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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 20, 2017 Page 5 noted that delegating and devoting that much staff time was problematic. Also with the six-month licenses affecting this group, some with new property owners and outstanding criteria yet to be met, it also required time. As another example, Mr. Englund noted one situation where there were five buildings currently being sold that remained under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for comple- tion of checklist items from their last inspection, causing those buildings to be categorized at a lower rating until those issues had been addressed. Mr. Englund advised that staff was working with the new property owner to address the issues. Mayor Roe asked for confirmation that after the first round of inspections and fol- low-up with staff, those buildings would likely transition out of the need for a six- month inspection cycle. Ms. Collins concurred, noting that staff was finding a MOU much more effective when a property owner agreed to make improvements within a certain timeline versus using a shame scenario element on a six-month cycle. Assuming the City Council approves making this transition, Ms. Collins reported that it would free up code compliance staff, which can fluctuate depending on the season, but typi- cally 1/3 of that staff person's time was spent on inspections. Ms. Collins noted that this transition would allow staff to explore expanding the rental registration program, proposed to include those rentals of four or fewer units. For those re- porting their rentals of those smaller units, Ms. Collins advised that they are only required to pay an annual fee of $35. Since most cities include an initial inspec- tion of those smaller units as well, Ms. Collins advised that staff supported afford- ing the same review and inspection of those units to address safety concerns for those single-family homes, duplexes and four-plexes as well. Ms. Collins reported that there are currently 830 registered rentals for those smaller units, with approximately one-fourth of them condominiums that staff was not sure should be included in this proposed program. Depending on the City Council's direction, Ms. Collins advised that staff could explore inspecting a third of those smaller rentals annually; further reporting that staff had heard that some are looking forward to such an opportunity and other concerns expressed about single-family homes turning into rentals and renters moving in and out and not maintaining the property as they should or homes ending up in disrepair when oc- cupied as rentals. When the rental registration concept was kicked -off, Councilmember Willmus noted that there had been significant outreach and discussion, with considerable feedback from residents and small property owners (e.g. duplexes) and a desire not to license or inspect those smaller units. Councilmember Willmus stated that he hadn't seen any significant shift to lead him in the direction proposed by staff. Councilmember Willmus opined that the city's nuisance code had proven quite effective and he supported continuing those efforts for smaller properties, includ- ing those rentals. Councilmember Willmus questioned whether this idea about