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<br />Consensus of the Council was to direct staff to discard signs that are pulled from the right-of- <br />way. <br /> <br />Interim City Administrator Nelson indicated there will not be a penalty associated with the <br />signage at this time. Staff will report back to Council in six months regarding any issues or <br />complaints associated with the enforcement. <br /> <br />2) Nuisance Ordinance/Administrative Penalties <br /> <br />Ass't Community Development Dir/HRA Executive Dir. Frolik reviewed that in the past, <br />Council and staff have discussed looking into procedures that would make the code enforcement <br />efforts more efficient and effective. One of the options is implementing an administrative <br />hearing process to resolve code violation issues more expeditiously than the court system. <br />Another option is to implement a City-initiated abatement program. Ms. Frolik stated <br />Councilmembers Look and Dehen, Chief Way, Environmental Coordinator Anderson and she <br />visited the City of Coon Rapids, which has an abatement program and an administrative <br />program. The abatement program utilized by Coon Rapids allows a certain timeframe for <br />remedy if a notice is received of a code violation. If there is no remedy in that time frame notice <br />is sent that allows the City to enter the property and abate the nuisance, which is billed to the <br />property owner. If there is contest by the property owner it proceeds to a hearing by the <br />administrative officer. Coon Rapids has designated their Board of Adjustment as the hearing <br />officer. Ms. Frolik indicated Council could consider utilizing one or both of these programs. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen stated ashe recalls the Coon Rapids abatement of public nuisance <br />ordinance initially included the hearing officer. They determined it was more economical to use <br />one of their boards, so they designated the Board of Adjustment as the administrative hearing <br />officer. The City of Ramsey could utilize any board they determine for this purpose, such as the <br />Planning Commission, the Board of Review, or appointing a new board. Coon Rapids had <br />indicated it is very seldom that an appeal is heard. Of the 991 code enforcement cases opened in <br />2006, 31 involved some sort of abatement, and only 3 of the cases were appealed to the City <br />Council. The City Council decision can be appealed to the district court, which has not been <br />done in Coon Rapids. Councilmember Dehen reviewed the procedure used in Coon Rapids. If a <br />complaint is received the code enforcement officer visits the property to verify the code <br />violation. After this a notice of violation is sent to the property owner stating it needs to be <br />cleaned up within 20 days, and if not the City will be conducting the clean-up. Coon Rapids <br />does not charge anything for this part of the process. His feeling is that he would like to see <br />Ramsey have some sort of staff fee for the process of going to the property and writing the <br />violation. Councilmember Dehen stated with the Coon Rapids program if the clean-up needs to <br />be done by the city they hire a contractor to remove the junk. If it is a particularly problematic <br />property where the code enforcement person feels there might be some vola~ility they bring a <br />police officer with them. <br /> <br />City Attorney Goodrich indicated the property owner has the option of paying for the clean-up or <br />having it assessed onto their taxes. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / May 1,2007 <br />Page 5 of 16 <br />