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1300 COUNTY -CrrY BUILDING <br />227 W. JEFFERSON BOULEVARD <br />Soum BEND, INDIANA 46601 -1830 <br />January 5, 2016 <br />PHONE 5 741 23 5-9486 <br />FAX 574/235-7703 <br />CITY OF SOUTH BEND PETE BUTTIGIEG, MAYOR <br />DEPARTMENT OF CODE ENFORCEMENT <br />RANDY WILKERSON <br />DIRECTOR <br />Tim Scott, Council President <br />Common Council of the City of South Bend <br />227 West Jefferson Blvd. • Suite 400 S <br />South Bend, Indiana 46601 <br />The Department of Code Enforcement respectfully requests that the Council consider this <br />ordinance to raise the fees associated to demolitions that are completed by the Department. The <br />current increases reflect an 11.5 percent increase from the last increase in 2008. I have also revised <br />some of the charges to be accurate with our current processes including the cost associated with <br />testing for asbestos. This was not charged in the past. It is important to point out this is not a <br />request for a budget increase; this is a cost of service fee for the Department for property owners <br />that do not comply with the Indiana Unsafe Building Law. I will be available as the presenter on <br />behalf of the Department. <br />The costs of securing property and /or removing structures upon unsafe premises include the costs <br />of providing notice, the use of labor and equipment, and administrative costs. A schedule of fees <br />for these services was last implemented in 2008, but the costs have increased since that time and <br />now require adjustment. <br />We presented this to the South Bend Board of Public Works on November 24, 2015 at a public <br />hearing and received information on the current costs of securing property or removing structures at <br />an unsafe premises, and by Resolution No. 68 -2015, it recommended for Common Council <br />approval a schedule of fees for costs involved in the demolition of real property and in the securing <br />of real property, which is attached hereto and incorporated herein. <br />The Indiana Unsafe Building Law, Ind. Code 36- 7 -9 -1, which is incorporated into the South Bend <br />Municipal Code (the Code) in full and by reference at Chapter 6, Article 8, Section 6 -37, authorizes <br />the City of South Bend through its Department of Code Enforcement to enter into and secure an <br />owner's property or remove structures at an unsafe premises at the owner's expense if the City has <br />complied with statutory procedures and given the owner proper notice, but the owner has failed to <br />comply with the notice. <br />ON <br />