HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-09-20 CEAC MINUTES'
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I. Call to Order
City of Englewood
Code Enforcement Advisory Committee
Minutes of September 20, 2006
Chair Do o l ey Gehr called the regular meeting of the Englewo o d Code Enforcement
Advisory Committee (CEAC) to order at 6:35 p.m.
Roll Call
Members Present: Chair Dooley Gehr, Co-Chair Chris Hoagland, Marjorie Becker, and Paul
Hendricks.
Members Absent: Brian Bleile (excused), Erik Foster (resignation pending), and Marty
Mosman (excused).
A quorum of the Committee was present.
Ex-Officio Members Present: Council Liaison Jim Woodward, Mike Flaherty, and
Sergeant Sam Watson.
Ex-Officio Members Absent: Council Liaison Laurett Barrentine (excused) .
Guest: City Council Member Bob Mccaslin was present.
II. Approval of Minutes
Chair Gehr asked for corrections to the minutes of the August 16, 2006 meeting. There
were none.
A motion to approve the minutes of the August 16, 2006 Code Enforcement
Advisory Committee meeting as presented was made by Member Hoagland and
seconded by Member Hendricks. The minutes were unanim ous ly approved.
Ill . Open Public Forum
City Councilman Bob Mccaslin was present to give an update on the change in Code
enforcement timelines regarding foreclosed and abandoned property and weeds. This
should be in Council's hands by ne x t Monday, September 25 1h.
The initial noti ce is 7 days, and the posting is 14 days. That's 21 days prior to the summons.
Response to the i nitial notice is typically 88% or 89%. The response to the posting is a
smaller percentage. And most people respond to a summons by going to co urt.
Steps ha ve been taken to accelerate th e enfo rcement process on vacant or unoccupied
properties. If an owner is not available to accept a n o tice of v iolati o n, the 7 day notice has
been eliminated . The property will be posted and only go through a 14 day pro cess. If th is
posting expires without abatement, the City will either issu e a su mmo ns or do a mand atory
abate ment with a li en p ut on the prop er ty to recover costs. Staff must continually upd ate
these abandoned and vacant propertie s so that when weeds grow again in two weeks, the
City doesn't have to go through another 14 day posting and waiting period; the City can go
st raight to abatement and pu t a li en on the property.
Co uncil Member Mccaslin advised th ere is also so m e discussion within City Council on
am en ding timelines to clean up graffiti . H e is compiling a spread she et comparin g ho w
o th er cities handle co de enforcement iss ues.
It was pointed out that when we are dependent on an o utsid e metro area enti ty such as
Qwest, Xcel, RTD, or the State of Co lorado to cleanup graffiti o n th eir prop erty , it
sometime s takes longe r to co mpl ete th e clean up for example o n telephone boxes, bus
sto ps, sta t e bridges, etc.
Properties which are not maintained bring down the va lue of other properties in a
ne i ghb orhood.
IV. Miscellaneous Business
Chair Gehr req ueste d th at w e accept the letter of resignation of Member Erik Foster and
wish him th e best of luck in hi s endeavors with his wife in th e mountains. Chair Gehr also
requ este d that City Council fill this vacant positi o n at their ear li est convenience. Co un cil
Liaison Woodward adv ised that typ ically Co un cil makes appointm ents twice a year -in
January and June. Chair Gehr express ed concern that the Committee is making so me fairly
important recommendations with only four members present. Normally, there would be an
alternate to fulfill the responsibilities of a Committee member who is no lon ger able to
serve, but that alternate position is also vacant at this time.
V. Unfinished Business
A. Modification of Langua ge of Off Road Vehicle Ordinance (Section 15-9-2)
The committee would lik e to see a resolution to this iss ue; howeve r, two qu est ions
are still b ein g asked by the Committee:
• Why change langua ge that is in agreement with the model traffic code?
• Why reduce what can currently be stored in a citizen's back yard?
This topic of discussion originally addressed what could be stored in the front yard
of properties that did not have access to a backyard because of something beyond
the contro l of the owner.
Marjorie Becker expressed her opinion . People know when they buy a trailer
whether they have anyway of getting that trailer into their backyard. And, if they
can afford to buy a trailer but have no backyard storage, they can afford to pay to
park it some where. What one citizen has in their front yard impacts the property
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values of the neighborhood. If Council refuses to give specific direction or refuses
to allow a citizen the right to comment on what a neighbor can put in the front yard,
the Council is putting neighbors at odds.
Report on FunFest
Marty Mossman is not present this evening to give a report on the Fun Fest event
and Chair Gehr asked for a motion to table this report until the next meeting ..
Member Becker so moved, and Member Hoagland seconded this motion.
C. Property Owner's Responsibility for Public Right of Way (11 -5-5) Discussion
The City of Englewood has attempted to get the State of Colorado to clean up some
areas where they have responsibility; occasionally the state will do it, but not on a
regular basis. In most cases the state would say the property is in our jurisdiction,
and so it's our responsibility.
Member Hoagland has researched Arapahoe County plat maps for various
subdivisions around town. A public right of way is actually owned by whatever
jurisdiction it is in. In Englewood most of the city streets , curbs, gutters and some
pieces of lawn are owned by the City as right of way property. And the City does of
necessity require a more rigorous standard from property owners than the State of
Colorado does. This structure allows citizens the flexibility within reason to develop
adjacent right of way as an extension of their private property and maintained as the
property owner wishes.
Mike Flaherty indicates the City Manager has authority to assist with cleanup on
right of way properties. However, on a continuing situation , the City will draw lines
where the City is unable to do more because of a lack of resources. But the City
can and does do maintenance on a fairly regular basis on public property that the
City does not own even if a responsible party lives adjacent. We don't like to do
that, but on occasion we do that. The City Manager has that authority already.
VI. New Business
A. Discussion on Trapping Squirrels
Sergeant Watson indicated that prior to May 2003, Code Enforcement had five
squirrel traps that were put out with deposits - a lot like the cat traps now. In May
2003 , Code Enforcement decided not to do that for a variety of reasons . First, Code
Enforcement generally doesn 't get involved in wildlife issues. They normally get
involved only with domesticated animal issues, although will respond to wildlife
issues such as squirrels if the animal is sick or injured or deceased. During the bird
flu epidemic, due to the number of calls being received, Code Enforcement advised
private residents /homeowners to dispose of birds by double bagging them , throwing
them in a trash can , and sealing the lid. Code Enforcement will also share
information on how to deal with skunks, foxes or squirrels .
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The Division of Wildlife regulates squirrels. Trapped squirrels can be moved 5 to 10
miles, but cannot be relocated across a species line. European squirrels live in town
and black squirrels live in the mountains. And there are regulations about where
squirrels can be reintroduced so one person's problem doesn't become another
person's problem. A second issue is that of population density; squirrels will
naturally maintain a certain level of population in an area -so if squirrels are
removed from an area, remaining squirrels will have more litters to repopulate that
area. The issue of trapping and relocation at this time of year -late summer into fall
-is that squirrels are storing their food supply for winter. If trapped and moved to
another area now, squirrels will die a slow lingering death this winter because they
don't have the food stores.
B. Discussion on Jewish Holidays
Rosh Hashanah is this Friday, September 22nd and Yorn Kippur is Monday,
October 2nd. Member Hendricks made a motion to ask City Council to not
meet on Monday October 2nc1 in observance of the Jewish holid ay, but to
move this meeting to the next available date. Member Becker seconded this
motion. There being no opposition, the motion carried.
Mike Flaherty made a brief comment relative to that. There is not a regular
Council meeting prior to the October 2"d date. In the past, when a City
Council meeting is postponed or otherwise cancelled, they've done it durin g
a regular meeting in advance.
C. The Code Enforcement issues including Foreclosure Properties and Graffiti
will be on the October 2nd Study Session Agenda. And Off Road Vehicles
will be on the October 9th Study Session Agenda.
D . At the August Board and Commission Appreciation event, Council and Staff
expressed appreciation to members on the various boards for all the work
they've done this past year and presented bookmarks with the City of
Englewood logo and explanation of The Mark. Bookmarks were presented to
Dooley Gehr, Chris Hoagland, Marjorie Becker, and Paul Hendricks who
were not at the August event.
E. Sergeant Watson, will officially be promoted October 151
, but will still oversee
the community services group which includes Code Enforcement. Sergeant
Condreay will return as the Code representative.
VII. Code Enforcement Monthly Activity Report
Sergeant Watson advised the graffiti numbers are way down when compared to
previous months. Property owners are doing their part to cleanup personal property
and Code officers cleanup a lot of graffiti. There was some discussion on volunteer
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groups to assist with cleanup in public areas. •
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VIII.
Various other report categories such as Housing, Zoning Violations, Illegal Dumping,
Right Of Way Obstruction, and the Miscellaneous Code were discussed.
Topics for Next Meeting
• Report on FunFest.
• Possible cancellation of the December 201h meeting.
• Status on the new Code Trak system
IX. Adjournment
Member Hendricks made a motion to adjourn the meeting; this was seconded by Member
Becker. There being no opposition, the motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05
p.m.
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