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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.14.18 Minutes (2) f Oshkosh RENTAL HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD MINTUES MARCH 14, 2018 PRESENT: Margy Davey, Cheryl Hentz, Timothy Ernst, Linda Jevaltas, Lori Palmeri,Matthew Stenerson EXCUSED: Matt Mugerauer, Sherri Devereau STAFF: Allen Davis, Community Development Director, John Zarate, Chief Building Official, Andrew Prickett, Building Systems Inspector, Casey Koelbl, Housing Inspector, Kathy Fredrick, Weights and Measures/Code Enforcement Clerk OTHER: Emily Springstroh, Communications Coordinator CALL TO ORDER Ms. Davey called the meeting to order at 3:31 p.m. The minutes of the February 14, 2018 meeting were approved as presented. (Rentz/Jevaltas) SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook Comment Management Analytics Ms. Springstroh reported the RHAB Facebook page had 65 followers. She encouraged board members to "like' and share the page to increase following. She stated shortly after the Facebook page was initiated there had been a critical comment posted which spurred the question should the comments be disabled on the RHAB Facebook page? Ms. Hentz stated she favored an open dialogue and preferred not to disable the comments on the RHAB Facebook page. She stated since the initial critical comment there had not been any issues and she was finding that critics of the rental housing program were starting to share information posted on the RHAB Facebook page. She invited input from the Board and City staff for items to post to the Facebook page. NOTE: Lori Palmeri joined the meeting at 3:39 p.m. STATE OF THE CITY Ms. Springstroh reported the Oshkosh State of the City would be on Monday, March 19th at 6:00 p.m. at the Oshkosh Convention Center and the City Manager's address would begin at 6:30 p.m. She stated the RHAB would share a table with GO-HNI. She suggested along with the educational brochures,the Board use a lap top to display the rental housing inspection program promotional video and mock inspection video. f Oshkosh RHAB Minutes Page Two STATE LEGISLATION UPDATE- SB 639/AB 771 Mr. Davis reported SB 639/AB 771 passed in the Assembly and had moved on to the Senate to be voted on. He stated there were several amendments to the bill regarding what rental dwellings would be inspected and to fees collected for the inspections. He stated at this time it was not known if the bill would be voted on by the Senate in March or be postponed until winter. Ms.Hentz asked if the Senate did not act on the bill would the City proceed as they have since the program began. Mr.Davis stated if the Senate did not act on the bill,the City would proceed according to the ordinance in place. He explained if the legislation passed and the fee schedule changed the rental registry program would have to be reexamined as it would essentially become a fee free program and would not be able to support itself. CODE ENFORCEMENT PROCESS Mr. Davis clarified the rental housing inspection enforcement process and the steps taken for noncompliance. He stated in general the City needed to work with both the landlord and the tenant to get violations corrected. INSPECTIONS UPDATE Mr. Koelbl reported eleven units were inspected in February with an average of six code violations found in each unit. Ms. Hentz asked what types of code violations were found during the inspections. Mr. Koelbl stated the code violations found during the interior inspections were missing hand and guard rails, nonworking smoke and CO detectors, broken windows and torn screens, improperly installed electrical wires, and improper installed water heater vents, EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS/FARMERS MARKET The Board decided to pursue applying for a booth at the Saturday Farmers Market once a month and agreed to discuss the topic further at the April RHAB meeting. Ms. Davey asked the Board for suggestions on types of educational materials that could be displayed at the farmers market in addition to the Rental Housing Inspection and Rent Smart Brochures. f Oshkosh RHAB Minutes Page Three Ms. Hentz suggested having cards printed promoting the RHAB Facebook page as well as the SeeClickFix app. She also thought the Board could promote POLCO, the civic participation technology platform the City recently initiated. Ms. Davey suggested creating a poster detailing the purpose of the Rental Housing Advisory Board. Ms. Jevaltas thought a scaled down version of tenants' rights and responsibilities would be helpful for renters without computer access. Ms.Hentz stated she knew of a brochure that summarized tenants'rights and responsibilities and that she would send the link to Ms. Fredrick to get them printed in time for the State of the City. Ms.Palmeri stated she had leftover "swag"bags from a neighborhood association function that the Board could use for farmers market educational materials. 2018 ACTION PLAN The Board opted to layover the 2018 Action Plan discussion until the next meeting. MISSION STATEMENT The Board opted to layover the Mission Statement discussion until the next meeting. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 2018 Acton Plan Mission Statement State of the City Follow Up Landlord Retaliation for Complaints Made by Tenants Farmers Market Policy for Board Attendance ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:23 p.m. (Rentz/Ernst) Respectfully submitted, Allen Davis Community Development Director