06-22-09 Health and Public Safety & PARC Committees

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.~ ~. . ._ .,~ ~ ~ usssss ... HEALTH AND PUBLIC SAFETY &PARC COMMITTEES ,,~., _ ~- kk <¢, .«; - L~ y{ `~'~~ Y~ , The June 22, 2009 joint meeting of the Health and Public Safety Committee and the PARC Committee of the South Bend Common Council was called to order by their Chairperson's Karen White, HPS and Ann Puzzello, PARC at 4:28 p.m. Persons in attendance included Council Members Henry Davis; Kirsits; Dieter; LaFountain; Varner; Citizen Member Martha Lewis; Mayor Luecke; Phil St. Clair; Rita Kopala; George Lane; Gary Libby Agenda: Discussion of Maintenance of Vacant Lots This joint hearing was called to discuss the maintenance of vacant lots in the city. More specifically the hearing was called to address Councilmember Henry Davis' specific concerns about tall grass and litter on vacant lots in his district. He wanted to know if the city had the resources to address the problem. He also asked which department was responsible for the work. Chairperson White asked representatives from Code Enforcement and the Parks Department to walk through the process. In response, Gary Libby from Code said the wet spring had made a manageable problem more difficult to attack the weed and grass problems. Typically Code keeps a list of vacant lots both city and privately owned. When city-owned the work is pretty straight forward in terms of logistics and dedication of resources. The Park Department mowers under the direction of John Martinez are responsible for the actual mowing. He said usually the mowing is quadrant based and cyclical crews do, however, respond to Code and Council requests in as timely a fashion as possible. He said communication, equipment reliability, manpower, and weather were key factors in developing an overall strategy while keeping a flexibility to respond when and where specific problems arise. Libby then described the more cumbersome, protracted process involved when overgrown lots were privately owned. In this case notice of the offense needs to be given ad time allowed for compliance. Once the hurdles are cleared, the lots are mowed and the owner is billed. Typically the minimum charge is $105.00 per mowing. In response to Henry Davis' litany of complaints from constituents, the administration asked for understanding and patience.