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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> owner or landlord will be aware of in advance so that they can make those improvements. The
<br /> goal is for us to get in and out as quickly as possible without disturbing the tenant,the landlord, or
<br /> tying up a lot of valuable time for our inspector. Upon successful completion of the inspection,the
<br /> Code Enforcement Department will issue a certification of rental inspection which will remain
<br /> valid up to five (5) years depending on the situation. Units with a valid certificate of rental safety
<br /> will be posted on the City's website so that everybody can access that information. We envision a
<br /> twenty (20) minute visual inspection focusing, again, on minimum safety standards such as fire
<br /> safety, smoke alarms, running water, heat, properly installed plumbing, electrical systems, mold
<br /> or mildew presence, chipping or peeling paint, and leaks. So, again, minimum standards are what
<br /> the focus is going to be on.
<br /> Jaime Morgan, Project Manager for the Mayor of the City of South Bend with offices located on
<br /> the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated, I'm going to share a little bit of our math that
<br /> we were able to do. So, we have about 16,000 rental units within the City of South Bend. When
<br /> you take away the random sampling for multi-units or the exclusions for things like housing that
<br /> is government-inspected, they will get an inspection waiver because they have received a similar
<br /> inspection within the last three(3) years,we come down to trying to inspect 7,500 units within the
<br /> next five(5) to six (6) years. So,by mid-2025, we should have the capability of getting a full pass
<br /> through the City for all of the eligible housing units for the RSVP program.
<br /> Councilmember Sharon L. McBride arrived at the meeting at 4:45 p.m.
<br /> Ms. Morgan continued, So, what we wanted to do is highlight the feedback and changes we were
<br /> able to make based on our community meetings,including the meeting we had previously through
<br /> the Health and Public Safety Committee, talking with Indiana Association of Apartments, the
<br /> Greater South Bend Mishawaka Association of Realtors, and our Real Estate Investors who have
<br /> been a really vocal community in helping us build this bill. So, one (1) of our first (1St)
<br /> implementation changes was to remove the four(4) month period of voluntary process and move
<br /> instead to highlight our properties we already know have issues going on. In year one (1), so, in
<br /> 2019,we are going to be focusing on open and active cases with Code,referrals from the St.Joseph
<br /> County Health Department, and then continuing to accommodate any landlord requests. So, if
<br /> you're a landlord that wants to get in on the ground with this program, we are certainly going to
<br /> be able to accommodate you. In year two (2), so, starting in 2020, we would be looking at a
<br /> geographic phase-in that would follow the Census Tracts we know have the highest levels of
<br /> childhood lead poisoning based off the data we have been receiving from the Health Department,
<br /> the State Health Department and what has been compiled through Notre Dame's Lead Affinity
<br /> Group. We wanted to highlight that will be Census Tract Six(6), Nineteen(19),Twenty-one(21),
<br /> Thirty(30), Four(4) and Five (5). We would be working at a pace of about fifteen percent (15%)
<br /> throughout year (2) and going forward to be about to work through to our 2025 goal. So, this
<br /> (referencing a slide in the presentation) is a little bit more of a breakdown of what we expect by
<br /> the end of this year, getting through about eight hundred (800) housing cases, the bulk of those
<br /> being active and current cases with Code. Then about one to two hundred(100—200) of those are
<br /> from the Health Department and the balance are as many landlord referrals we are able to get to.
<br /> This utilizes staffing at levels of three (3) inspectors conducting about eight (8) or nine (9)
<br /> inspections per week with a total of about twenty-four (24) to twenty-seven (27) per week. They
<br /> would also be handling all of our complaint cases and other housing inspections as well. We are
<br /> confident in our ability to implement and hit these numbers for you.
<br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT
<br /> 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221f 574.235.9173 110574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov
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