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10/20/2014 MINUTESMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BUILDING AND STANDARDS COMMISSION MONDAY, October 20, 2014 3:00 P.M. 1. Johnny Norris called the Building and Standards Commission Meeting to order at 3:00 P.M. Roll was called. A. The following members were present: Johnny Norris Wendell Moore Chad Lindsey Sally McEwin Jon McFadden — entered meeting at 3:05 B. Staff present: Robert Talley Audra Lane Stephanie Harris Larry Wright C. Others present: Sue Lancaster — City Council member 2. Approval of minutes from previous meetings. (September 15, 2014) Motion was made by Sally McEwin and seconded by Wendell Moore to approve the minutes for September 15, 2014 meeting. Motion carried unanimously. 4 -0 3. Public Hearing to consider presentations by City of Paris Code Inspectors and owner(s) and /or lien holder(s) of the below properties who have been given notice of a violation of Article III of Chapter 7 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Paris, Paris, Texas, entitled "Substandard and Dangerous Buildings and Structures ": A. 1341 NW 18th, Few Addition, Block 1, Lot 3 Owner: Melissa Massey, 1341 NW 18th Paris, TX 75460 Back Taxes Owed: $123.06 No contact with owner Robert Talley stated that this structure is a mobile home with structures added to it. The front window is broken, the roof is deteriorating and has holes in it, the porch posts are leaning and there is damage to the siding. There is also a large pile of rubbish which appears to be a portion of the roof. Robert Talley's recommendation: 30 days to demolish if not the City has the right to demolish and apply a $1000 per day civil penalty. Sally McEwan asked that if there was an order to demolish if everything would be taken off the lot. Mr. Talley stated that yes it would. Johnny Norris asked if they would even take the mobile home and Mr. Talley stated yes they would. Motion was made by Sally McEwin, seconded by Wendell Moore to accept Robert Talley's recommendation. Motion carried unanimously. 5 -0 B. This item was removed C. 548 NW 14th, City Block 231, Lot N/Pt of 1 Owner: Fred Robert Pascall, 548 NW 14th Paris, TX 75460 Back Taxes Owed: $2804.48 Owner is deceased Mr. Talley stated that a lot of the structure has already been demolished. There is no roof and all of the metal has been pulled off, the structure is unsecure. Robert Talley's recommendation: 30 days to demolish if not the City has the right to demolish and apply a $1000 per day civil penalty. Motion was made by Wendell Moore, seconded by Chad Lindsey to accept Robert Talley's recommendation. Motion carried unanimously. 5 -0 D. 2142 Bonham; City Block 201, Lot 7 Owner: Bobbie Lane, PO Box 1495 Paris, TX 75461 No contact with owner Back Taxes Owed: $19356.85 Robert Talley stated that the Paris Police Department has contacted him in regards to a lot of complaints about suspected drug activity. Mr. Talley showed pictures where the lot is overgrown with lots of limbs and brush, there is deterioration along the roof line, the front and back doors are opened, the ceiling is caving in, there are holes in the walls, the foundation is breaking apart, there is missing and deteriorated wood, and the house is full of junk and rubbish. Mr. Talley does believe that there are people going in and out of the house as there are mattresses on the floor where it looks like people are sleeping and continuing to use the restroom even though there are no services connected to this structure. Robert Talley's recommendation: 30 days to demolish if not the City has the right to demolish and apply a $1000 per day civil penalty. Johnny Norris asked if there had been any contact with the owner and Mr. Talley stated that there had not been any contact at all. Chad Lindsey asked if this house would be fast tracked for demolition since there is suspected drug activity. Mr. Talley stated that it has to go the full 30 days first but once the 30 days was up, services would be removed and it would be bumped up on the list. Motion was made by Chad Lindsey, seconded by Wendell Moore to accept Robert Talley's recommendation. Motion carried unanimously. 5 -0 Wendell Moore asked if Dish Network would be included on the check list of service removal. Mr. Talley stated that normally services such as dish or cable are cut by the contractor as there is no power to the structure. Sally McEwin asked that when Mr. Talley talked about utilities he meant gas, electric and water and Mr. Talley stated yes. Chad Lindsey asked if there were currently services to the house and Mr. Talley stated that there were no active services. Mr. Talley also stated that some structures will have meters attached but have no actual services to the house. E. 360 NW 3rd, City Block 56, Lot 11 Owner: Mary F Dudley Robert Dudley, 3678 Boulward Hills Atlanta, GA 30339 Back Taxes Owed: $1952.64 No Contact with Owner Robert Talley stated that the year is overgrown, the roof is deteriorating and sagging, the door is open in the back making the structure unsecure, there is water damage inside from the roof leaking, there are holes in the roof of the house and the roof of the porch. Robert Talley's recommendation: 30 days to demolish if not the City has the right to demolish and apply a $1000 per day civil penalty. Chad Lindsey asked if there was a certain height of a fence that you could have around the property so that it could be considered secure. Mr. Talley stated that in this instance no. Mr. Lindsey asked if in general. Mr. Talley stated that the city has a new fence ordinance that does not allow front yard fencing. If this structure had a fence it would most likely be grandfathered due to the fact that it would precede the fence ordinance. However, even if there was a privacy fence the owners would still be asked to secure the structure. Sally McEwin asked about back taxes on this property and on the previous property. If the taxes aren't being paid then the property is most likely not being maintained. Mrs. McEwin wanted to know if there was any way for the city to become aware of failure to pay property taxes sooner rather than later so that we can find the owners and have them pay property taxes. Mr. Talley stated that we do have a new tax attorney who is trying to get vacant lots sold and to get houses that are vacant but still salvageable sold at the tax auction. Mrs. Harris stated that back taxes don't have anything to do with what Code Enforcement does. That a property could have several years' worth of back taxes before Code Enforcement becomes involved. Mrs. Lancaster asked if there was no method the City can use to penalize people for failure to pay taxes. Mr. Talley stated that it wasn't a Code Enforcement issue but one for the tax attorney and he is working on it. The tax attorney is starting to work on foreclosing on properties with back taxes and going after the owners civilly. Motion was made by Chad Lindsey, seconded by Wendell Moore to accept Robert Talley's second recommendation. Motion carried unanimously. 5 -0 F. 707 & 705 W Campbell, City Block 87, Lot 11 Owner: Carlton D & Niesje A Cooper PO Box 600792 Dallas, TX 75360 Back Taxes Owed: $10,440.63 Robert Talley stated that Mr. Cooper has called four times and left messages and that he has returned his calls four times and left messages for Mr. Cooper but they have yet to speak and Mr. Cooper has never stated his intentions for the property. If Mr. Cooper and Mr. Talley do get in contact with each other and Mr. Cooper states that he wants to repair the structure it will come back before the Commission. There is deterioration of the roof cover, foundation damage, siding is falling off on the back and has been replaced by decking, and the foundation is starting to sink into the ground. Structure is unsecure and the floors are starting to separate from the walls. It has been boarded up in places but those boards are starting to twist due to foundation issues. Robert Talley's recommendation: 30 days to demolish if not the City has the right to demolish and apply a $1000 per day civil penalty. Mr. Norris stated that it resembles a mobile home and asked if Mr. Talley was sure it wasn't one. Mr. Talley stated that is wasn't and that Mr. Cooper has several structures like this all over town. Motion was made by Sally McEwin, seconded by Jon McFadden to accept Robert Talley's recommendation. Motion carried unanimously. 5 -0 4. Code Enforcement update. (1). Mr. Talley stated that the Building and Standards Report format was changed and that the first page is a Word document that shows what was done each month and the second page shows what is incomplete. Mr. Norris stated that he liked this format better. (2). Mr. Norris asked about the property that the police had to remove the people. Mr. Talley asked if he was talking about the Pruitt's property and that it was tied up in court. Mr. Norris was speaking of 1501 E Price and it has been demolished. (3). Mrs. McEwin asked about the trailer houses on Clarksville. Mr. Talley stated that one of them is gone and one is on the trailer to be moved. Mr. Talley stated that they have about 80% of the property cleaned. It is the cleanest it has ever been. They have cut brush and trees, removed the fallen carport and mowed. (4). Chad Lindsey asked if the City Council concerns about the speed in which things are being done and wondered if there was any feedback. Mr. Talley stated that he gave his presentation and they seemed happy. (5). Mrs. McEwin asked how much was remaining in the budget. Mr. Talley stated that after the last bill there should be around $60,000. He stated that the City Manager said once that money is gone it will be brought back before the City Council. (6). Mr. Norris asked about City owned property that has high grass and weeds. Mr. Talley stated that those properties get moved up on the list but there are times that they get missed. Mr. Norris asked if someone wanted to turn in a City owned property who should they call. Mr. Talley stated they need to call either him or Public Works. 5. Adjournment Motion was made by Chad Lindsey, seconded by Wendell Moore to adjourn the meeting at 3:35pm. Motion carried unanimously. 5 -0 APPROVED THIS 17t" DAY OF NOVEMBER 2014. airman