04/2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Regular Council Meeting April 23, 2012 "Page 8 A Motion to remove this item from the table was made by Council Member Pickle and seconded by Council McCarthy. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. Mayor Hashmi inquired of Mr. Sullivan about a street sweeper schedule. Mr. Sullivan presented the Council with a schedule for all of the streets in the City and said that staff would start and finish in the order outlined. 23. Deliberate and act on recommendations of the Task Force on Sub - Standard Structures. Council Member Wright presented he following recommendation made by the Task Force: adoption of a flowchart; focus on repair not demolition; review and possibly amend both the HPC and BSC Ordinances to allow HPC to refer already designated Historic Structures to BSC for repair; City Council budget monies to address engineering studies, or city repair of property; adoption of the tracking spreadsheet, prioritizing properties, tracking progress, reporting status, and posting on -line; recommend becoming a court of record or get support from an existing Court; consider funding opportunities to help property owners including tax abatement, low interest loans, increase facade grant amount for Historic District properties, designate certain areas as Empowerment Zones, local contribution fund for repairs from business; and look at utilizing money budgeted for demolition and landfill as an avenue to fund engineering studies and utilize possible contriNations from local banks via a non -profit entity and look for companies who might demolish structures for materials to help offset cost. Mayor Hashmi asked Building and Standards Commission Chairman Don Wilson if he would like to comment on this item. Mr. Wilson said he was there to ask the City Council to add to the Code of Ordinances a provision that would require the owner of a deteriorated building to hire a structural engineer if 1) the owner does not agree with the code enforcement officer's opinion that the building is unsafe; or 2) the City Staff feels unqualified to determine the salfety and soundness of the building. Mr. Wilson stated if tt e. owner refuses to secure the structural engineer, the proposed ordinance needs to give the City the authority to assess a civil penalty, as well as hire a structural engineer whose fees can be recovered by filing a lien against the property. Mayor Hasbmi confirmed that Mr. Wilson's request was not part of the Task Force recommendations. Mr. Wilson said he would like for Council to discuss this and amend ordinances to give Building and Standards Commission authority to assess a civil penalty and hire a structural engineer. Mayor Hashmi asked City Attorney Kent McIlyar if he would like to comment on this item. Mr. McIlyar explained that the City did not have authority to hire visiting judges, because that procedure was set up through State Statute. He said the Municipal Court did hear code enforcement cases and was not a court of record. Mr. McIlyar explained the difference between the City of Paris' Municipal Court and a court of record. Mr. McIlyar addressed the Paris Historic Preservation Commission and the Building and Standards Commission interaction on substandard cases. He explained if one of the properties was in the Historic District and it was substandard, the code enforcement officer would first send it to the Historic Preservation Commission for HPC to review and determine if they could do something with the building. Mr. McIlyar said he had seen a lot of these cases sent from HPC to Building and Standards for