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City Council Miautes February 11, 2008 Page 4 the people of the violation and let them know of the process. Mr. Hetrick noted that he • would use his best judgment on whether or not to approach a house. Staffs personal safety was discussed but the Council agreed that Mx. Hetrick should only approach a residence if he does not feel his safety is in jeopardy and that the contact should be followed up with a violation letter that is mailed the same day contact was made. ~dminirtrative Cat~tionr Ms. Cartney explaiaed the current violation process again and stated that it is not effective. She stated that if the violation goes to court the homeowners receive a small penalty but in many cases are not ordered to rectify the violation. Chief Beahen indicated that he has spoken with judges and court personnel who would prefer that code enforcement violations aze handled at the City level through administrative dtations. Ms. Cartney stated that staff would like authorization to research and put together an ordinance addressing administrative dtations. She noted that fees would have to be determined as well as an appeal process. Council consensus was for staff to pxepaze an ordinance. Ms. Carmey noted that staff does work with homeowners who aze attempting to bring the property into compliance by extending deadline if good faith effort is shown. Mayor Klinzing added that community groups ate also available that can assist if the homeowner desires. She stated that Faith in Action is one example. Dum~rterr an R .ridentia! zrtri~ Council would like staff to bring back an ordinance addressing this issue. ,r u Ms. Cazmey reviewed a list compiled by staff of priority ordinances for enforcement and questioned if Council concurred with the list ox if they had any additions. Emergency vehicle addressing issues and portable canopies were added to the list. Mayor Klin>ing added that she would like staff to work on educational efforts and informing neighborhoods of common problems in their azea. Chief Beahen noted that citizen expectations of what should be enforced will vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. He indicated that the Police Department plans on developing a brochure helping to educate residents on common code addressing the link between code issues and public safety. Mayor I9inzing recessed the meeting at 7:56 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 8:05 p.m: G.S. Benefits fox Department Heads Ms. Johnson presented hex staff report She explained that she believes it is important to retain key upper management employees and that offering some additional benefits may provide some incentive to keep them here. She expressed concerns over an incentive for one group becoming the opposite fox another as she is interested in retaining outstanding employees at all levels. Ms. Johnson stated that in reseazching other sties she found that most tides choose to use an egalitarian system where all employees receive the same benefits. She stated that the few dries that offer more to uppu management offer a small car allowance or additional vacation time that may be cashed in at the end of the peaz if not used She stated that in addition to those just outlined, the options aze somewhat limited to additional health related 'contributions. Ms. Johnson noted that another option and one way • to offer an incentive to keep highly valuable employees throughout all levels would be to