4.1. SR 04-21-2003TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
MEMORANDUM
Mayor and Council
Pat Klaers, City Administrator
April 18, 2003
Review Procedures and Policies Regarding Complaints and
Ordinance Violations
Item 4. I.
Since the R.C. Rolloff situation this past summer, staff has held at least five meetings to review
communication between citizens and staff and to review communication between staff members
and to determine what City response/action is appropriate when a citizen complaint is received.
Nine different staff members have attended at least one of the staff meetings, and the majority
(Phil H., Chris J., Bruce W., Jeff B., Sandy P., Steve R., and Michele M.) attended at least three of
the meetings. Attached for your review and consideration is a summary of the consensus that
staff reached regarding procedures and policies for how the City should address complaints
from citizens and ordinance violations.
Most of the information in the attached memo reflects current practice for the City. The changes
from past practice are minor and are mainly in the enforcement area, whereby Chris Johnson, as
the staff city attorney, will get involved earlier than when we previously got Peter Beck involved
with the situation. Staff felt it was important to put down in writing the policies and procedures
that the City follows in addressing public complaints. In general, the City Council should
consider and approve the policies and the enforcement procedure section while the balance of
the memo is provided simply for your information.
The City does not have a full-time code compliance officer, but historically, code compliance has
mainly been in the Building/Zoning Department. Steve's memo outlines a more even
distribution of responsibility for addressing citizen complaints, specifically move responsibility to
the Police and Planning Departments.
As part of this follow up to the R.C. Rolloff situation and our staff discussion on
communication and staff response to citizen complaints, we came to the conclusion that a
complaint tracking software would be helpful and appropriate for the City. This led us to the
Request Partner software program and the presentation that was made to the City Council on
March 24, 2003. Staff support for ti'tis program remains strong.
Recommendation:
It is recommended that the City Council adopt the procedures and policies regarding complaints
and ordinance violations as outlined in the attached memo from Steven Rohlf, Building and
Zoning Admimstrator.
&Council/Pat/agenda item 4.1 memo
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
Stephen Rohlf, Building and Zoning Administrator
DATE: April 21, 2003
SUBJECT:
Procedures and Policies Regarding Complaints and
Ordinance Violations
Staff reviewed the city's current procedures and policies for dealing with violation of
City Codes to see how we could do a better job of responding to these types of issues.
The following discussion in this memorandum reflects staff's consensus on procedures,
policies and responsibility for responding to complaints:
Procedure for Responding to Complaints and Code Violations
Receiving a Complaint
Take information · Who is complaining (name, address and relationship)
· Who, what and where is the violation (address)
· Ask enough questions to know which Department should receive the
complaint
Direct complaint to appropriate Department.
· If complaint involves health/safety issue, make sure someone deals with it
immediately
· Each Department assigns responsible person for each complaint or type of
compliant
Enforcement Procedure (unless violation poses an imminent threat to health or safety,
which requires more immediate remediation)
Ascertain whether or not the complaint is a violation of City Code, civil matter or
non-violation
Determine what corrections are necessary and time frame to accomplish · Inspect site
· Document violation in writing and photographs
· Document in writing what corrections are needed and timeframe, include
section(s) of code violated, and give notice to violator
Reinspect site at deadline · Document that issue is resolved or
· If not in compliance, turn over to City Attorney or set new deadline if
extenuating circumstance for noncompliance exist
City Attorney informs the violator of the City's intent to pursue the violation
legally in writing (may set new and final deadline)
· Decision is made whether to prosecute criminally, under dangerous
buildings or to begin with abatement procedure
City pursues legal remedy, Police issue a citation if pursued criminally
and City Attorney prepares legal documents with aid from the other
Department(s) involved
General Policies Regarding Complaints
The city does not respond to anonymous complaints, unless the violation is health/safety
in nature
If requested, complainant's name will remain confidential, unless disclosure is required
by law, but city staff should not coach complainant regarding confidentiality
Staff will only inform the City Council of those violations where the remediation
involves monetary ependitures beyond staff time
Due to time limitations, staff will not seek out violations, but rather will only respond to
complaints
Planning
Responsibility for Complaints
Illegally located businesses (pending application)
Developer agreement violation
Fences
Signs
Animals (where allowed, types allowed and number)
Initial landscaping (commercial)
Police
Noise
Illegally parked vehicles including RV, boats, etc. (in r-o-w or private property)
Unlicensed or inoperable vehicles
Semi and tractor trailer parking (cc Planning)
Animals at large or dead animals (cc Street Department)
Trespass
Recreational vehicles
Traffic safety
Building and Zoning
Initial Landscaping and un-kept lawns (residential)
Dangerous buildings or illegal structures
Environmental related complaints, floodplain, shoreland, and wild and scenic )
Wetlands
Gravel mining RDF, GRE and Landfill
No building permits
Junk Yards
Junk Houses
Rental properties
Illegal grading
Health issues
Septics
Fire
Burning complaints
Violations of fire codes
Work in R-O-W violations (cc Building)
Fireworks
Spills
General safety
Emergency preparedness (flooding, storms, etc.)
Street Department
Dead, damaged or diseased trees and noxious weeds
Dirt and garbage in the r-o-w
Park maintenance (cc Planning)
Street maintenance
Ice and snow removal
City of Elk River Engineer (does not follow enforcement procedure listed above) )~ Drainage
)~ Erosion
)~ Traffic (not including moving violations)
> Infrastructure construction
Sewer
~ City sewer issues
ERMU > Recycling and Refuse service
>' Municipal water
)~ Electric service issues
> Street lights