1. CIMCITY COMMISSION INFORMATION MEMORANDUM
ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEF FROM MIKE SCHRAGE August 28, 2017
Neighborhood Services Division
The Development Services Neighborhood Services Division has the primary responsibility of enforcing the
Property Maintenance Code (Chapter 31 of the Salina Municipal Code), as well as portions of the Zoning Code
(Chapter 42) and a few other related property maintenance issues requirements contained in other chapters
of the Code. The code enforcement officers (staff members Mike Kohman and Gary Peterman) perform daily
inspections as well as respond to at-large citizen complaints and code violations identified by other City staff.
Records are maintained, investigations are performed, pictures are taken, notices are sent and appropriate
follow up inspections are enforcement actions performed.
The goal of code enforcement is to work with property owners and tenants to achieve voluntary compliance
and encourage them to establish regular property maintenance activities in order to prevent further code
violations and potential abatement expenses.
One tool that staff uses in working with property owners is a Compliance Agreement. This is a written
agreement (based on a template form approved by the City Attorney) executed and signed by City staff and
the property owner and used to specify an action plan and timeline by which an owner will achieve code
compliance. It is used in situations when a property owner responds to a notice of violation on or before the
compliance date as stated on the notice, and is agreeable to complete the work but needs more time, because
there are major repairs that need to be made to the buildings and properties. This type of agreement is also
used for individuals who may have already been referred to Municipal Court by Development Services staff for
their failure to respond to a previously issued notice of violation. The Judge will often give them the
opportunity to work with City staff to achieve compliance. There are currently nine court cases in Municipal
Court for code violations issued by Development Services. Two of those cases are under a compliance
agreement and we expect that each property owner will meet the terms of the compliance agreement based
on the progress they have made to date.
rimarily due to an increase
in tall grass and weeds violations; although code enforcement officers keep busy during the fall and winter
months working on other issues related to housing and building exterior maintenance and other special
projects as assigned.
January 2017 through July 2017 Activity
Complaints Notices/Letters Inspections Working Days
2017
January 93 83 193 20
February 97 75 231 19
March 198 160 378 23
April 188 135 381 20
May 317 259 692 22
June 313 233 609 22
July 174 124 439 20
TOTALS 1380 1069 2923 146
A Complaint is a record that is created (in our software system) and used to enter and track all activities
related to the complaint.
Notices/Letters are sent certified, as required by code, to the property owner.
Inspections are the activities that the code enforcement officer performs, which are primarily initial
investigations (on site), re-inspections.
Administrative staff works with the code enforcement officers and assists with activities such as preparation of
documents including notices, pending assessments and abatement orders.
In anticipation of code enforcement activities to be undertaken in the fall and winter, staff has preliminarily
identified 50+ structures that may merit further inspection and enforcement as Property Maintenance Code
violations and/or dangerous structures. Recognizing the various procedural steps necessary to proceed from
notice to compliance or abatement as well as the need for property owners to be given an opportunity to
resolve their code issues during the spring and summer seasons, staff is actively reviewing the dangerous
structure process with the intention of completing a community inventory, providing sufficient time for
compliance and culminating in abatement, if necessary, in the fall of 2018.
Enclosed are other items on the agenda. If any Commissioner has questions or cannot attend the meeting,
please contact me.
Jason A. Gage, City Manager