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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.10.18 Minutes 4h Car Oshkosh RENTAL HOUSING ADVISORY BOARD MINTUES OCTOBER 10, 2018 PRESENT: Linda Jevaltas,Lori Palmeri,Matthew Stenerson,Cheryl Hentz,Margy Davey,Matt Mugerauer EXCUSED: Timothy Ernst 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: Jeff Nau, Associate Planner/GIS Specialist, Planning Services Division, Emily Springstroh, Communications Coordinator CALL TO ORDER Ms. Hentz called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. CITIZEN STATEMENTS Donn Lord, 743 W. 10f Avenue,Oshkosh,WI 54902, stated he felt there should be more than three options presented for the overall inspection program. Patrick Harrington, 226A W. 7f Avenue, Oshkosh, WI 54902, stated as a tenant he supported the rental housing inspection program. He also stated he was interested in being involved in a tenant association. APPROVAL OF MINUTES—September 12,2018 The minutes of the September 12, 2018 meeting were approved as presented. (Mugerauer/Davey) ACT 317 FOLLOW-UP Polco and Special Meeting 10/2/2018 Mr. Davis stated the October 2, 2018 Special Meeting was well attended and numerous people spoke at the podium regarding their thoughts and concerns. Ms. Springstroh reported the results of the Polco Survey asking citizens to give their opinions on Inspection Options 1,2,&3. She stated there was a total of 151 respondents to the survey; 63%responded for Option 1 (complaint based rental unit inspections); 52% responded to Option #2 (proactive, tenant approved interior and exterior inspections within designated areas); and 26% responded to Option #3 (exterior inspections of all rental and non-rental structures within designated areas). She noted citizens had the opportunity to choose more than one option in the Polco Survey. /0�� J Car Oshkosh RHAB Minutes Page Two Mapping-Boundaries of Possible Districts The Board were provided maps based on the metrics they chose at the previous meeting to aid in their recommendation of establishing neighborhood stabilization and enhancement districts. Mr. Zarate noted it would be possible to measure the effectiveness of neighborhood associations by annually analyzing the correction notice data and the police crimes data. Mr. Nan explained the Oshkosh Police Department was going through some major updates and once they were completed staff would be able extract data on a yearly basis to track both positive and negative performance in the designated neighborhood stabilization and enhancement districts and neighborhood associations. Ms. Hentz recommended,in light of the uncertainty of the rental inspection program, City staff determine the designated neighborhood stabilization and enhancement districts. Ms. Jevaltas stated since the RHAB was an advisory board she felt it was important for the Board to determine the neighborhood stabilization and enhancement districts and make a recommendation to the Council. Mr. Stenerson favored designating a large number of smaller districts rather than a few large districts. He stated if there were smaller districts it would be easier for the City to eliminate districts from the rental inspection program if they no longer qualified. Ms. Davey stated if it was possible, she would prefer the districts be determined according to the block scores. Mr. Mugerauer proposed and the Board discussed defining the following districts: District A—Fox River, New York Avenue and Bowen Street District B—Murdock Avenue, Bowen Street, Hazel Street and Greenwood Court District C—Jackson Street,Viola Avenue, Linwood Avenue and Wisconsin Street District D—Knapp Street, 51h Avenue, Main Street and 171h Avenue Mr. Davis stated if the revised rental housing inspection program was approved by Council, staff would evaluate the progress after one year to see if the program needed tweaking. Motion by Mugerauer to recommend to Council the Aforementioned Districts as Identified on the Composite Map/Seconded by Davey Motion Carried by Voice Vote /0�� J Car Oshkosh RHAB Minutes Page Three Inspections—Type of Inspections Ms. Hentz recommended the Board choose a combination of options #1 and#2. She stated she was not in favor of combining option #3 as it included commercial and owner occupied properties. She stated she felt as the board were members of the Rental Housing Advisory Board they should not venture into the inspections of those types of properties. Motion by Davey to Reconsider the Motion Carried by Voice Vote at the August 8th RHAB Meeting to Recommend Option #1 to Council and move to Recommend a Combination of Option #1 and Option #2 to Council/Seconded by Hentz Motion withdrawn by Davey/Seconded by Hentz Motion by Davey to Reconsider the Motion Carried by Voice Vote at the August 8th RHAB Meeting to Recommend Option#1 to Council and Move to Recommend the City Continue to Complete Complaint Based Inspections as Per Municipal Code and Perform Rental Housing Interior/Exterior Inspections Approved by Tenant Within Neighborhood Stabilization and Enhancement District(s) (Option #2)/seconded by Hentz Motion Carried 6-0 Mr. Davis clarified if a complaint was made regarding a property outside of a designated district and the code violation was not corrected within the allotted time, the property would be rolled into a designated district regardless of its geographic location. Mr.Lord stated he felt the City should incorporate Opportunity Zones into the neighborhood stabilization and enhancement districts to attract investors. He also asked for a list of the top ten code violations committed by landlords that he could use as a proactive training tool for landlords. Mr. Koelbl stated he had concerns creating a top ten list of code violations for rental properties as he felt it was a disservice to the entire minimum housing code. He stated he would prefer landlords focus on the entire minimum housing code. He stated the rental housing inspection program checklist inspectors used focused on health and safety items, however the items included on the checklist were also part of the minimum housing code. Mr. Zarate clarified that violations were found for every item on the rental housing inspection program checklist during inspections. He stated during a complaint based inspection of a rental property, if an inspector found a violation that was not on the rental housing checking list, but was a violation of the minimum housing code, a correction notice would still be issued. Mr. Prickett recommended that Mr. Lord give a copy of the minimum housing code to landlords to use as a proactive training tool. 4h Car Oshkosh RHAB Minutes Page Four Mr. Davis noted as a follow up to the previous meeting,he researched Opportunity Zones and found the Department of the Treasury at the federal level created the program and had not yet been specific as to what the process was for private investors to have their capital gains taxes deferred or abated. NOTE: Mr. Mugerauer left the meeting at 5:00 p.m. SOCIAL MEDIA-Additional Social Media Sites Ms. Hentz reported things were going well with the RHAB Facebook page. She stated she would invite Emily Springstroh to a future meeting to discuss additional social media outlets other than what the City incorporated. CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS Mr. Koelbl clarified the State had not updated or changed the policy on carbon monoxide detectors, however, they recently provided an educational handout that depicted where the carbon monoxide detectors were required to be located in multiunit residential buildings. CONTACT/REFERENCE GUIDE HANDOUT As requested at the September meeting, legal contact information was added to the Contact/Reference Guide handout which referenced contacts of various agencies for frequently asked questions and concerns not handled by the City of Oshkosh. Board members were provided a copy of the handout. ACTION PLAN- Strategic Plan Update Ms. Palmeri suggested adding the topic of forming a tenant association to the strategic plan. The Board agreed to following changes/additions to the strategic plan: Under Educational Materials add the topic of Tenant Association Brochure Under Training Programs add Tenant Association Workshop Add an Outreach headline and add the topics of Farmers Market, State of the City and Apartment Association FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Budget Follow-up Social Media Sites—December Rooming HouseNacation-Temporary Rentals—December /0�� J Car Oshkosh RHAB Minutes Page Five ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:27 p.m. (Davey/Steverson) Respectfully submitted, Allen Davis Community Development Director