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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-13-13 Community Affordable Housing Advisory Board Minutes, draftCity of Bozeman Community Affordable Housing Advisory Board (CAHAB) November 13, 2013 8:00 – 9:00 am City Commission Room, City Hall Attending:      Brian LaMeres, Mary Martin, Kris Keller, Melvin Howe, Anders Lewendal; Commissioner Chris Mehl Absent: Ann Kesting, Kyle Terrio, Dave Magistrelli Staff: Tracy Menuez, HRDC; Wendy Thomas, Community Development Director; Jason Shrauger, Fire Chief; Jack Coburn, Deputy Fire Chief, Inspections Division. Public: None The meeting was called to order at 8:05 am by Chair Brian LaMeres. Public Comment: None Staff/Board reports New Board member Anders Lewendal was welcomed to the board and introductions were done. Anders fills the Construction Industry vacancy. Tracy referred the group to the quarterly report compiled by Wendy for the commission. The board thanked Wendy for the information. Action Items Approval of minutes from September 11, 2013 – Motion to approve by Melvin Howe, seconded by Kris Keller. Approved. Presentation on rental safety programs/discussion of International Property Maintenance Code Jason Shrauger, Fire Chief, and Jack Coburn, Deputy Chief, Inspections Division attended to discuss the City’s voluntary rental certification program. Wendy led the discussion by addressing the board’s request to hear more about the progress made by the City on the adoption of the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC). The City attorney has determined that the City cannot adopt IPMC since the state has not adopted it as a part of the state building code. Jason Shrauger added that fire chiefs around the state are considering a push at the state level to have IPMC adopted as part of the state code, which would allow Bozeman to consider doing so as well. A City can write and adopt their own code through the ordinance process, but doing so would be cumbersome, and would not allow the City the opportunity to utilize the knowledge and capacity around the IPMC. With the knowledge that IPMC is temporarily unavailable, the Fire Department has been engaged in creating a voluntary community rental safety program. Life safety is the City’s first priority, as such, they want the program to focus first on those life safety issues. The program is free and voluntary (inspections are done at the request of the tenant or landlord), with a strong education component rather than enforcement-focused. Primary issues tend to be smoke detectors, safe exiting, outlets, etc. Some items can be more costly, such as addition of egress exits. The fire department works with landlords to educate them and help them figure out how to address issues in a timely manner, however; there are rare occasions where enforcement must be used. Anders asked a hypothetical question of visiting a unit and determining that there are no smoke detectors present: 1) can the city restrict rental of the unit, and 2) does the city have an increased level of liability upon inspection. Jason replied that the department would work with the landlord to address the fairly simple requirement to provide smoke detectors. The City recognizes that there is always a liability for units not meeting building codes, with or without this program. Commissioner Mehl provided background to the board regarding state law pertaining to rental units, which provides significant power to landlords. The fire department and MSU have made a lot of progress in working with the landlords, but it has been a slow process. The program will start by focusing on the population of MSU students that are likely to leave campus housing and move into community rentals, as they are the easiest to reach en masse and least experienced with what to look for in a rental. Units that go through the voluntary process will receive a certification that is valid for 3 years, which will be contained in a searchable database. Kris Keller commented that the near 0% vacancy rate leaves renters few options if their unit is unsafe. Many renters may also have concerns that their landlord could retaliate if they call in a safety concern. Kris commented that she has talked previously with city employees regarding unsafe conditions in units she has lived in, and was under the impression that enforcement was not an option. Jason responded that units are required to meet the building code that was in place at the time the unit became a rental unit, not the year of construction, and landlords must be able to provide proof to establish the year the rental unit was created. Jack Coburn added that this means that units created after 1967 code are subject to a more restrictive code than those created before that time. For units established as rentals before 1967, issues of egress are not enforceable. Mary Martin asked if the board could see the draft program guidelines. Jason responded that he would get them to Tracy for dissemination to the board. The list focuses on life safety issues such as smoke detectors, electrical, GFCI, egress, cooking facilities, and approved sewer. Jason noted that smoke detectors and egress are the biggest concerns, if one is missing, the risk of death increases. If a tenant call is received about a life safety issue that the landlord does not want to fix, the city goes back to the code to determine enforcement options. Anders asked how tenants would know who to call. He shared that he provides the renters in units he owns with a refrigerator magnet that contains numbers of importance, the city’s contact information could be one that he includes. Jason replied that the City will have a designated number when the project is rolled out. The MSU students are the first target, and are expected to be easy to reach. Non-student renters will be more difficult to access, but outreach could be done through housing non-profits such as HRDC. Kris asked how the city will encourage renters to use the service without fear of retaliation. Mary commented that as more units enter the system and receive certification tenants will have more power to choose units and report violations. Mary commented that many of the worst rentals are in the county; would the county ever consider adopting something like this? Jason replied that his impression is that they would not. Kris asked if there are funds available to landlords to undertake required improvements to their properties. Tracy responded that programs available are for upgrades to an owner-occupied property and cannot be used for rentals. Kris asked if an inspection is done for units that receive rental assistance. Mary responded that renters using Section 8 rental assistance must select a property that meets HUD’s Housing Quality Standards inspection. Properties receiving subsidy through HUD sources and those with Low Income Housing Tax Credits also undergo annual property inspections. She commented that landlords renting to Section 8 customers recognize the value of having a property that meets inspection. Mary added that the HRDC is in the process of rolling out a renter-certification program “Ready to Rent”. Kris asked how the City would educate their departments about the program. Jason replied that most departments are now under Community Development and the entities most impacted are already working together on the project. Kris offered her assistance to the City in presenting information to community members, if needed. Tracy asked the Fire Chief what, if anything, they needed from CAHAB. Jason responded that they did not need anything at this time, but may approach the board for support and assistance in the rollout period. The board thanked Chief Shrauger and Deputy Chief Coburn for presenting the information and asked to be kept apprised of new developments in the program. FYI/Discussion Tracy informed the board that the December meeting would be used to prepare for an upcoming work session with the Commission. The new commission will be seated in January, and it would be an ideal time to discuss where we are with the affordable housing plan and have a discussion regarding incentives. Tracy asked the board to review the affordable housing plan and be prepared to discuss our recommendations. The next meeting will be on December 11th at 8 am in the City Commission room. Adjourn – Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 am.