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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-05-19 CEAC MINUTES• • • 1. CODE ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES May 19, 1999 Call to Order. The regular meeting of the Englewood Code Enforcement Advisory Committee was called to order at 6 :40 p.m . by Chair Allen in the Community Room. Roll Call Present: Ex-Officio: Absent: Guest: Allen, Fischbach , Hansen, Johnson, Sell , Stankorb Moore, Nabholz Boyer, Roth Brotzman, Fisher, Ostrowski 2. Approval of Minutes. Member Hansen questioned if Barbara Fout had formally resigned from the Committee. Councilperson Nabholz stated that her second letter of resignation was read into record on Monday night. Member Johnson stated that there was some nay votes during the election of the Chair and wanted it to be reflected that Allen had not been unanimously elected . Since two members of the committee were not in attendance, it was determined that there would be a recount of votes at the next meeting . Allen was elected by majority vote, however, not unanimously. MEMBER FISCHBACH MOVED, AND MEMBER JOHNSON SECONDED , THATTHE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 17, 1999, CODE ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE BE APPROVED AS AMENDED. Ayes : Allen, Fis chbach, Hansen , Johnson , Sell, Stankorb Nays: None Absent: Boyer, Roth The motion carried . 3. Public open forum. Waived. 4. Old business. Chair Allen met the new Assistant City Manager. He had been invited to the last meeting which was canceled due to the Columbine High School tragedy. He expected him to attend ton ight 's meet i ng. Allen also talked with Art Scibelli of Neighborhood and Business Development to determine how the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee can partner with that group . They have certain issues that they are trying to address with the bus i ness community and how this Committee might be able to team up with them and vice versa. Scibelli wants to know what the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee is doing as a group and how they could help this Committee out with accomplishing its strategies. Allen attended the Merchant's Meeting last month and had a chance to address the group about what the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee is doing. Member Stankorb indicated that he had contacted Barb Fout and told her that the Advisory Committee would like her to reconsider resigning from the committee. He got the impression that she wanted to return. He wanted to know if she had sent her resignation in to the mayor. (Note: Stankorb was not in attendance when this was discussed earlier.) Councilperson Nabholz stated that Barb Fout's second letter of resignation had been read into record at the previous city council meeting and had been accepted. Stankorb will now order a plant, which had been voted on at the last meeting. Stankorb next advised that the Graffiti Ordinance had been on the agenda for City Council. However, an individual from CRL Associates, an advocacy group, had expressed the group's concern about the effect that the Ordinance was going to have on the merchants. As a result, the Ordinance was removed from the City Council agenda. The subcommittee members had a meeting with Dan Brotzman, several other people from the city, and two representatives from the advocacy group. The advocacy group is willing to provide some assistance in training and monitoring the merchants if some revision is made to the provision in the Ordinance, which currently states that spray paint must be locked up. CRL Associates suggested alternative language, developed by the International Municipal Lawyer's Association (IMLA), which states that materials that can be used in graffiti will be stored in a location where they can be monitored at all times, either personally or by video camera. It also states that should this prove to be ineffective, the materials would then have to be locked up. Member Roth talked to Dan Brotzman about redrafting that portion of the ordinance to use something similar to the suggested model language. Brotzman advised that the proposed IMLA language as well as the existing proposed language had been sent out as a part of the packet . Stankorb advised that CRL Associates is funded by several of the nationwide chains and that this language is being used in a number of other communities around the country. Brotzman stated that what was needed was a recommendation from the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee as to which language the Committee wanted to use. STANKORB MOVED, AND MEMBER SELL SECONDED, TO ACCEPT THE IMLA LANGUAGE RELATED TO THE DISPLAY AND STORAGE OF GRAFFITI MATERIALS AND THAT THE ORDINANCE BE SUBMITTED TO CITY COUNCIL. Ayes: Allen, Fischbach, Hansen, Johnson, Sell, Stankorb Nays: None Absent: Boyer, Roth The motion carried. The change to the proposed ordinance will be made by the City Attorney's office and it will be taken to the June 7th City Council meeting. Chair Allen recognized Steve Fisher and his assistant, John Ostrowski. They have been working together on Phase II of the efficiency study for the City. 2 • • • • 5. • • Review of chairperson's one-on-one phone interviews with committee . Allen shared with the Committee the results of his telephone interviews. First, he wanted to find out what the members felt was the group's greatest accomplishment. Several members indicated that they really didn't feel like much had been accomplished, that there were not too many results for the amount of time that had been spent. The remaining members mentioned that working on the Nuisance Abatement Ordinance and educating the community could be two things that the Committee should feel good about as well as the work that the Graffiti Subcommittee was accomplishing. When asked about what changes should be made as far as the way the group operates and what would improve satisfaction within the group, the answer that came up most often was more cooperation and communication from the staff people. The feeling is that the Committee and the staff are not always working together and that both are working with contrasting missions and purposes. Another frequent response was the need for more committee members. Allen indicated that he talked with Dan Jensen who seemed interested. Jensen has an application and it's now up to him. Committee members should keep looking at people they think would be of value to the group and see if more people can be recruited. Some members felt it would be better to do more things within the subcommittees. Allen asked each member to rate the Committee's performance to this point on a scale from 1-5. Since the average was 3, Allen feels there is a lot of room for improvement. When asked how the members would rate the performance of the subcommittee they were on, in the same manner, the answer was a little higher, about3.7. When asked to compare this Committee to other volunteer groups, those that have experience rated the performance of the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee as a 3.6 on a scale of 1-5. Allen feels that the Committee can be much more effective if the Committee's purpose is defined , the right partners and support people get involved, and the goals are clarified regarding what needs to be accomplished. Allen also asked the members what one or two issues should the Committee focus on over the next year . The most common answer was to prioritize Code Enforcement issues and define what really would have the most impact on the community . Other issues mentioned were strict enforcement of codes, looking at what areas really need to be addressed, and maybe having some more strict standards in Code Enforcement. Members value the fact that their voices are being heard and that they are making a difference in the community. The things that are least liked about being on the Committee are the perceived adversarial relationship with the city staff and that opposition getting in the way of meeting goals , the lack of mutual goals, and the frustration of getting things done quickly. Allen feels that in order to keep some level of commitment and motivation that goal setting is very important so members can be on the same page regarding what needs to be accomplished over the next year. Everyone needs to continue to be committed . 3 Stankorb was asked to relate his experience on some other groups and compare it to what has been done in the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee. The only other committee that Stankorb is on in the city is CGP, or Keep Englewood Beautiful. It takes a long time to get a group to come together, form and really start working as a group. He feels it took the Committee six months or so to start coming together as a group and that the members are expecting to accomplish too much too soon. It's just a long, slow, frustrating process. He stated that the members have to put everything into perspective and be willing to accept some frustration. If there aren't enough people who are dedicated enough for a long period of time to keep picking away at issues, they're never going to improve. 6. Strategy session. There was discussion regarding what the Committee should concentrate on during this next year. Allen felt that it was important to look at some specific goals that the group wanted to establish, that everyone feels strongly about, and that everyone can work toward. Some of the strategies are set in subcommittee. Fischbach feels that there is unfair Code Enforcement and that the Code Enforcement officers should switch their territories. Violations should be standardized regardless of who the citizen is and who the Code Enforcement officer is. Habitual/chronic problems should be on some sort of list and checked on regularly. Nabholz feels that this year the Committee can work on the meat of this issue and it's long overdue that chronic problems are addressed. The Graffiti Ordinance should be passed relatively soon. The Committee needs to continue to educate the citizens. The Education Subcommittee needs to move forward with the Blue Ribbon program because it can be an effective way of positive reinforcement in the community. Johnson asked why Lieutenant Wicks had not been attending the meetings. Division Chief Moore advised that they didn't want to seem to overwhelm the Committee with personnel. The Committee was advised that a supervisor would be on board soon and that the supervisor would be attending future meetings. Allen feels that it is important to know what is currently taking place in Code Enforcement and the supervisor would be able to give up-to-date reports in this regard. Moore feels that it would be helpful if Committee members could funnel four or five properties of concern to Allen a few days before the meeting. The supervisor could then bring a history of the properties to the meeting and be able to advise the Committee what had been done with the property. Progress reports could be given at every meeting on the status of the properties. Sell wanted to know what charges or monetary fees the citizen faces when the city goes in to clean up a property. Moore advised that a lien in the amount of the cost of the cleanup is placed on the tax bill. Sell wanted to know if there were any kinds of punitive things that could be done to drive home the seriousness of what is expected . Moore advised that Code Enforcement can't assess punitive damages but the court can. Moore indicated that there could be a way, by ordinance, to draft an ordinance that would allow for administrative fees to cover the time involved for the Code Enforcement officers to constantly monitor the property. 4 • • • • • The Assistant City Manager met with the Code Enforcement Team and addressed many of these same issues. Moore felt that the meeting was very productive and enabled Flaherty to get a better feel of what has transpired in the last year as well as where the Code Enforcement Team still needs to go. Flaherty has been directed by the City Manager to work not only with the team, but with this Committee and with Steve Fisher and anyone else who has an interest in Code Enforcement. There was some discussion of the Fisher Study such as the fact that Code Enforcement issues often involve multiple crimes and that the Impact Team could be used in some situations. Fisher feels that Code Enforcement should make a list of achievements on a monthly basis so that the Committee would feel better about what was being accomplished. There are certain parts of Englewood that the Code Enforcement officers are very proud of. When he rode along various officers would indicate to him areas that had improved; however, the news had stopped there and had not been communicated to the Committee or to the city manager. There was some discussion regarding how the Committee could help Code Enforcement get the necessary computer software for tracking and networking with other related departments. The Internal Operations subcommittee can take a recommendation back to city council regarding the need in that area. Moore stated that he isn't sure if the money, manpower, and time priorities exist at this point. As far as manpower, it depends on how bad the city council wants to get the problem off their back . If they want to get it off their back bad enough, they'll come up with the money and the manpower to get a decent system in there. The Committee's recommendation and city council's edict might hurry it up. Part of the problem with this database issue is that it must meet the needs of all of the departments involved. If they can't be linked, it would be a waste of time and resources. It's going to take some research and some real expertise, a whole lot of programming, and money. Fisher indicated that the conversion of the financial systems is the big emphasis right now. Allen stated that another interesting portion of the Fisher Study was the philosophies of the Code Enforcement officers. Some of the Code Enforcement officers feel they have to educate and try to get the problem resolved without enforcement. These officers feel that by working with the citizens and developing a relationship, the problem will get resolved. Other Code Enforcement officers have a more strict enforcement philosophy in that they play by the rules. Moore indicated that that issue had been dealt with on an interim basis and that it would be made more permanent when the new supervisor comes on. The division is moving toward more strict enforcement, more accountability, more paper trails, and more documentation. The Fisher Study was one of the main topics of discussion at the meeting between the Assistant City Manager and the Code Enforcement Team, which underscores the need for him to be very closely involved in these discussions. Allen stated that there were four things that needed to be done: 1) work toward establishing what really needs to be addressed; 2) clarify success stories; 3) prioritize standard operating procedures; and 4) establish an inventory of chronic problem areas . 5 7. Subcommittee assignments. Even though two members were absent, Committee members decided to go ahead and decide who would be on the various subcommittees for this year. Education/Blue Ribbon Subcommittee Todd Allen Gerald Stankorb Operational Strategies Subcommittee Todd Boyer Ruth Hansen Donna Johnson Ordinance Subcommittee Katherine Fischbach Don Roth Ted Sell The subcommittees will meet and decide on a chair and report to the committee at the next meeting. 8. Topics for June meeting agenda. Operational Strategies Subcommittee report. Kent Davies "Englewood Neighborhood Risk Hunt" presentation. Mike Flaherty comments. Division Chief Moore advised that he would not be attending the next meeting, that Lieutenant Wicks will be substituting for him. Also, if everything goes as planned, the new Code Enforcement Supervisor will attend. 9. Adjournment. MEMBER HANSEN MOVED, AND MEMBER FISCHBACH SECONDED, TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. Ayes: Allen, Fischbach, Hansen, Johnson, Sell, Stankorb Nays: None Absent: Boyer, Roth The motion carried and the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. 6 •