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<br />~ <br />/]'\~ HILLS <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />November 26, 2007 <br />Mayor and City Council ,) <br />Michelle Wolfe, City Administrator~ <br />Response to Mr. Richard Wenzel Regarding Code Enforcement Concerns <br /> <br />AGENDA ITEM: 7.D <br /> <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Arden Hills' resident Richard Wenzel appeared before the City Council at a recent meeting to voice <br />concerns regarding code enforcement issues with two properties along County Road D. Mr. Wenzel also <br />referenced issues related to animal control enforcement and a recent citation he received. At that time, <br />staff indicated that we would respond to Mr. Wenzel's concerns and report back at a future Council <br />meeting. <br /> <br />DISCUSSION <br /> <br />Mr. Wenzel has previously raised concerns to staff and Council regarding two properties along County <br />Road D. Staff has been working with these property owners on a number of code enforcement issues <br />since early 2006. Members of City staff have had more than 30 contacts with the property owner at one <br />location and 15 contacts with the other property owner at the other location due to code compliance <br />issues. In early November 2007, staff again visited both locations, noted violations, issued letters to the <br />owners, and notified them that re-inspections would occur in late November. <br /> <br />These enforcement issues point to the general difficulty in code enforcement. While staff has had <br />ongoing contact with the property owners and many of the violations were corrected, staff has limited <br />tools for ensuring continued compliance. Many of the issues are those that can be in or out of compliance <br />on a day-to-day basis. Although most properties quickly comply with code enforcement notifications, <br />there are some properties that continue to have code enforcement issues despite the actions taken by the <br />City, Sherriff, and/or the City Attorney. <br /> <br />There are tools that can be implemented in the future to assist staff with enforcement, such as <br />administrative fines, but they are not available to staff at this time. Administrative fines can be a useful <br />tool in code enforcement and compliance; however, there is still no guarantee that all properties will be in <br />compliance with the code one hundred percent of the time. Despite the difficulties of enforcing the Code, <br />the City does have an enduring commitment to enforcing the Code. <br /> <br />Mr. Scherbel contacted Mr. Wenzel and informed him that staff has been actively working on the code <br />enforcement issues with the properties on County Road D. Mr. Wenzel was also informed that this item <br />would be scheduled for the November 26 City Council meeting. <br /> <br />Ilmetro-inetlardenhillsladminlCity AdministratorIMemol200711 1-26-07 Memo RE Code Enforcement Concerns. doc <br />