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work in Corvallis and landlords appeared to benefit from it. She proposed an amendment similar to that <br />proposed by Mr. Cabell, that Section 8.410 be modified to indicate the standards would not apply to any <br />housing damages or defects caused by tenants or by tenants' guests. She asked that the any costs and <br />paperwork associated with the program be kept to a minimum, and advocated for a sunset clause. <br /> <br />Alicia Fernandez, 3950 Goodpasture Loop, representing Forest Hills Apartments, said that her complex <br />was fairly new and had three on-site maintenance staff available 24 hours. Her company responded <br />immediately to all service requests. She said if implemented, the ordinance would cost her company <br />$2,480 above the costs it currently spent to maintain the complex. She said people in support of the <br />ordinance do not seem to understand that rents would go up if the ordinance was adopted. She asked that, <br />if adopted, the money collected is directed to a dedicated fund for the purposes of education and that a <br />sunset clause be included. <br /> <br />There being no further requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey announced that, due to the lateness of the hour, the council would not be conducting the <br />other two public hearings that had been scheduled for that evening. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey called on the council for questions and comments. <br /> <br />Councilor Bettman thanked all those who testified. She asked City Manager Taylor to develop text to <br />amend the ordinance to reflect the recommendations of the HPB. She asked how it could be determined <br />that a tenant caused damage, which was a crime of vandalism. Ms. Miller said staff was concerned about <br />that issue but was not sure how the inspector would determine who caused damage. No matter who <br />caused the damage, the landlord would ultimately have to make repairs and she assumed that they had <br />legal recourse to pursue damages from the tenant. She said staff could do more research on what other <br />communities had done in regard to the issue. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly also thanked those who testified and expressed interest in the topic raised by Councilor <br />Bettman. He invited written input from Mr. Cabell and others offering testimony about that issue. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly expressed appreciation for the suggestion that the City employ limited contract <br />employees to administer the program to minimize costs in its initial phases. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly supported the HPB's recommended changes. <br /> <br />Councilor Kelly referred to the staff-recommended change from ten days to a "reasonable time" and asked <br />if it was possible to place some upper boundary on what that constituted. <br /> <br /> Councilor Kelly indicated he would support a sunset provision, suggeSting that three years would be <br /> appropriate. <br /> <br /> Councilor Pap~ suggested that mention of housing standards was unfortunate because no new standards <br /> were being considered. Rather, the council was talking about enforcement. If the two existing methods of <br /> enforcement were working, he did not think the council would be talking about an ordinance. <br /> <br /> Councilor Pap~ agreed that some consideration for tenant-caused damage was needed in the ordinance. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 8, 2004 Page 11 <br /> Regular Meeting <br /> <br /> <br />