Approving progress report under the Workable Program for Community Improvement

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4 I i1INUTES OF THE IZAYOR'S ADVISORY M11ITTEE OPT COI.DU.IITY I.IPROVEI NT ��leeting of June 11, 1968 The meeting was opened at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman, Prichard Geib. Those being present were as follows: Janet Allen :Iartha Erickson Josephine Curtis J. Chester Allen Sam 'dinston :ors. Nathan Levy Jerry hickey Ruth Price 'Nary Hahn O'Dell Newburn 'Iarcus Engdahl Dick Geib The Chairman announced that the purpose of this meeting was to begin the process of concluding the activities of the various subcommittees which were established last month. A report from each subcommittee chairman of their activities was requested. The first report was given by Jerry rickey who is the chairman of the subcomitee looking into current minimum housing, codes and the possible involvement of South Bend in a Federal Code Compliance Program. Mr. Hickey's subcommittee, Demolition and Code Enforcement SubCommittee, has met on several occasions in the past month and has reviewed with the Building Commissioner and the Department of Redevelopment the current minimum housing code with which the City of South Bend is operating. After discussion of the subcommittee with those Department heads effected, the committee found that the current minimum housing code was outdated and that it should be either updated or replaced. It was the concensus of opinion that the recommendation of the Building Commissioner to replace the current code with the minimum housing code published by the Building Officials Conference of i1merica (BOCA) should be recommended to the trayor and Common Council. The subcormiittee also looked into the desirability and necessity of increasing the Code Compliance Program now being carried out by the Substandard Building Division of the Building Department. It was found that the level of inspections, the number of inspectors and the compliance efforts were adequate to meet minimum guide lines as set forth in the ":lorkable Program. However, it was felt by the subcommittee that this level of code enforcement and code compliance was inadequate to solve the problem of the ever increasing number of substandard housing units within the City and that a larger effort should be made in order to solve this problem. The committee, therefore, with the assistance of the Building Commissioner, the Executive Director of the Area Plan Commission and the Department of Redevelopment studied the possibility of entering into a federally-assisted Code Enforcement Program which would be in addition to the cur-ent level of code enforcement activities. The area selected for study following the suggestion of several members of the committee and the Director of the Area Plan was the northeast neighborhood sometimes referred to as the Hill Street Area. With the assistance of the Department of Redevelopment, this area was broken down into three possible target areas and the structures in the area rated as to substandard condition as well as assessment of need for some possible improvements in these areas. Priority rating of the three areas was then evolved based on the greatest need for systematic involvement efforts and then cost developed to estimate the feasibility of financing of such a program.