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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 10-18 HCM MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER 1N THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION OCTOBER 18, 2005 COUNCIL COMMISSION ROOM CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Thorbus at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Judy Thorbus, Commissioners, David Johnson, Jean Schuster and Mark Yelich. Also present were Council Liaison Mary O'Connor, Councilmember Kathleen Carmody and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Commissioners Kris Lawrence-Anderson and Stan Leino were absent and excused from the meeting. APPROVAL OFAGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Yelich and seconded by Commissioner Schuster to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES SEPTEMBER 20, 2005 I Commissioner Johnson pointed out he was out of town for the September meeting and that his absence should be changed from unexcused to excused. There was a motion by Commissioner Schuster and seconded by Commissioner Yelich to I I approve the minutes of the September 20, 2005 Housing Commission meeting as amended to reflect the excused absence of Commissioner Johnson. The motion passed. CHAIRPERSONS REPORT Chairperson Thorbus explained that she had met with the Assistant City Manager and the Mayor this past Thursday to discuss the activities and future direction of the Housing Commission. She explained she shared the current priorities of the Commission with the Assistant City Manager and Mayor including the Commission's interest in the Opportunity Site, communication to the city's diverse population and code enforcement. With regard to the Opportunity Site activities, Chairperson Thorbus pointed out there is no new information at the present time. Regarding code enforcement, she explained the Mayor stated the code enforcement program is working well and with regard to the provisional license ordinance, the Mayor explained one rental complex in the city is currently in a provisional license status. Commissioner Yelich commented that in his discussions with Lieutenant Benner, the calls for service cut off at .65 may be high for the larger complexes and too low for the smaller complexes. -1- Chairperson Thorbus continued discussing her meeting with the Mayor and the Assistant City Manager pointing out that she stated the`Housing Commission was concerned about code violations and that the Mayor reviewed the code enforcement process and suggested that with regard to the rental licensing program. Perhaps the Commission should have Rebecca Crass attend a future meeting to discuss how the program process works. Councilmember Carmody explained the code enforcement officers do sweeps in the spring and summer but that enforcement is done year round. Councilmember Carmody stated she has talked with the Chief of Police regarding how patrol officers could note code violation items while on patrol and relay them to code enforcement officers. Chairperson Thorbus next discussed communication with the city's diverse population as it relates to city ordinances and other city information and explained she informed the Mayor it was important to the Housing Commission to make sure all the city's population were informed, especiallynew home owners. She noted the Mayor explained there was some type of document put together for new homeowners in the past in various languages. Councilmember Carmody commented that the information for new homeowners in various languages was not done by the city and that it was done approximately eight years ago by private businesses who sponsored the document. Chairperson Thorbus asked for discussion from Commission Members whether it is a good idea to draft a letter to the Council or have a meeting with the City Council to discuss the future direction of the Housing Commission. She also noted she discussed the issue of vacancies on the Commission with the Mayor. Commission Members discussed the option of holding a meeting with the City Council or drafting a letter to the Council regarding the future direction of the Commission. Commission Yelich commented that a meeting may not be a good use of time unless there is a specific issue to discuss. Councilmember O'Connor noted she had brought up the issue of the Housing Commission and its desire to get direction from the Council at previous meetings of the CounciL Chairperson Thorbus commented that at her meeting with the Assistant City Manager and the Mayor, she discussed the issue of assigning the Planning Commission the project to address the issue of the number of cars that can be parked at a single family residence. She explained the item was apparently assigned to the Planning Commission because it tied into zoning issues. COUNCIL LIAISONREPORT Councilmember O'Connor reviewed items discussed at recent City Council meetings including a discussion of information sent to rental license applicants such as information on how smoke detectors must be installed. She reviewed additional items including the current work needed on storm water ponds to be done by the City, a report on the storm related tree disposal and clean up -2- proj ect and the changes in the city's rental licensing ordinance. She explained the items relative to the rental ordinance included a change in the fee structure which changed the old fee from $155 per building to $200 per building, revised the per unit charge from $13 to $18 and changed the single family fee from $375 to a new fee of $400 for an initial license and $300 for a renewal. Councilmember O'Connor and Commission Members briefly discussed the Taacpayer League report relative to taxes on various cities in Hennepin County. STAFF REPORT ON ITEMS FROM SEPTEMBER MEETING The Community Development Specialist explained he had followed up on some of the items requested by the Commission at the September meeting. He explained he had spoken with the Chief of Police and that the Chief is presently working on a code enforcement xeport and the Housing Commission may be able to have a representative from the police department to review code enforcement and the provisional license program status at a future meeting. The Community Development Specialist explained he had contacted the City of Brooklyn Park and was informed that, because of the court ruling in the Brooklyn Park lawsuit with a rental owner, the city no longer has a provisional license program. He explained he had requested the court ruling from the city and would share that with Commission members when he received it. Apparently, the court ruling went against the city because the judge was concerned that the city's ordinance would discourage persons from calling for police service particularly in the area of domestic assault. He explained Minnesota Statute requires that landlords not inhibit or discourage tenants from calling for police assistance. With re ard to the current Brookl Park rental ro g yn p gram, the staffrepresentative from Brooklyn Park informed him that the current charge for rental license fees in the city is $18 per unit. He also noted that Brooklyn Park staff informed him that Brooklyn Park's current calls for service citywide is up 6% and in apartment complexes is up approximately 10%. DISCUSSION OFAGENDA FOR 2005-2006 Chairperson Thorbus reiterated the Commission's top priorities including the Opportunity Site, code enforcement and provisional license program follow-up and the future direction of the Housing Commission. She also brought up the issue of a brochure on major information of the city such as ordinances and other pertinent information to be developed in different languages. Commissioner Schuster noted that realtors have city data available in various languages. Commission Members discussed how to communicate information to new residents and what might be the best format for that communication. Councilmember Carmody commented on past projects of the Commission including the Commission's negative experience with the point of sale ordinance process. She also noted there is a lack of a specific work schedule for the Housing Commission and that the Council would need to come to some consensus and that there currently is no specific expectation of the Housing Commission. She contrasteci the City's Financial Commission, which has a distinct role to work -3- with the city budget. She stated some of the Commission's past projects have been too detail oriented and have taken a relatively long time to produce. She suggested that the Housing Commission develop recommendations rather than specific language to forvvard to the City Council and cited the example of the Commission's work on developing an ordinance for limiting the number of collector cars. Councilmember Cannody suggested that she thinks a meeting with the City Council is a good idea and that possible projects for the Commission would be to review Chapter 12 discrepancies and review housing options far the Opportunity Site. She also discussed the option of disbanding the Housing Commission. Chairperson Thorbus stated that she believed the Housing Commission was proactive when they took six months to tour senior citizen complexes to assist them in developing recommendations for senior housing. She noted the Commission completed the senior housing report and recommendations but the proposal for senior housing along 57 Avenue was not consistent with the Housing Commission's recommendations. She added that she thinks it would be helpful to have specific direction from the City Council regarding the Opportunity Site housing, for example. Chairperson Thorbus next discussed the possible proj ect of the Commission reviewing Chapter 12. Councilmember Carmody commented that a review of Chapter 12 would not necessarilybe a rewrite of the ordinance but the Commission's role could be to provide general comments not specific language to rewrite the ordinance. Commissioner Johnson stated that he has a hard time understanding the City Council's difficulty in finding a role for the Housing Commission. He explained he believed the Housing Commission is a mechanism for the City Council to get feedback on certain issues. Commissioner Yelich commented that he believes the Housing Commission serves as a citizen input for information to the City Council as well as for performing projects at the direction of the City Council. He added that he is concerned that people interested in the Housing Commission aze being steered away to other Commissions. Councilmember Carmody discussed the Housing Commission's role and the fact that the City Council does not always have specific projects for the Commission on an on-going basis. Commissioner Johnson commented that if there is no value to the Housing Commission's role and recommendations and the City Council is not interested in pursuing projects with the Commission, then perhaps the Housing Commission should not meet. However he added that he sees big challenges for the housing stock in the city in the future. Commissioner Johnson further inquired as to the city's long term goal and commented that the city needs to position itself for the positive for the future in terms of such issues as transportation and housing. He added he believes the Housing Commission can serve a function to provide the City Council an opportunity to explore ideas and visions and receive feedback. He again commented that he has a hard time determining why the City Council can't figure out a way to use the Commission. -4- Councilmember Carmody suggested again that the best option might be to hold a meeting with the City Council to discuss these items. OTHER B USINESS Commissioner Thorbus pointed out to Commission Members an article in the AARP journal which was a survey on how your city ranks in various areas. She pointed out the survey could be accessed at www.aarp.org/beyond50 There was no other business addressed by the Commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Johnson and seconded by Commissioner Schuster to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 9:55 p.m. Vl.� .J �1 c C 'rma� -5-