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<br />City Council Regular Meeting - 11/28/05 <br />Minutes - Page 16 <br /> <br />necessary, and how or if they were linked. <br /> <br />Mr. Welsch deferred to the City's Code Administrators; noting <br />that the City fielded between 500-700 code compliance <br />complaints annually, not building code issues, but normal <br />maintenance issues. Mr. Welsch noted that, while most found <br />resolution with staff working with the property owner and/or <br />tenant, the City didn't have standards to adequately describe <br />good maintenance and/or clean up; and that it had been discussed <br />since at least the mid-1990's. Mr. Welsch opined that a building <br />maintenance code to protect housing stock would be more useful <br />than the bits and pieces currently addressed by City Code. <br /> <br />Mayor Klausing sought clarification on how a property <br />maintenance code could achieve what a general code couldn't. <br /> <br />Mr. Munson summarized that, for the most part, IPMC clarifies <br />what the City has in code right now. Mr. Munson reviewed <br />specifics of exterior maintenance (i.e., foundation, siding, roofs); <br />and particularly, interior issues currently not able to be addressed <br />given staffs lack of authority to inspect single-family homes <br />being used as rentals, if that information is even confirmed by <br />staff. Mr. Munson noted that the proposed maintenance code <br />would be used with discretion and the process implemented only <br />in extreme non-compliance cases. <br /> <br />Further discussion included large apartment complexes, related <br />violations, and maintenance of professionally managed units; <br />management of the inspection process; complaint-driven process <br />and resolution for smaller units; Fire Inspector inspections; and <br />absentee landowners and/or investors creating additional <br />problems and the majority of the complaints. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kough sought additional information on the <br />implementation through the HRA Budget; and the deficit <br />between projected fees to be collected and the cost of the <br />program. <br /> <br />Mr. Welsch advised that the inspections were not for business <br />purposes, but was a service-related program; with the HRA levy <br />fully-funding the inspection of 450 units; and the estimated <br />