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05-18-2000 ir0 CITIZEN CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD REGULAR MEETING MAY 18, 2000 5130 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Chairman Fowler called the Regular Meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. in the Community Center. ROLL CALL Members present were: Chairman Tony Fowler, Linda Johnson, Ben DelNigro, George Ann Keller, and Susan Hammond. Also present were Attorney Sidney Nowell, Code Enforcement Officer Beverly Kinney-Johnson, Lieutenant Bill Britain and Deputy City Clerk Lisa Bloomer. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Regular Meeting of April 20. 2000 Ms. Hammond made a motion to accept the April 20, 2000 minutes, second by Ms. Johnson. The motion CARRIED 5-0. SWEARING IN og WITNESSES Deputy City Clerk Bloomer swore in Ms. Kinney-Johnson. CASES IN COMPLIANCE Ms. Kinney-Johnson listed the following case in compliance: #2000-CE-0030 - James Gilligan - 514 Sea Hawk Court Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated she went by the location at 11:07 a.m. and there were no violations. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business to discuss. UNFINISHED BUSINESS By-laws - Attorney Sidney Nowell's review and input for final draft Attorney Nowell stated he reviewed the proposed edits to the by- laws. None of the proposed edits or prior language pose any legal problems. He thinks at some point, maybe it was unofficially, he asked whether or not the Board would consider adding a time frame for the public to make comments. This is not currently in the by-laws. This would be Section G - Conducting of Meetings. The order of business at regular meetings shall be as follows and there is a delineated process that does not at this time seem to have a section that allows the public to comment. Typically boards at the end of their meetings will reserve some time, usually limiting the public comment to three minutes per individual where they can comment on anything that took place during that meeting or outside of that meeting. He is suggesting the board might want to consider this. Chairman Fowler asked where he would suggested to slide it in there. Attorney Nowell stated just before adjournment. Ms. Kinney-Johnson asked the Board if they wanted a time limit on how long they are allowed to speak. Keller stated Council usually allows five minutes. Attorney Nowell suggested three minutes. Chairman Fowler asked if that is a situation they need to have in the by-laws. Nowell no, he wouldn't put the time in. As the chairperson, Chairman Fowler could make that announcement when they get to that point in the meeting. Ms. Keller asked about Article V, Section H regarding the agenda. Are we going to leave it as an agenda being prepared ten days prior to meeting. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated it would probably be prepared before that so they can have time to post properties and they also have to be able to get it to press. Ms. Keller stated in the minutes of April 20, 2000 and the City Manager stated that the board can select how many days they wish to have it. She wondered if they need to go over this and say how many days and put it in writing. She stated City Manager Hooper said the Board would select that. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated the sooner the cutoff date, that will lower the amount of cases that may come before the Board for that particular meeting. Chairman Fowler suggested wording it to be prepared by the Board Coordinator no less than ten days prior. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated okay. Chairman Fowler stated that way you have ample time. If it is done earlier, fine. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated they have to have it done earlier because the press has to have it in the paper ten days prior. Ms. Keller stated in the bylaws, under the names of Board, Susan Hammond's name needs to be added before this is signed off. Ms. Kinney-Johnson asked Ms. Hammond who she replaced. Chairman Fowler stated she replaced Dennis Vincenzi. Ms. Kinney-Johnson agreed to add her name. There were no further comments regarding the bylaws. Chairman Fowler asked for a motion to accept the bylaws as changed. Ms. Keller made a motion to accept the bylaws with the corrections as stated tonight, second by Johnson. The motion CARRIED- IED 5-0. Page -2- Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000 Lt. Britain asked Attorney Nowell if he wants them sent to him prior to the next meeting for his review. Attorney Nowell said yes, to send him a copy. Ms. Kinney-Johnson agreed to fax them. proposed Land Development Code Chairman Fowler asked if Council has had a workshop regarding some of the issues they have brought up. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated Council only got through the big issues such as boats, rv's, trailers, tents, parking on right-of-way and swales. Ms. Plaskett went through Article I through Article III. There were some changes suggested by the Planning & Zoning Board. They wanted to add a section for restaurants, and indoor takeout and drive thru. They also want three lanes in commercial parking areas so that if the fire lane is blocked there will still be two access lanes for ingress and egress with traffic. There needs to be additional work to define abandoned vehicles. As far as nuisance goes, the Planning & Zoning Board wants odor included. For a garage, to change business purpose to commercial business purpose. For litter they want to add tv's, computers etc. , which she already includes that They want the home occupational definitions to be reworked and Ms. Plaskett had said as far as home occupational licensing she did not want to see any advertising in phone books or newspapers. She doesn't believe that is something we really have control over. If they put it in the phone book it is there for a year. Attorney Nowell asked if that is something this Board would have to enforce. Ms. Kinney- Johnson stated yes, they would have to enforce if it passed. We would have to cover any zoning violations and code violations that we normally handle now. Ms. Johnson stated could you imagine the fines they could rack up telling someone to get their add out of the yellow pages. Lt. Britain stated like most cities there are laws on the books that have good meaning but are never enforced. Ms. Johnson stated that is almost like a catch all. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated when they see the ads in Pennysaver that helps them to find some of the home occupations that aren't licensed. Ms. Johnson asked if they are going to venture out into the Internet. If they are going to do the phone book, let's keep on going. That is a little much. Lt. Britain stated we have a lot more problems out there than that. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated City Manager Hooper as well as Councilwoman Rhodes stated there could be compromise if the City could do research on damage caused by temporary carports. She feels as the code stands as written, her kids can't even put up a pup-tent to have a sleep I over. So there needs to be compromise and common ground, things everyone can live with. 1 Page -3- Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000 Chairman Fowler asked if they will see some rewriting of some of these prior to them being voted on by Council. Ms. Kinney- Johnson stated she didn't know. Lt. Britain stated they would have to before it goes to public hearing. There is going to have to be a revised document. He would have to say yes the City will have to produce a new document. Ms. Johnson asked if they would get copies of it Lt. Britain stated he couldn't answer that, hopefully. Chairman Fowler stated he is sure all they have to do is request it He is asking the question because they have primarily spent two or three hours, two weeks ago discussing numerous items. Ms. Johnson had some suggestions that were included in his packet. Theoretically, they have done what they can at this point. Now they have to see where Council will go with this and see it rewritten more towards what they have suggested and more towards what they feel comfortable with and then they can argue again. He asked if he was correct in where this was going. Attorney Nowell stated he is unclear as to how their thoughts are actually going to be communicated to the Council. He doesn't know who is delivering their thoughts. He has thought about it since the workshop whether or not they can and should have input in the process. He is coming down on that yes, as a Board, they have the authority to have input. His concern about what happened at the workshop is that they were passing judgment on the validity of some of the proposals and at some point in the future those very same provisions may come back in front of us. He feels they need to get clarified from the Council when and how they wish to receive the Board's input on the proposed changes to the Code. What happened at the workshop he is suspecting their input is not getting to the Council. We spent x-number of hours here and a lot of valuable information was talked about but he isn't quite certain it ever went anywhere besides out of this room. Lt. Britain stated he sat in on the next department head meeting and Mr. Hooper asked Lynne what happened. He believes most of comments are going through Mr. Hooper. It is not the Board's job to make specific recommendations. The Board is on the judicial end, not the legislative end. Ms. Plaskett relayed a lot of the information the information to Mr.- Hooper. He will probably end up doing the compiling of all the complaints and data. He thinks a lot of that is going through the City Manager's office. He is usually the person that does the final and gets it all together. Attorney Nowell stated they are not the legislative arm when it comes to this process but they are the judicial arm. He thinks their input, especially on the ry issue, would be invaluable to the legislative branch because they are going to be the one's that have to enforce it. Page -4- Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000 lie Ms. Keller asked if they know if the Board's minutes go to Council. The Council should have a lot of information at hand of what is going on and what their discussions have been Lt. Britain stated the problem they are going to run into is there was no specific request. Everyone had ideas. That is as far as it will go with from this Board. There is no consensus of the Board per say, it is just suggestions. He believes that is all Attorney Nowell asked them to do. If they really want to get into the meat of it, they really need to go to City Council meetings and public hearings. At the last Council workshop, the public was not invited to speak and they will not be able to until the final draft comes out at the public hearings. Hopefully they will be able to see it prior to that occasion. Chairman Fowler stated as long as Attorney Nowell has the opportunity to review some of these things, from the standpoint of their ability to enforce what is ending up being voted on and then he can from a legal standpoint make said recommendations. He feels the Council's attorney will be the same way and will also look at it from a legal standpoint. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated previously they have given the Board drafts that have come straight through Code Enforcement. Jon, herself and Dennis wrote drafts for the Board. She suggested the Board might want to go back over some of the later drafts and compare those to what is in the current code to see what they agree with and don't agree with, what has been taken out that maybe should be staying in, just to refresh the Board's memory on what was started and how it ended up. Ms. Keller stated the City Manager has a copy of what they wrote down and he has a copy of their minutes. Chairman Fowler stated he has a feeling his ears have burned enough between Lynne who was not a happy camper last time and the public will let him know. It is going to be an interesting situation. Ms. Keller asked if they as private citizens, at an open Council meeting, if they come up with whatever the changes are that come out in public, can they say they would like to see something changed. Attorney Nowell stated as a private citizen you always have the right to present express yourself at a public forum and express your personal opinions. The questions are very fine lined in terms of when you are doing that, who you are. You will have to make it perfectly clear that whatever you are saying is in the context of being a private citizen. Ms. Kinney Johnson explained the list of complaints that she provided to the Board. Chairman Fowler asked if she could draw a ledger listing what the Action codes mean. Ms. Kinney-Johnson briefly explained the codes. She agreed to provide the Board with list. Lt. Britain stated they are looking into next year's budget about a new code enforcement program. They will be putting in for the program in next year's budget. Page -5- Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000 DISCUSSION TENS Review applications for two current vacancies on the Board Chairman Fowler stated they still have two seats on the Board that are empty. It appears they have three applicants at this time Ms. Hammond asked if she is wrong in assuming Elizabeth Donahue had an application in once before. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated the only one new is Dr. McGuire. Ms. Hammond stated she was scheduled for an interview at same time as she was Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated Ms. Cucanich was also interviewed previously. Mr. DelNigro informed the Board that Ms. Donahue used to live across the street from him. He remembers Chairman Fowler saying they didn't want Ms. Cucanich on the Board because she had a friend on the Board also. Chairman Fowler stated only because of the possibility of discussions.. This is just his personal feeling. There is nothing in the bylaws that says because she lives across the street from him that she can't. Ms. Johnson expressed concern regarding particular districts being represented by the Board which is minor compared to the suggestion in the Statutes that they have a group of or at least some input from professions in perhaps engineering or architecture to give a little more technical guidance when they need it. Frank was wonderful when they got into construction zoning violations where he could give some input from his own expertise. She would like to see someone on the Board with that kind of expertise to help them along when they start getting into those areas. Chairman Fowler stated the problem is they don't have one in front of them. Ms. Keller stated they had a couple of names back in February. There were a couple of gentlemen that they received their applications but she doesn't know if they got put on other boards. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated Mr. Burbaugh was one of those people and he had already been predetermined to go the Economic Development Board. Ms. Keller stated there was also a Mr. Cope. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated he was given an invitation to appear and he never showed up. The only two that responded were ms. Hammond and Ms. Cucanich. She stated they could hold this for a while and see if they get more applications in Chairman Fowler feels they need to do some major recruiting. Considering some of the history that goes on with the information here and so on, he doesn't feel real comfortable. Ms. Keller agreed. Chairman Fowler suggested putting Lt. Britain on the street and find a couple of good ones. Lt. Britain stated Susie Wadsworth puts an article in every newsletter that goes out and she is doing everything she can. They are being requested all the time because many boards are slighted. It is hard to find people to volunteer. Time is precious to a lot of people. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated she thinks she has even advertised in the newspaper. Page -6- Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000 Lt. Britain stated he doesn't know what more City can do. Chairman Fowler stated do we want to, if nothing else, possibly throw one name at Council at this point in time? He suggested possibly filling one spot and continue to recruit. Ms. Keller stated in that case she would suggest Mr. McGuire, who is retired. He is not serving on any board at the present time. He has been on committees before in his professional life. He might be good one. The other person they interviewed, Delores, she seemed to be kind of upsetting to hear and she was going into a lot of detail about not be able to work with Councils and that kind of gave her a little negative about listening to her going on about things. Even though she may have been on the Code Board before, in the present way of her feelings, it might be negative for being on the board. Chairman Fowler asked Ms. Keller if she was going to put that in the form of a motion? Ms. Keller made a motion to recommend Mr. Bobby McGuire to be considered as a choice for the Code Enforcement Board member, second by DelNigro. The motion CARRIED 5-0. Ms. Hammond asked about his age. Ms. Keller stated that isn't supposed to be a consideration, if it is a volunteer job. The age limit shouldn't really be a consideration. He is, after all, offering to become member of Board. In a job where you are paid you aren't supposed to be discriminated against for age. Ms. Hammond stated she wasn't thinking about that, she was thinking more health wise. Chairman Fowler stated that is not a necessary issue. Ms. Keller stated she doesn't think he would have even bothered to fill out form if he had some concerns about that. She stated she didn't know if they would want to ask him to come to next meeting and be interviewed. Attorney Nowell informed the Board they have to be very careful. Some of the information they may be curious about but it may not be appropriate to ask about age, health, disabilities unless they can show there is an absolute connection between those connections and the job they do here. Chairman Fowler stated there is a motion and second on floor to recommend Dr. McGuire to Council. If the Board things they should bring him in for an interview they could wait another month. The motion CARRIED 5-0. CODE ENFORCEMENT COMMENTS Lt. Britain stated he hopes to hire a second position next week. They are waiting for a couple things to be approved at the Council meeting Monday night. By the next meeting, he hopes to have the person here. Within the next 60 days, the Board will see a lot happening. He doesn't know if the person will be physically on board yet. They are looking at in-house. Chairman Fowler stated that will be some pretty big shoes to fill. Jon did very good job. Lt. Britain stated they have got some really great candidates that made their decision rough. Page -7- Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000 Ms. Johnson suggested in the future, if staff is asking the board to amend or change in any way, an order that the board has entered, could they have a copy of that order to look at so they would know what they are being asked to change. Ms. Kinney- Johnson asked if she was talking about the findings of facts, conclusion of law. Ms. Johnson spoke about a recent order that came before the Board asking then to change or amend the order extending a period of time. The situation in general, should that situation rise again, she would prefer to have the order in front of her to see what it is she is making a motion to change, rather than shooting from hip trying to think of what it might possibly say. She felt very comfortable with it and would prefer not to do it again. She would like to think that would be a general consensus. Ms. Kinney-Johnson stated if they do get the clerical person on board, they will be doing that paperwork. Lt. Britain stated they are also looking at a third position on Monday night. This person will replace Lisa at meetings and will also be in charge of the daily activities next door. Ms. Johnson asked if this person would be putting together agenda. Lt. Britain stated this person would be taking 80% away from Beverly. This person would organize the office, do the agenda packets and keep everything flowing in a good motion. Ms. Kinney-Johnson can't be in office and out on the road. The office is now being manned by an answering machine. One of the first things they told Mr. Hooper was they need a secretarial position to coordinate all this stuff. Ms. Kinney-Johnson has so much on her mind with cases plus trying to remember what the Board wants at the same time The Board will be able to call someone during the day if they would like to look at something before the meeting. It is not good system the way it is now and it is too easy for mistakes to happen. This is one of the things they are trying to eliminate. Lt. Britain stated his job it not go out into the field. He is not going to involve himself into those kinds of cases. Before any case comes up on the agenda for this Board, he will review it He is going to try to make the Board's life easy. Once in a while you might be able to say no meeting for lack of agenda and have a night off. They are talking to people again and getting out of the cars. No more nasty notes unless they have to They have some projects coming up in the next three to four months where the Board will have to make some major decisions and options. Chairman Fowler spoke about Mayor Schmidt and Councilman Vincenzi previously serving on the Code Enforcement Board and they understand some of the Board's problems and requests. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, Chairman Fowler adjourned the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Page -8- Lisa Bloomer Citizen Code Enforcement Board May 18, 2000