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As part of the City's contract, the Ramsey County Sheriff is also responsible for enforcing the City's regulations. Their services are particularly needed after regular business hours and on weekends. Additional conversations with the Sheriffs office may be needed to ensure that the City's regulations are being enforced, and residents need to be educated to know that they are able to call Ramsey County during non -business hours. Staff is in the process of contacting other cities of similar size to assess their code enforcement staff resources. Each of the cities adjacent to Arden Hills has a full-time code enforcement officer. Complaint and Enforcement Policy In May of 2009, the City adopted an updated code compliance policy. Staff had been following a procedure prior to the update; however, a more formal policy provides a better foundation for staff. The purpose of the update was to provide a standard procedure and a clearer process to residents. The policy does allow for flexibility so that Staff can work toward the best outcome depending on the unique circumstances of a given situation. The policy is included in Attachment A. Administrative Fines The administrative fining process has grown in both popularity and in controversy in recent years. Page 5 of the City Attorney's July 31, 2008, letter includes the detailed legal background for this tool (Attachment B). Recent action at the State Legislature has permitted cities to levy administrative fines for traffic related offense. While State Statue remains largely silent on administrative fines for other types of City Code violations, it is the opinion of the City Attorney, and the league of Minnesota Cities, the a city is within its rights to enforce its own Code, and the use of administrative fines is a reasonable way of doing that. Although definitive research on the effectiveness of administrative fines is not available, Staff spoke with other cities about their programs. Some cities use administrative fines extensively and issue a fine along with the first notice for a violation, which is the case in Coon Rapids where they have a much larger code enforcement load. Other cities that were contacted use administrative fines more sparingly or not at all, even when the option is available in their Code. According to the cities that were contacted that use administrative fines, few properties received the actual fine because the fine would often be waived if the property was brought into compliance within a set time period. Still other cities have chosen not to use administrative fines at all citing the additional staff time required to implement and operate the program compared with lack of proven effectiveness. It should be noted that the communities that use administrative fines on a regular basis also have their own police force to issue them. City of Arden Hills City Council Work Session for October 19, 2009 IMetro-inetlardenhillsW dminl Council Wgendas & Packet Info rmation12009110-19-09 WorksessionlPacket Information110-19-09 -Work Session - Admin Fines. doc Page 3 of 5