The Administrative Committee of the Trenton City Council discussed rental issues and approved a change order for the Lake Manor stormwater project during a meeting Wednesday night at city hall.
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The Administrative Committee of the Trenton City Council discussed rental issues and approved a change order for the Lake Manor stormwater project during a meeting Wednesday night at city hall.
City Administrator Kerry Sampson said the committee met with Virgil Walden and Bob Chenoweth, who were representing owners of residential rental property in Trenton, and discussed concerns landlords have with the city’s rental property ordinance. Among the issues addressed was the requirement that rental properties be inspected each time they are re-rented and that the ordinance was not being followed. Sampson said the committee agreed to review what other communities who have such ordinances require, including the possibility of lessening the number of inspections required.
Sampson said it was pointed out that it was difficult to have all residential rental properties inspected by the city, which he said has a hard time tracking those units. The city tries to use its utility records for that purpose, however, he noted that some owners place the utilities in their name and the city is unable to determine when occupancy of the properties change, which is when the city ordinance requires an inspection. He said the city is trying to get a better handle on how to track this and, at the same time, would look at possibly changing some of the requirements of the current ordinance to make it more workable for both the property owner and the city. He noted that there was some concern expressed as to the city singling out rental property owners with the ordinance, however, Sampson said the city has a building code that covers owner-occupied dwellings as well, thus having building code regulations for all property.
The committee voted to recommend to the council that it appropriate an additional $7,000 for the Lake Manor stormwater project to cover the cost to replace around 210 feet of pipe that was not part of the original proposal. Sampson said the recommendation will first be forwarded to the Finance Committee for consideration, then taken to the council at its meeting Monday night for final approval.
The committee tabled bids received for removal of buildings on the former Tharp property on Oklahoma Avenue and the city industrial park site and instead asked Sampson to see how much work the city could do itself. The lowest bid received was a minimum of $6,200 for one property and Sampson said the committee felt other avenues to remove the buildings should be explored. Sampson said he will meet with department heads to determine whether or not city personnel could do the work.
The committee discussed whether or not to reduce the amount of liability insurance coverage it requires for contractors to do work for the city and decided to leave the amount at the current minimum of $1 million. Sampson said it would be in the city’s best interest to leave the amount at its current level and that while the city has had no formal written policy in the past for this, one will be developed and forward it to the council for consideration.