HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/24/2011 CIAB
MINUTES
CITY OF THE COLONY
COMMUNITY IMAGE ADVISORY BOARD
FEBRUARY 24, 2011
After determining that a quorum is present, the Community Image Advisory Board of
the City of The Colony, Texas convened into a regular session which was held on
Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers located in
City Hall, 6800 Main Street, The Colony, Texas, at which time the following items
were addressed:
Board Members Present: Linda Van Vranken, Chairman; Ruby Lawrence,
Vice-Chairman; Diane Ling, Joe Zacha, Richard Kuether and Chuck Reeves
Absent: Alan Ladd
Present from Staff. Iris Browder, Joe Perez, Terry Gilman and Tim Miller
1.0 CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Chairman Van. Vranken called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
2.0 CITIZEN INPUT
No citizen input.
3.0 MINUTES
3.1 Consider approval of the minutes of the January 27, 2011 meeting.
Board Member Kuether moved to approve the minutes of the January 27,
2011 meeting as written. Motion was seconded by Vice Chairman
Lawrence. Motion carried 5-0.
4.0 DISCUSSION/CONSIDERATION
4.1 Receive a presentation on the proposed changes to the Rental Program.
(Tim Miller)
Tim provided an overview of the proposed changes to the rental program.
Some of the reasons for the proposed changes are to make the program more
expeditious for tenants/landlords, reduce redundancy between State law and
City Ordinances, clear up verbiage by changing the wording from registration
to permitting, reduce the cost incurred by the landlord and do away with the
every two year inspection requirement.
Under the current program renters have to wait to pass the inspection before
the water could be turned on. One of the proposed changes is to have the
inspection done after the tenants move out. Currently the city inspects for
things that are currently covered under the Texas State Property Code and to
eliminate the redundancy the city will not inspect those particular items,
however, the city will continue to inspect for unsanitary or unsafe conditions
and high risk items only.
Another proposed change is to the fees charged to the landlord. Currently the
fee is $5 per unit annually for registration and $50 for the inspection of the
property, upon tenant change. The proposal would be to charge a $50 fee per
unit annually regardless of how many times a tenant changes within the year.
In addition, all inspections are covered in the $50 fee unless a property fails an
inspection. If a property were to fail, the city will allow landlords to submit
an affidavit in lieu of scheduling a re-inspection along with before and after
photos showing that the work/deficiencies have been repaired. Also, in lieu of
a landlord scheduling an inspection they can bypass the inspection process
completely if they chose to hire a Real Estate Inspector to inspect the home
and provide the city with a copy of the report.
Tim showed the board a flow chart outlining how the program and inspection
process will be handled. He also stated that the landlord has the option to
provide a lock box so they do not need to be present at the time of the
inspection.
Tim summarized his presentation by outlining the benefits of program which
include:
• Program will allow for a more expeditious process for tenants and
landlords
• One annual fee (will work on graduating scale for those landlords with
multiple homes),
• Utilities do not have to be on at the time of the inspection, inspections
can be done at any time after move out.
• Other options provided to the landlord to get inspections done.
• No more mandatory 2 yr inspections.
Board Member Kuether stated he likes the new approach.
Vice Chairman Lawrence asked what happens if someone moves in without
the city knowing. Mr. Miller stated that the city will educate the landlords
first and if it continues to happen there will be tougher measures.
Board Member Zacha asked about the exterior of the homes and how code
violations found on the exterior would be handled. Tim explained that the
inspectors will either note them down on the inspection tag or let Community
Image know about the violations so they can be addressed.
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4.2 Receive a presentation on the Neighborhood Enhancement Program. (Joe
Perez)
Joe provided the board with a brief overview of the Neighborhood
Enhancement Program which included; program details (tiers and incentives),
eligibility requirements, review process for applications, the cities vision for
the program and the mission statement.
He explained to the board where staff is in executing the program and how the
program will be managed. In addition, he updated them on finding external
resources to fund the programs as well as the groups and organizations he has
visited or made contact with to solicit their participation.
Joe informed the board that with the Home Exterior Rehabilitation Program,
the applications will go before the development review committee (DRC) for
review. Once applications are reviewed by DRC, staff will bring the
applications before the Board to provide oversight on the distribution of
rebates and for their final approval.
Vice Chairman Lawrence asked if the applications would be available online.
Joe stated yes.
Board Member Kuether stated that we specify home exterior and asked if the
city plans on helping with the interior. Joe stated that as of right now no, but
we can look at it in the future.
Chairman Van Vranken asked if we should include on the application that
they must be citizen of the US. Joe said yes that he would add that to the
application.
4.3 Discuss creating Keep the Colony Beautiful Organization. (Terry
Gilman)
Terry provided the board with information on creating a Keep the Colony
Beautiful organization as well as information on Keep Texas Beautiful. He
stated that the city is a provisional affiliate, but we don't do any recording.
The city has been looking for a group within the city to become that
organization. The group has to be volunteers, city residents, interested and
active in order to participate. Being an affiliate would require annual training
in order for the city to keep that status if a Keep The Colony Beautiful
organization is created. He explained that the best benefit is to be a 501 c3 and
the cities eligibility to compete for grant money.
Board Member Kuether asked if Terry was asking the board to do this. Terry
said it is something we need to decide what to do as a group to see if that is
something they want to be involved with.
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Board Member Reeves stated that it would take a high level of commitment
and would like to hear some additional information about the program from
others, possibly regional manager and maybe another city who has a similar
program.
Terry stated that we could have people come in at the next meeting to provide
additional information on the program.
Board Member Kuether said it would be a positive thing, but asked who
would manage it. Terry said that there would be committees. Joe stated that
staff would handle the documentation portion of the events going on
throughout the city.
Vice Chairman Lawrence asked if you would need a volunteer board to
become a non- profit board. Joe and Terry said yes. Joe also stated he has
been working with the city attorney on this creating a board, but would have
to go before council for final approval. Joe said he envisions using the group
as a funnel to obtain grant money.
The meeting closed with Joe stating that we could have someone come to the
next meeting to discuss the program in more detail.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
Linda Van Vranken, Chairman
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Iris rowder, Community Image Manager
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