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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-13-16 Health and Public Safety[31 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY JUNE 13, 2016 4:49 P.M. Committee Members Present: John Voorde, Karen White, Oliver Davis, Jo M. Broden Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Dr. David Varner, Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams- Preston, Randy Kelly Others Present: Kathleen Cekanski - Farrand, Adriana Rodriguez, Kareemah Fowler, Jennifer Coffman, Randy Wilkerson Agenda: Dept. of Code Enforcement Briefing, Randy Wilkerson - Director of Code Enforcement Committee Chair John Voorde called the meeting of the Health and Public Safety Committee to order at 4:49 p.m. with one (1) item on the agenda. Dept. of Code Enforcement Briefing, Randy Wilkerson— Director of Code Enforcement Randy Wilkerson has been the director of the department for a year and a half. The Department of Code Enforcement is made up of three divisions: Neighborhood Code Enforcement, Animal Care and Control, and the Neighborhood Enhancement Action Team, our cleanup crew that goes around and cleans up trash in the City. NEAT addresses everything except for grass and snow complaints. Mr. Wilkerson is trying to get away from the phrase illegal dumping because there is nothing in the ordinance that refers to it. For it to be an illegal dump, we have to investigate it and determine whether it is or isn't an illegal dump. It is still the same crew that used to be referred to as the illegal dumping crew, but we don't call them that anymore. Committeemember White asked if that program and those dollars ($680,000) now fall under the NEAT. Mr. Wilkerson stated that she is correct, and it began at the beginning of this budget cycle. Committeemember Oliver Davis asked who is in charge of removing graffiti, and Mr. Wilkerson explained that the Parks Department does most of the larger projects, and the Department of Code Enforcement takes care of the smaller issues of graffiti. 455 County-City Building • 227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • South Bend, Indiana 46601 Phone 574- 235 -9221 • Fax 574- 235 -9173 • TDD 574- 235 -5567 • www.SouthBendfN.gov JENNIFER M. COFFMAN ALKEYNA M. ALDRIDGE EMILY SEXTON CHIEF DEPUTY/ CHIEF OF STAFF DEPUTY/ DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK Neighborhood Code Enforcement has a staff of eight (8) full time inspectors, a part time inspector, and six (6) administrative staff. Committeemember Davis asked if an inspector had been replaced, and Mr. Wilkerson explained that two new inspectors have been hired, and they started today. They will start being seen in the neighborhoods after they've been fully trained. We are still looking at filling one administrative position right now, but we are at full capacity for inspectors. We enforce the City Code of Ordinances, the Indiana Unsafe Building Law which allows us to do a lot of demolitions and repair orders. We're operating under the 2000 International Property Maintenance Code right now, and Mr. u o enforce a of of the staff our ordinances that we Wilkerson teo adopt Code. Just by adopting that will allow see as issues. We'll bring this to the Council later in the year. Mr. Wilkerson explained the Code Inspector's assigned zones. The full presentation is on file in the Office of the City Clerk. The Department of Code Enforcement responds to complaints from the residents, we're working at being more proactive in the community. In the past, a lot of what the department did was complaint driven. The inspectors also do all of the asbestos testing for any demolished homes in the City, so we train and get certifications. It is a huge savings of money and time for the City because we don't have to hire contractors and we can take care of it immediately rather than scheduling it for the future with a company. We prepare the information for the Code Hearings. They present their case, we present ours, and the hearing officer will make their ruling. During the Priority -Based Budgeting process, we found that we do business licenses. We only do them once a year, but we rack up 40 -80 hours per year. The previous directors missed a lot of stuff that we do. It was just never brought to peoples' attention. We address illegally parked cars, whether they are parked in vacant lots or in the grass. When it comes to Animal Care and Control, there's a shelter manager, an assistant manager, three animal control officers, an animal care coordinator, an office coordinator, adoption coordinator and a part time kennel assistant. We enforce the ordinances of the City, we assist in investigating state and federal animal laws, and we capture and rehabilitate birds of prey, but the state handles bats. President Scott asked what they do with endangered species. Mr. Wilkerson explained that endangered species fall under federal jurisdiction. Mr. Wilkerson continued that the Neighborhood Advancement Team has one (1) supervisor and three (3) operators. That is three (3) people cleaning up the City plus one supervisor. A lot of our fees come in for salaries, but most of our fees come in for cleanup and dumping. The NEAT is on the spot as soon as you call with an issue. We wanted to bring them back to Code 2 Enforcement so they would also directly respond to us. They also do the investigations of illegal dumping. We tear into the trash bags looking for evidence of who it came from. If we can send them a ticket for it, we'll do it. We clean it for the property owner and we give a ticket to the violator. They also clear the City sidewalks and thirteen bridges during the snowy seasons. Our goals are to continue improving our operations, that's an ongoing thing. We're assessing commercial properties. Due to the vacant and abandoned project, we've let the commercial properties go. We need to get those addressed through the hearings and we're working to deal with two that come to mind, 115 Lafayette and Drewry's. We're going to start looking at having Satellite Code Offices. There are neighborhood associations, but there are also places without them. We need a place where people can come and talk to us without having to come downtown, and we're hoping to have some definitive answers by the end of the year. We need to continue to build relationships with Police and Fire. I couldn't ask for two better departments to work with than Police and Fire. Committeemember White thanked Mr. Wilkerson for his presentation. We tend to hear a number of questions and concerns that fall under your particular office, so I appreciate the presentation and the NEAT Crew and that they are back under Code Enforcement. As we look at some of the quality of life issues that you're addressing, we need to look at what preventative and educational measures we'll be able to put in place. Mr. Wilkerson explained that cameras are a good idea, but the license plates are unreadable, or covered up. We are also worried about people stealing the cameras if we put them down low enough to film license plates. If you consider the amount of money we spend on this program, we could provide more neighborhood cleanups and be more proactive. Committeemember White stated that there are certain areas of the City that are dealing with raccoons, so I don't know what we can do, but it's at a point now that some people cannot come out of their yards in the evenings because of the raccoons. Mr. Wilkerson stated that people can trap them and let them go, but there isn't a good way to address it because the problem is everywhere. Committeemember Broden asked what the metrics are for improving the Department of Code Enforcement's operations. Mr. Wilkerson stated that when the Council and the Mayor are not calling him, that's a good sign. We have an operations manual for the Department of Code Enforcement from 1992 that was hand typed. We're addressing that, and by the time we roll around to next year, I want to have all of our operations manuals up to date. I want to do it myself to make sure it is done right, then we'll put it on our website. A lot of people don't know that continuous enforcement orders last for 2 years. How do you get on it, and how do you get off of it? I want to break it down so anybody can read it, and it is a tool for our inspectors. If housing inspections go down, if our abatements go down, if we start eliminating staff members, that would be a huge win for us. Mr. Wilkerson stated that he is still wrapping his head around the issues, and making sure that everyone knows how to do their job. Councilmember Randy Kelly asked how the noise ordinance is enforced during the evening when the inspectors are off duty to be more proactive in our approach to noise coming from neighborhood bars. Mr. Wilkerson explained that the Police Department has the sound meters that they can use. He is not opposed to inspectors measuring the noise from outside of the bar, but he is opposed to his inspectors entering the bar because they are unarmed and have no backup. That should be the job of the Police Department. Maybe we could check into a decibel detector if the technology is out there. Councilmember Kelly suggested looking for something mobile. Committeemember Broden recommends that when they are in the process of looking at Satellite Code Offices, they look at doing it in partnership with the neighborhoods for the educational and problem solving pieces. Mr. Wilkerson has spoken to Cheri Peate about doing midday or morning shifts to catch as many people as possible. If you can talk to me and I can solve your problem, that's a win. With no other questions or comments, Committee Chair Voorde adjourned the meeting of the Health and Public Safety Committee at 5:16 p.m. Respect y Submi ed, John Voorde, Chairperson 11