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2023 04 27 WS Minutes MINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN April 27, 2023 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Regular Work Session on Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 5:45 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall at 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Laura Alvarado Council Member Sarah Graham Council Member Kenrick Griffith Council Member Mike Lester Council Member Brandon Capetillo Mayor Jason Reynolds City Manager Scott Lemond City Attorney Angela Jackson City Clerk John Stringer Sergeant at Arms Mayor Capetillo convened the April 27, 2023, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5:45 P.M. All members were present with the exception of the absence of Council Member Heather Betancourth and Mayor Pro Tern Jacob Powell. 1. DISCUSSIONS a. Receive a presentation regarding the Code Enforcement Cycle. Interim Assistant City Manager Carol Flynt introduced the item to Council. In their past retreat, Council discussed and developed cornerstones of how they would move forward as a Council. Ms. Flynt revealed a part of that had been about open communication. Council wanted the full picture and knowledge to move forward collectively with City Administration and Staff. As Code En- forcement was a popular issue, Staff presented to Council with some base knowledge on that. Health Director Tony Gray provided an overview of the Health Department's code enforcement. What does Health enforce? • Open Storage • Junk Vehicles • High Grass • Yard Parking • Rubbish The Health Department staffed five(5) employees that performed the following: • Daily Zone Patrolling • Average Cases per Week: 19 • Total Cases: 4,654 City Council Regular Work Session Minutes April 27,2023 Page 2 of 6 HEALTH ENFORCEMENT CYCLE _ Open Storage, High Grass, and Rubbish • 7-day notice of violation mailed • Previous violation within a calendar year results in a citation Junk Vehicles • If non-compliant after notification at- Enforcement Steps tempts, court order is issued to remove and 1) Observation destroy 2) Notice • Citation (Step 4) is not part of this process 3) Reinspect 4) Citation/Court Complaint Yard Parking 5) City Abatement (Lien) • If no violation history, 7-day notice of vio- lation is mailed • If non-compliant at follow up, citation is issued(no abatement/lien) • If they have a previous violation history, citation is issued and filed at initial ob- servance(no abatement/lien) Mr. Gray emphasized voluntary compliance was their goal and that inspectors educated and in- formed citizens as much as they could. The Health Department's only tool was to issue a citation to gain compliance. However, inspectors had the discretion to allow more time. All citizens had to do was call when they are sent a notice because Staff preferred to abate and correct at all times. 2022 Results • Open Storage, High Grass, Rubbish: 3,978 Cases—66% Owner Abated • Junk Vehicles: 219 Cases—99% Owner Abated • Yard Parking: 457 Cases—87% Owner Abated • Lien Totals: 925 Cases—4% Liens Released Planning and Development Services Director Martin Scribner then shared Planning's code en- forcement. The Planning Department mainly enforced structures, such as: • Substandard Structures • Buildings without Permits • Structure Maintenance • Zoning The Planning Department staffed five (5) employees that performed the following: • Apartments: 1 Staff dedicated to over 100 complexes • Substandard: 1 Staff dedicated who averaged 80 hours to complete a case • All Other Code Enforcement: 3 Staff dedicated that averaged 40 hours to complete a case City Council Regular Work Session Minutes April 27,2023 Page 3 of 6 PLANNING ENFORCEMENT CYCLE When a complaint is received: • Complete initial inspection within 24 hours • If unfounded, case closed If Violation Exists: • Attempt to contact owner • 15-30 day notice of violation mailed Enforcement Steps 1) External Complaint After 15-30 Days: 2) Inspection • If compliant, case closed 3) Notice • If non-compliant and no contact, notice of 4) Reinspect hearing is issued(Court) 5) Citation/Court Complaint • Continue to reinspect periodically If substandard, additional steps taken: • Search warrant • Notice of hearing • Pre-trial meeting Note: The Planning Department does not • Publication have the ability to abate cases like Health. • Demolition order(worst case scenario) 2022 Results: 449 Cases • 50% Self-Resolved • 30% Resolved through Court • 20%Never Resolved Finally, Judge Julie Escalante provided an overview of the Municipal Court's code enforcement. Judge Escalante first explained that Council passed the law and the Planning and Health Depart- ments enforced that law. The Court, in turn, applied the law within the constitutional, structural, and statutory limits that courts were bound to. As their court was the only in the State that heard Code of Ordinance cases from a city, they prioritized those cases and supported Staffs efforts. Enforcement Options • Fine • Order to Secure • Order to Abate • Order to Demo The following visuals were displayed to discuss the Court's code and substandard enforcement. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes April 27,2023 Page 4 of 6 Not guilty -> Trial Right to Code Appeal Enforcement Appears for court Pymt plan/ Enter fine extension; Notice of Guilty Violation amount Comm Svc; Indigent Fails to come Court sends Fails to come Warrant to Court 2nd notice to Court issued City gives Order to owner 30 Right to demo days to Appeal demo City gives Substandard Order to owner 30 secure days to secure Notice of Pre-trial Violation —+ Conference .. Hearing Compliance Agreement: City and Show Cause Order to homeowner Hearing demo Extension On their results for 2022,Judge Escalante presented lists of anonymous cases where the individuals made payments without compliance, requested jury trials, and failed to appear in court. Dockets • Substandard: 5 Dockets each month • All Other Code Enforcement: 2 Dockets each month With that ending the Departments' overviews, Ms. Flynt discussed the limitations of their process: • Balance Due Process with resolution City Council Regular Work Session Minutes April 27,2023 Page 5 of 6 • Voluntary compliance in enforcement • Citations does not equal compliance cycle • Staff time required (case and court) • City abatements=liens+maintenance • Delays/non-compliance influencing (abandoned/foreclosed) Staff morale/scrutiny • Time for resolution • Additional hearings • Appeals • Inefciencies in property records/GIS • Repeat cycle • Lack of automation Next Steps • Process Improvements • Automation Options • Further Discussion During Budget The discussion then segued in to Council's comments and questions. As it was mentioned a small percentage of liens were cleared, Council Member Lester wondered what would happen to the rest of them. Mr. Gray replied the liens that were not cleared would continue to draw interest. With that, Council Member Lester noted that some liens would grow to the point that they exceed the value of the property. The City did not have a strong process to move forward and foreclose those liens. As they sat and drew interest, Health and their contractors maintained the property. Council Member Lester advised they needed to figure out a way to not be property managers. When liens exceeded the value of the property, how would they move forward to get that off the books? Council Member Alvarado expressed concern with the one(1)staff member dedicated to the apart- ment complexes. She wondered if that was viable and questioned if they needed more staff. Mr. Scribner replied, ideally, having more staff would be helpful. However, Planning had a limited authority when it came to code enforcement for apartments. Their inspections were not in-dept as a single-family or commercial structure. Staff really only inspected the outside of the buildings and responded to complaints. Mr. Scribner relayed, overall, they faired pretty well. Council Mem- ber Alvarado thanked Staff and offered Council's help anyways. As they continued to review their policies, she requested Staff be as forward as possible so Council would know what needed work. In addition, Council Member Alvarado discussion extending or having different shifts for inspec- tors as incidents often happen on the weekends and after hours. Mr. Scribner shared that their inspectors worked ten(10) hour shifts, four(4) days a week. Inspectors worked Saturdays as well if they knew something needed attention. Also,while additional staff would be great,he cautioned that would cause more work for the Court and Legal Department. Council Member Griffith won- dered if the Departments had any advice for Council to ease the stress of Staff when responding to those issues. With understanding their processes and the"behind the scenes,"City Manager Jason Reynolds asked Council to help by simply telling constituents the City's story. Mayor Capetillo inquired if the majority of liens where on vacant, abandoned, or occupied prop- erty. Mr. Gray answered it was a combination. Most, however, were vacant. Mayor Capetillo pro- ceeded to emphasize that the City sough voluntary compliance and that citations did not equal compliance. With there being cases of individuals having multiple citations, he expressed they needed to come up with something different and requested options to address that. City Council Regular Work Session Minutes April 27,2023 Page 6 of 6 2. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor Capetillo adjourned the April 27, 2023, City Council Regular Work Session at 6:36 P.M. Angela J son, Cit Iti',�lc y City of Baytown ei