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Roxie Cuellar, 2053 Laura Street, a member of the HPB and staff to the Lane County Homebuilders Association, indicated she supported the ordinance as a member of the HPB. The ordinance appeared to work in Corvallis and landlords appeared to benefit from it. She proposed an amendment similar to that proposed by Mr. Cabell, that Section 8.410 be modified to indicate the standards would not apply to any housing damages or defects caused by tenants or by tenants' guests. She asked that the any costs and paperwork associated with the program be kept to a minimum, and advocated for a sunset clause. Alicia Fernandez, 3950 Goodpasture Loop, representing Forest Hills Apartments, said that her complex was fairly new and had three on-site maintenance staff available 24 hours. Her company responded immediately to all service requests. She said if implemented, the ordinance would cost her company $2,480 above the costs it currently spent to maintain the complex. She said people in support of the ordinance do not seem to understand that rents would go up if the ordinance was adopted. She asked that, if adopted, the money collected is directed to a dedicated fund for the purposes of education and that a sunset clause be included. There being no further requests to speak, Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing. Mayor Torrey announced that, due to the lateness of the hour, the council would not be conducting the other two public hearings that had been scheduled for that evening. Mayor Torrey called on the council for questions and comments. Councilor Bettman thanked all those who testified. She asked City Manager Taylor to develop text to amend the ordinance to reflect the recommendations of the HPB. She asked how it could be determined that a tenant caused damage, which was a crime of vandalism. Ms. Miller said staff was concerned about that issue but was not sure how the inspector would determine who caused damage. No matter who caused the damage, the landlord would ultimately have to make repairs and she assumed that they had legal recourse to pursue damages from the tenant. She said staff could do more research on what other communities had done in regard to the issue. Councilor Kelly also thanked those who testified and expressed interest in the topic raised by Councilor Bettman. He invited written input from Mr. Cabell and others offering testimony about that issue. Councilor Kelly expressed appreciation for the suggestion that the City employ limited contract employees to administer the program to minimize costs in its initial phases. Councilor Kelly supported the HPB's recommended changes. Councilor Kelly referred to the staff-recommended change from ten days to a "reasonable time" and asked if it was possible to place some upper boundary on what that constituted. Councilor Kelly indicated he would support a sunset provision, suggesting that three years would be appropriate. Councilor Pap~ suggested that mention of housing standards was unfortunate because no new standards were being considered. Rather, the council was talking about enforcement. If the two existing methods of MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 8, 2004 Page 11 Regular Meeting