Councilmember Olson said he likes the option of allowing tenants to opt out of having photos taken of issues found in the inspection. He noted these photos are to speed up the process of getting the issue fixed and if they do not want photos taken then they should be able to say no to that; however, this will likely slow down the process of getting the issue resolved. Mayor Heineman stated he would not want to waste Staff time by making them come back and look at the issue because they did not have a photo of it. Planning Manager Larson added that it would not be the tenant admitting fault by saying they do not want issues to be photographed. He noted that property managers have every right to take pictures of whatever they need to. Debra Musgrove noted that there was a question listed on the draft policy about property manager background checks and if those are conducted every year. City Council Work Session / March 11, 2025 Page 8 of 10