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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003 01-21 HCM Amended MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND STATE OF MINNESOTA REGULAR SESSION JANUARY 21, 2003 COUNCIL COMMISSION ROOM CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission was called to order by Chairperson Yelich at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Chairperson Mark Yelich, Commissioners Ernie Erickson, Mary Barrus, Lloyd Deuel and Judy Thorbus. Also present were Council Liaison Kathleen Carmody, Brooklyn Center Police Sergeant Kevin Benner and Community Development Specialist Tom Bublitz. Kris Lawrence-Anderson was absent and excused from the meeting. Also in attendance at the meeting was Mr. David Johnson, a candidate for appointment to the Brooklyn Center Housing Commisison. APPROVAL OFAGENDA There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Erickson to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion passed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES December 17, 2002 There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Thorbus to approve the minutes of the December 17, 2002 Housing Commission meeting. The motion I passed. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT Chairperson Yelich welcomed Mr. David Johnson to the Housing Commission meeting and congratulated Commissioners Thorbus and Barrus on their reappointment to the Commission. Chairperson Yelich noted that at a recent Council meeting the City Council gave instructions to the City Attorney to research and report on rental property owners who have received some form of public financial assistance and what are the requirements owners must meet regarding this assistance. Chairperson Yelich stated he had spoken with former Councilmember Tim Ricker regarding the City's settlement with Summerchase and Mr. Ricker explained to him he voted against the settlement since it required that the City must pay its attorney fees. He explained that Mr. Ricker stated he believes the fees should have been paid by Summerchase. Chairperson Yelich noted that -1- Commissioner Lawrence-Anderson had commented on the cost of litigation for Summerchase at previous Housing Commission meetings. ELECTION OF CHAIRPERSONAND APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR Commissioner Yelich turned the meeting over to Vice Chairperson Lloyd Deuel for the purpose of conducting the annual election of the Chairperson of the Housing Commission. Commissioner Deuel opened the meeting for the purpose of nominations for Housing Commission Chair. Commissioner Erickson nominated Mark Yelich for Housing Commission Chair noting that he has served in this position admirably, and speaking as the previous chair to the Commission, he believed Chairperson Yelich is doing a better job than he did as chair. Commissioner Barrus seconded the nomination of Mark Yelich for Housing Commission Chair. Commissioner Deuel then asked for further nominations from the floor a total of three times and hearing none, he declared a unanimous ballot for Mark Yelich as Housing Commission Chair. Chairperson Yelich then reappointed Commissioner Lloyd Deuel as Vice Chair of the Housing Commission. Commissioner Deuel accepted the appointment and stated his goal was to finish out his current term. REVIEW CALLS FOR SERYICE DATA Chairperson Yelich welcomed Sergeant Kevin Benner to the meeting and asked him if he could explain the process used to create the calls for service data. Ser eant Kevin Benner ex lained that Brookl Center olice officers are assisted with com uter g p Yn P P aided dispatch, which is able to track what the officer did at each call and the type of call they responded to. As part of this process, in the current 12-911 ordinance, each month the department tallies the calls of the 48 major complexes, which consist of 12 units or more. He explained this monthly report adds up all calls at a particular complex even those not caused by tenants. Sergeant Benner continued to explain the process by noting that calls are reported by what is called the Minnesota Offense Code otherwise known as MOC. He explained the MOC code is a five-digit number that defines in great detail the type of call. For example, he pointed out an assault can include such elements as a life threatening assault, assault with a weapon, assault against a domestic partner, against a person in a particular location such as a car on the street, etc. He explained the MOC code takes one type of offense such as assault, disturbing the peace, vandalism, etc. and provides very specific detail. Chairperson Yelich asked Sergeant Benner if he could translate the statutory references for offenses into MOC codes. Sergeant Benner explained that this could be accomplished and noted that Minnesota Statute 609.224, which is the assault statute, could be translated into MOC codes and the MOC codes would divide the assault statutory reference to various types of assaults. -2- The Community Development Specialist referred to the draft ordinance and noted that the ordinance exempts specific calls as defined in the Domestic Abuse Act, Section 518B.01 where there is a report of domestic abuse as defined by the Domestic Abuse Act. Sergeant Benner indicated that calls generated relative to Section 518B.01 could be deleted from the report. He noted that in cases of domestic abuse under this provision there must be an implied threat which differentiates this type of assault from other types of domestic incidents. Chairperson Yelich then asked Sergeant Benner whether the counts listed in the calls for service graphs and tables include 518B.01. Sergeant Benner responded that the calls in the data supplied to the Housing Commission does include offenses under 518B.01. He explained that for City Ordinance 12-911, the department includes all calls but pointed out that the same ratio is present in the data assembled for 12-911 as we have with the edited calls for service submitted to the Housing Commission. Commissioner Barrus brought up the issue of including single family homes in a situation where someone owns four or more single family homes. Sergeant Benner indicated that he knows of only one situation similar to that in the city and it involved town homes. He added that the single family rental problems can be addressed through the 12-911 ordinance which could cover a single family rental situation. He explained that none of the I enforcement efforts under 12-911 have gone to stage three yet and that compliance has been achieved at stage two of the process. Councilmember Carmody left the meeting at 7:56 p.m. Commissioner Barrus stated that she wants to make sure that background check information gets into the ardinance such as is referenced on Page 7 of the Brooklyn Park ordinance, along with the statutory provisions contained in the New Brighton ordinance. Sergeant Benner expressed concern that the City should be cautious when considering a requirement for background checks as part of an ordinance. Commissioner Barrus stated that the Housing Commission did not want to dictate to owners and managers who they can rent to but they did want to require that all tenants go through a screening process. Chairperson Yelich next addressed the data provided on calls for service and questioned whether there was as seasonal fluctuation in calls for service. Sergeant Benner explained that there is a seasonal fluctuation and it goes up at the end of the year and that June is also another peak time. The Commission continued discussing the calls for service portion of the draft ordinance and -3- addressed the issue of the time period for counting calls for service. Chairperson Yelich called for the Housing Commission members to indicate what time period they think should be counted for calls for service. The Housing Commission consensus agreement was that the calls for service should be measured over a 12 month period. The Community Development Specialist noted that in both the 2001 and 2002 data the break point in I the calls for service seems to be at 1.01 to 1.10. Commission members continued to discuss the calls for service data and Sergeant Benner commented that the process used to establish the calls for service involves typing in an MOC code and an address. For example, he pointed out the homicide code would be typed in, then the address would be typed in and all calls relative to that particular address would be printed out under the specific MOC code for homicide. Commission members continued to discuss the calls for service data and Commission Erickson noted that the numbers for Sterling Square are roughly twice the number of the break point at 1.01 to 1.10. He questioned whether it would be realistic to be able to mitigate this down. Sergeant Benner stated that he believes this can be accomplished and that many times, these high numbers are caused by specific tenants or individuals in a complex. Often times if one or two groups, families or individuals are addressed, the numbers could drop significantly. Chairperson Yelich questioned whether Sergeant Benner agreed with the time period in the draft ordinance. Sergeant Benner stated he believes that six months is ample time to prepare and carry out a mitigation plan. The Community Development Specialist brought up the issue of annual license renewal for discussion. Chairperson Yelich stated he believes it is important that the license period coincide with the period used to count the calls for service. He pointed out these used together will require people to pay attention to their operation. Commissioner Barrus noted that the Commission has previously discussed the issue of rewarding good performers. Sergeant Benner noted that the City is actively pursuing the Crime Free Multi Housing Program and that this program focuses on positive reinforcement and rewards for actions taken to improve conditions at apartment complexes by managers and owners. With regard to annual licensing, Chairperson Yelich commented that he does not believe the City needs to inspect each complex annually, but he believes the license should be renewed annually so the performance of the apartment complex relative to calls for service is tied to the licensing process and fee. -4- Chairperson Yelich thanked Sergeant Benner for meeting with the Commission to review the calls for service process and inquired if there were any other questions for Sergeant Benner. The Commission concluded its discussion on the draft ordinance and it was noted that the Community Development Specialist would return with a final ordinance draft at the February meeting. OTHER B USINESS There was no other business addressed by the Commission. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion by Commissioner Deuel and seconded by Commissioner Thorbus to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed. The Brooklyn Center Housing Commission adjourned at 9:00 p.m. .e%t//[.- iL�(. Chai -5-