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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,May 20,2013 Page 29 spections, not internal inspections; and advised that the same staff performing that program would not be qualified to perform internal inspections. Ms. Peilen expressed appreciation that the City Council was willing to explore the issue, and reiterated the willingness of their membership in continuing to work with the City to negate this huge upfront cost for property owners. Mayor Roe questioned if it made sense for a three year process, and after the first round of inspections, determine a probationary rate and mitigate costs as well,un- less such an effort would provide too much complexity. Mr. Trudgeon observed that this had provided for good discussion, and was simi- lar to that held at the HRA level, and recognized that the initial inspections were critical to establish a base, while also being cognizant of their expense. While it appeared that the City Council was asking for alternatives or solutions for fund- ing, Mr. Trudgeon noted that it could be argued that as a City the goal was to make sure it had the best quality housing, and could accomplish that by infusing dollars from the HRA and/or City. However, recognizing that funding was lim- ited, Mr. Trudgeon noted that this may not be viable, but he was hearing that the desire was to keep exploring options, and would prove helpful direction to staff and the HRA moving forward, in attempting to find a solution other than 100% and continue working with the association. Mr. Trudgeon noted that he was not hearing that this was not a good basis from which to start, just that a funding mechanism was critical to make the whole thing work. Absent the financing as- pect, Mr. Trudgeon suggested that the process could continue to move while those considerations were fine-tuned; advising that the program was anticipated for im- plementation in 2015, not 2014, to facilitate getting things in order from an ad- ministrative and budget perspective, and working out schedules with property owner s for initial inspections. Ms. Kelsey noted that property owners had also asked that the schedule recognize their budget cycles, advising that if drafting of an ordinance was initiated, proper- ty owners would still be included in the process, with anticipated adoption before year-end 2013, allowing an entire year (2014) to put the framework together, and allow property owners to work this cost into their budgets and allow the City time to find third-party inspectors and seek authorization for inspections. At the last HRA meeting, Ms. Kelsey advised that staff was authorized to move forward with drafting an ordinance and working out the details, while continue seeking addi- tional comment from all parties, including property owners. Councilmember Laliberte questioned what type of program could be put in place for self-reporting or tenant reporting directly to the City with assurances there would be no reprisals and no fear of eviction.