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B. WORK SESSION: <br />Rental Housing Code Program Update <br />Assistant City Manager /Planning and Development Director Sarah Medary introduced the item, <br />reminding the council that the Rental Housing Code Program was scheduled to sunset at the end of 2011. <br />She anticipated that at some point in the near future, staff would ask the council for direction on whether <br />to sunset, extend, or modify the program. Rachelle Nicholas of the Planning and Development <br />Department then led the council through a PowerPoint presentation on the Rental Housing Program. The <br />presentation included background on the establishment of the code and its original focus on structural <br />integrity, safe and sanitary plumbing, heating, and weatherproofing and its later expansion to include <br />smoke detectors, security, and mold. The presentation also included a list of other Oregon jurisdictions <br />with similar regulations as well as numeric and geographic information on Eugene rental properties and a <br />map showing the location of complaints received by the City. The complaint, penalty, and appeal <br />processes were illustrated in the presentation. Ms. Nicholas shared slides of violations. <br />Assistant City Manager Medary shared information about program revenues and acknowledged the large <br />reserve that had been built up. However, she projected that program expenditures would soon catch up <br />with revenues and suggested current revenue levels were appropriate. She emphasized staff time spent on <br />the program was carefully tracked and the expenditures reflected true costs. <br />Assistant City Manager Medary placed the program in a larger context by reminding the council of the <br />program's relationship to the strategies coming out of Envision Eugene related to compact growth, <br />affordable housing, and neighborhood livability and to the Climate & Energy Action Plan. She <br />anticipated a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) analysis of the program would be done as well as additional <br />public outreach. <br />Councilors asked questions clarifying the information presented regarding program revenues, staffing <br />levels, and scope. Mr. Clark asked staff to be prepared to identify the distinctions between the State <br />program and local program and any possible duplications of effort at a future work session. Other <br />councilors expressed general support for the program and the current $10 per unit fee, although Ms. <br />Taylor had reservations about the amount of time it took to remedy a violation and requested records of <br />complaints that did not get remedied in the time provided. Ms. Taylor also asked staff to provide the <br />council with a review of the housing rental program that existed in the 1970s before the council discussed <br />the topic again. Mayor Piercy encouraged staff to share its observations and recommendations for <br />improvements with the council. <br />Mayor Piercy adjourned the work session at 1:20 p.m. <br />Respectfully submitted, <br />,8 a JAMk <br />Beth Forrest <br />City Recorder <br />(Recorded by Kimberly Young) <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council June 15, 2011 Page 4 <br />Work Session <br />