Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-19 CEAC MINUTES• • • I. II . City of Englewood Code Enforcement Advisory Committee Minutes from the Meeting of November 19, 2008 Call to Order The regular meeting of the Englewood Code Enforcement Advisory Committee was called to order at 6:39 pm by Chair Hoagland. Roll Call Present: Chair Hoagland, and Members Mosman, Becker, and Hart. Absent/Excused : Members Bayless, Cox, and Wilson. A quorum was present Ex-Officio Members Present: Council Liaisons Mccaslin and Penn, Staff Liaisons Flaherty, and Sergeant Contos. Absent/Excused : None. Approval of Minutes A motion to approve the minutes of the September 17, 2008 meeting was made by Member Becker and seconded by Member Mosman. The minutes were approved as submitted . There was no October meeting. Ill. Public Open Forum None. IV. New Business a. December CEAC Meeting b. Chair Hoagland inquired if board members want to hold a Code Enforcement Advisory Committee meeting in December. After a brief discussion, it was decided calls will be made prior to the scheduled meeting to determine whether a quorum will be present on December 171h. Code Officer Safety Council Liaison Mccaslin expressed condolences on the death of the Au rora code officer who was killed in the line of duty. Sergeant Contos reported that since this incident, Englewood officers have been extra vigilant. By law, code officers are • armed only with defensive weapons (batons and pepper spray); no firearms or tasers are permitted as code officers are not commissioned. Police officers are called in if necessary to assist code officers with a difficult situation. All officers are briefed as to potential problem areas. In January 2008, when Sergeant Contos started working with Code Enforcement, department procedures were thoroughly evaluated. Additional safety and personal self-defense training was initiated and officers were issued new defensive weapons. Since the Aurora shooting, code officers have also been issued bullet resistant vests. Discussion ensued. c. Board and Commission Interview Process Mayor Woodward's memorandum on the upcoming board and commission reappointment and interview process was distributed. No Committee positions are due to expire, but one alternate position is vacant. If members know of anyone who is interested in applying, applications available on the Web are due January 2"d. V. Unfinished Business a. Discussion regarding Use of the Violations Bureau Chair Hoagland summarized the City Attorney's responses to Council Requests generated at the September Code Enforcement Advisory Committee meeting. Request 08-259: By allowing violators to pay a fine and plead guilty at the Violations • Bureau, are we subverting the ability of the City to compel compliance? Can we have a violator fix the problem after he/she has been given a ticket? Response from City Attorney's Office: A violator could pay a Violations Bureau ticket at the counter but not clean up the property. The Court would lose jurisdiction at that point. Of course a new ticket could be issued as each da y would be a new violation. The opportunity and convenience to pay at the counter is only one tool of enforcement. Request 08-260: What percentage of weed violations are paid by fines and what percentage are going to court? What sort of outcomes are we getting? Response from City Attorney's Office: Year to date, six weed tickets have been issued: Two have outstanding bench warrants on them; one has a conditional suspension (if there are no further violations, the fine will be suspended); and three are still pending (one arraignment and two pre-trials). No weed tickets have been sent to the Violations Bureau only. Discussion ensued. Copies of Titles 5, 7, 11 and 15 of the Englewood Municipal Code relating to Code enforcement were distributed. A discussion ensued on the effectiveness of the Violations Bureau and whether or not to pursue this discussion. It was decided that Committee members will review these pages before the next meeting to determine if other violations could be resolved using the Violations Bureau. 2 • • • • b . Report from the Vicious Animal Task Force on Dog Owner Training Recommendations Member Hart advised she has not been able to schedule a Vicious Animal Task Force meeting. She 's looking at scheduling this the first week of December and will report back to the Committee. A discussi o n on dangerous dog violations ensued . As directed by the Committee, Bob Mccaslin will generate a Council Request asking if it is possible to withdraw a guilty plea entered at the Violations Bureau in order to go to court. In other words, if somebody pleads guilty to something without fully understanding the consequences, can they withdraw that guilty plea and proceed to the normal court procedure? c. Responses on Council Requests 08-259 and 08-260 These Counci l Requests as outlined in Item V.a. above were discussed. The consensus of opinion is that in general, property in Englewood is looking better. d. Distribution of Municipal Code Copies of sections of the Englewood Municipal Code pertaining to Code Enforcement were distributed under V.a . VI. Code Enforcement Monthly Reports for September/October Sergeant Contos had provided copies of the Code Enforcement Reports from September 2007 and 2008, and October 2007 and 2008. A discussion comparing the numbers ensued. Overall, incidents of weeds, graffiti, and trash and litter are up . Chair H oag land requested we ask for commentary from the Code officers about the fluctuations in graffiti activity. Sergeant Contos will follow-up with Officer Jason Pearson on what current patterns are. Council Liaison Penn suggested fluctuations might be determined in part by the school administration. If the school district is pressured to bring in hi gher numbers of students for State funding before the October count, enrollment is wide open. After the October count, enrollment criteria often becomes more structured with higher CSAP score, GPA, etc. being required. Council Liaison Penn said that one of the biggest complaints he hears is from constituents who ha ve to pay to clean up graffiti. The Code Department also receives calls on a regular basis as to why the City doesn 't pay for the removal of graffiti. Committee members discussed ways to provide free paint to cover graffiti such as donations from construction companies which have paint left over from jobs, donations from lo ca l paint stores, or recycled paint from the Hazardous Waste Roundup . The Committee briefl y discussed wildlife issues . 3 VII. Topics for Future Meetings • Commentary from CEAC members regarding the Ordinance handout. • • Continuation of discussion on the use of the Violations Bureau. • Graffiti patterns in the City of Englewood . VIII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:58 pm. • • 4