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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/09/1996 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE JULY 9, 1996 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Farley called the meeting to order at 7:35 p m Present at the meeting were Trustees George Clowes, T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert and Mmhaele Skowron Absent from the meeting were Trustees Richard Hendncks and Irvana Wilks Also present were Vdlage Manager M~chael Janoms, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Community Development D~rector Wilham Cooney, F~nance D~rector Bnan Caputo, V~llage Attorney Everette Hdl, Deputy Commumty Development D~rector Dawd Hulseberg and Enwronmental Health Coordinator Robert Roels M,.UTES M~nutes of June 25, 1996 Motion made by Trustee Corcoran and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert to accept the Minutes Trustee Clowes requested a revision on page s~x regarding the intent of comments d~scuss~ng the Gas Tax per gallon revenue source M~nuteswere approved with the rews~on as requested by Trustee Clowes CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None REVIEW OF INTERIOR APARTMENT INSPECTION PROGRAM Community Development Director William Cooney provided a general overview and history leading up to the draft presented to the Vdlage Board th~s evening He stated the general ~ntent of the draft Ordinance is to achieve the four goals which are hsted as follows 1) To address the seventy and number of vlolabons occurnng in the intenor~of apartments, 2) to ensure that ~nspecbons would not necessardy impose on an ~nd~wdual's rights, 3) to create an inspecbon process that is manageable by all part~es ~nvolved such as owners, management and Village staff and 4) to d~rect Vdlage resources to the most senous problems He also provided a general Ordinance summary which is listed'as follows 1 The lease must ~nform the tenants that the V~llage conducts inspecbons of apartment umts and invesbgates complaints for compliance w~th V~llage Codes to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the residents and the public 2 Twenty percent (20%) of the interior of the apartments in a building w~ll be ~nspected These ~nspecbons shall beg~n in June of 1997. Th~s time hne w~ll g~ve owners the opportumty to prowde not~ce ~n their leases and prewde the V~llage w~th suffi~ent time to educate owners and managers about the program 3 As an incanbve to assure comphance and to d~rect resources to problem areas, the number of un,ts respected can be reduced This can occur if no or only m~nor violations are found the prewous year dunng the annual inspecbon or dunng the invest~gabon of complaints of Code wolatlons The number of units w~ll be reduced as I~sted below ~ The dwelling umt ~nspect~on w~ll be waived for one year ~f a person owns 12 or fewer un~ts in a complex ~One dwelling unit w~ll be inspected ~f a person owns 13-19 umts ~n a complex ~ F~ve percent (5%) of the dwelling un~ts w~ll be ~nspected if a person owns 20 or more unJts ~n a complex. The number of un~ts inspected w~ll remain reduced as long as there are no or only m~nor wolat~ons found the prewous year dunng the annual inspect~on or dunng ~nvesbgat~on of service requests 4 If at any bme the owner or tenant refuses access to ~nspect the ~ntenor of a unit after proper not,ca, the V~llage may seek an adm~mstratlve warrant to gain access He also stated that there was a meeting w~th ~nterested mt~zens on June 6 where approximately 400 notices were sent and 34 people attended There were an additional 400 nobces ma~led to interested persons inwbng them to the meebng th~s evening Staff is also suggesting the formabon of an Ad Hoc Cit~zens' Committee to rewew the implementation of this Ordinance for the first 18 months and schedule semi-annual meetings to d~scuss vanous issues which may anse through th~s Ordinance The projected ~mplementabon date of the Ordinance and intenor inspections is June 1997. Th~s time lag w~ll allow staff to educate residents for approximately one year and the June date also coincides with license renewal Mayor Farley asked whether there~has been legal challenges to an Ordinance which requires ~ntenor mspecborts and whether there are specific notice procedures which have been mandated for ~ntenor ~nspect~ons Village Attomey Everette Hill noted that there has been no challenge to date which has been sustained but there may be some cases currently under hbgat~on which may address th~s issue He stated that generally ~t ~s not appropriate to target a specific group and an Ordinance must deal with all people equally in terms of ~ntenor inspecbons Environmental Health Coordinator Bob Roels prowded a general overview of the components of the Ordinance relabve to nobce of Inspecbon. He stated that dunng the first year staffw~ll be focusing on educabon He stated the Village w~ll provide a 30 day advance not~ce to owners, thereby, the owner then prowdes the nobce to the tenants If both the landlord and tenant refuse, then the Village has the opportumty to obtain an Administrative Warrant Tenants w~ll get a minimum of 72 hours' nobce by the owner in addition to a rider placed on the lease outhmng the interior ~nspectlon program The goal Is to review or inspect all umts throughout the V~llage ~n five-year cycles . General comments by the V~llage Board ~nciuded the following ~tems A discussion as to how the Ad Hoc Committee would be structured and what their purpose would be took place The Board also inquired as to the educabon components which w~ll be utilized to ~nform residents of the program There was also some discussion as to ensunng that umform inspections occur and it was requested that landlords also be provided the opportumty to part~c~pate m the ~nspect~on procedure of each umt Board members were prowded a general overview of the hcens~ng procedures for rental un,ts There was a request to remove the verbiage which refers to other structures ~n Secbon 23 1813 A) 4) There was also a request to change the Ordinance so ~t would apply to two units or more ~nstead of three umts or more It was also suggested that a not~ce be posted ~n the un~ts or in common areas for all tenants and perspective tenants to see that the ~ntenors have been inspected by the V~llage There was also a d~scussion concermng how the ~ncentlve program was structured A suggestion was made to strike the Section of the Ordinance that relates to the financial means to keep up umts or to clarify the language because financial means might not be the only reason that un,ts deteriorate Some Board members requested a rewew of the warmng conditions as outlined in the Ordinance as m~nor violations A concern was also raised as to why the inspection program d~d not ~nclude s~ngle- famdy hom~s Another concern was also raised as to why 20% of the units were p~cked as the percentage which should be ~nspected A concern was also raised as to possible Fourth Amendment wolat~ons and the use of probable cause for inspections Community Development Director Bill Cooney responded to a number of the comments of the Vdlage Board members He stated that the Ad Hoc Committee would consist of five owners with staff representation and meet semi-annually to offer suggestions for improvement of the Ordinance and would expect th,s Committee to meet six months after the adoption of the Ordinance Environmental Health Coordinator Bob Roels responded to a number of the comments of the V~llage Board members He stated that the warning conditions hsted would be cons~derad somewhat subjective but he would hope that the staff could look at ~nput from the owners to help define these items more clearly ~f necessary He stated that there is a standardized inspection procedure which ~s performed regularly to ensure that Inspectors are consistent ~n their ~nspectlons He stated the Vdlage has the option of going to Court to obtain an Administrative Warrant ~n order to get ~ns~de a unit when the tenant or owner or both are uncooperative He stated that an enforcement fee would be bdled to the owner for outstanding violations and the Village would have the option of revoking the hcense ~f necessary If the violations remain for a period of t~me the license may not be renewed at hcense renewal time However, staff sometimes waives the enforcement fees in order to encourage owners to put possible enforcement fees which may be lewed by the Vdlage ~nto the building to bnng ~t up to Code These k~nds of agreements are made ~n order to encourage cooperation and to ~mprove the quahty of the budding He also stated that the 20% figure was amved at ~n order to achieve rewew w~th~n five years and to make the incenbve program ,worthwhile Bob Roels stated that he would rewew the documents to ensure that there was no confusion as to possible violations transfemng to new owners At t~me of sale, whether such transfers would be hm~ted to a un,t-by-unit basis or to the owner of the budding ~tself would be rewewed by staff Jack Bardnger, 1510 North RiverWest, spoke He wanted to thank the Board for their expenditures to correct the flooding in the area However, he d~d want to speak regarding the Ordinance under consideration He stated he d~d not feel the Ordinance was necessary and feels that the current ~nspectlon program is strong enough to address concerns whmh have been h~ghhghted by staff to the Board He stated that inspection of occupied un~ts w~thout probable cause ~s a violation of Constitutional rights and feels that such an ~nspect~on procedure would drive residents out of town He felt that such an ~nspect~on of ~ntenors of dwelhng umts should not be hm~ted to mulb-fam~ly only Th~s program should also include s~ngle- family res~dencas He also stated that he would undertake a legal challenge ~fthe Ordinance is adopted Ralph Ketme, 940 East NorthWest Highway, spoke He stated that the V~llage currently inspects common areas and performs fire inspections of various dwelhng un~ts He stated that he recently received a nobca of 15 ~tems on a citation and feels that ~t is a burden to comply w~th these ~tems which had been c~ted He sa~d the taxes kept h~m from selhng the building and feels the inspection program ~s stnngent enough as ~t ~s Bob Warren, 921 South Owen, spoke He ~s speaking fora landlord who ~s unable to speak. He felt there should be rules ~mplemented by Mount Prospect to focus less on landlords and make tenants responsible for much of the damage which is caused to res~denbal un~ts He also stated the V~llage should make up any loss that tenants ~,ould be held responsible for regarding damage to the rented umts LIIIian Perham, $01 West Dempster, spoke She stated that the owners that are not concerned do not take the bme to show up to these meebngs She stated that focusing efforts on bad areas which are near good areas should also protect property values of owners who put forth the effort to keep the buildings up She stated that conversations she has had w~th tenants have hlghhghted their concerns about ~nspecbng bedrooms and bathrooms. She also felt that there ~s a need to ensure that Inspectors are consistent m terms of their ident~ficatmn of wolatmns She also stated that tenants fear eviction ~f they complain to their landlords They need education as to proper procedures to rectify problem areas She concluded her comments by stating that the Courts have been very uncooperabve w~th the V~llage when v~olat~ons are brought forth for resolubon John Cabanski, 1000 Pendleton, spoke He has a problem w~th the ~tems hsted as m~nor wolat~ons within the Ordinance He stated that he would challenge the V~llage to go to a single-family home which does not have many of the m~nor ~tems hsted He ~s concerned that multi-family homes may be held to a d~fferent standard He stated the Village knows where the problems are and should focus their efforts there He also stated that the V~llage should ~nclude umts of two-flats and above, not three umts and above Pat Maurer, 532 Ida Court, spoke He felt the tenants would be penahzed because they are renters and mntenor mspecbons would be a d~fferent burden upon them compared to s~ngle-famlly homeowners He felt ~f the outside ~s adequate then the ~ns~de must also be adequate Mayor Farley stated that he supports the Ordinance and the Ordinance should be changed to ~nclude un,ts of two res~denbal un,ts and above He stated that it was unfortunate that the focus would ~nclude good owners as well as bad m order to create appropnate law He stated that staff w~ll ensure equity and that the Ad Hoc Committee is a worthwhile project Trustee Skowron supports the Ordinance as long as the questions which have been raised are answered Trustee Clowes does not support the Ordinance and feels that there ~s a better means to achieve the same goal which has been outlined by staff Trustee Hoefert supports the Ordinance but would also hke to see a legal op~nmn as to Fourth Amendment ~ssues which may anse from passage of th~s Ordinance Trustee Corcoran supports the Ordinance and feels that th~s Ordinance w~ll ulbmately improve property values for all owners ~n the V~llage He also felt that the Village would w~n any type of Fourth Amendment challenge which may be brought forth ~'~ Consensus of the Village Board was to move forward for consideration of the Interior Inspection Ordinance at the first Village Board meeting In August. Village Manager Janonis stated that inspect~ons are not unannounced and there is a very detailed notice provision outhned In the Ordinance He stated the Ordinance has been created through input from owners and tenants over a lengthy period of time Trustee Clowes felt there has been hm~ted input opportunity s~nce the Ordinance draft was originally proposed to c~t~zens in early 1996 and can see hm~ted rews~on s~nce the ~mt~al proposal Village rManager Janonis stated that fair and equitable inspections have always been ~n place s~nce the original Landlord/Tenant Ord~nanca was passed in 1983 He stated it ~s not the retention of staff or anyone else to wolate rights of any md~wdual He stated that d~alogue has been under way for a number of years leading up to cons~derabon of th~s ~tem th~s evening . VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT Village Manager Janonls stated that Coffee w~th Council Is scheduled for the V~llage Hall from 900 a m unbl 1000 a m on Saturday, July 13 and from 10 30 a m until 12 00 noon at the RecPlex Th~s ~s the first floating Coffee w~th Council It ~s hoped that subsequent meetings w~ll be held ~n vanous areas of the community on a quarterly bas~s VI. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Hoefert wanted to thank the Special Events Commission and Pubhc Works for the outstanding 4th of July Parade and the two sets of fireworks Mayor Farley requested the Closed Session be deferred due to the absence of two Trustees Trustee Hoefert made a Motion to move ~nto Closed Session for Property Acquisition The Motion was Seconded by Trustee Skowron. Roll cell vote to move into Closed Session was held Trustees Clowes, Corcoran, Hoefert and Skowron voted yes V~llage Board members moved into Closed Session to discuss Property Acquisition at 9 35 p m VII. ADJOURNMENT The Committee of the VVhole meeting reconvened at 10 04 p m There being no further bus~ness to d~scuss, the meebng was adjourned at 10 05 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL DS/rcc Assistant V~llage Manager