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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, March 20, 2017 <br />Page 4 <br />Ms. Collins duly noted that concern, advising that the Fire and Community De- <br />velopment Departments had discussed this partnership, and intended that for the <br />first year or two as the program was realigned, increased collaboration between <br />those departments for assistance and to continue supporting each other. <br />Fire Chief Tim O'Neill advised that the Fire Department had worked throughout <br />last fall on a trial basis and as a learning experience with the Community Devel- <br />opment Department to determine how it would impact the Fire Department be- <br />yond the public safety aspect. Chief O'Neill advised that the intent was to make <br />sure everyone fully understood what it would entail. However, since the two de- <br />partments already worked together on an almost daily basis through the proactive <br />inspections process, Chief O'Neill noted that most of those inspections went be- <br />yond just a fire safety issues; and noted that typically if a unit or building was not <br />meeting fire code, it wasn't meeting building codes either. In those circumstanc- <br />es, Chief O'Neill reported that the Fire and Code Enforcement personnel returned <br />to a property as a team, specifically in those six-month re -inspection situations. <br />While the rental licensing program continued to evolve, and considering the time <br />involved over the next 3-5 years to complete inspections of all units, Chief <br />O'Neill advised it would be necessarily to rely on each others expertise. <br />Councilmember Willmus stated that he didn't object to this inspection proposal <br />and frequency for buildings with five or more units; but stated his concern with <br />buildings with five or fewer units. <br />Mayor Roe advised that the discussion on buildings with fewer units would be <br />addressed later tonight. <br />Specific to the proposed annual fees (Attachment C), Mayor Roe sought clarifica- <br />tion on how they related to current license categories and how they were intended <br />to transition under this new proposal. In other words, Mayor Roe asked if the <br />three-year licenses would still pay annually; and how the roughly one-third of the <br />buildings currently in the six-month category would compare; whether it repre- <br />sented a downward trend or up -tick. Mayor Roe opined that it seemed a high <br />number if inspections were only done once every three years. <br />Regarding the fee schedule, Mr. Englund clarified that it was based on a three- <br />year inspection cycle, but would still be paid annually as the cost of an annual fire <br />inspection. However, Mr. Englund advised that his recommendation was to re- <br />move the ratings system, with each building eventually inspected annually, and <br />individual units inspected every three years. With the proposal to remove catego- <br />ries as they are listed under the current rental licensing process, Mr. Englund not- <br />ed that scheduling was the hardest component of the program. For example, Mr. <br />Englund noted that as of December 2016, thirty-five buildings had been inspect- <br />ed, but next year there were ninety-two buildings scheduled for inspection; and <br />