Politics & Government

City Of Creve Coeur Moves Closer To Apartment Reinspection Program

City Council members also held a public hearing Monday night on the the nearly $15 million budget for 2012.

is making progress toward a plan that would call for inspection of apartment units in the city upon reoccupancy. After hearing from apartment managers that a timeline to begin those inspections as early as this summer was too soon, city council members Monday had a first reading of a bill that would put the reoccupancy inspections in place starting January 1, 2012.

The revised ordinance also makes a certificate for reoccupancy good for a calendar year, in an effort to calm the fears of property managers who handle corporate housing with heavy turnover. They were concerned about costs of the program, if a unit were reoccupied several times in one year.

Celeste Reuter, representing the, asked council members to include a phased-in plan to require the same reinspection requirements for single family housing units in the city, saying it created a problem of fairness if apartment complexes were treated differently. Ward 4 Councilwoman Jeanne Rhoades said she supported the concept, but did not think it needed to be part of the legislation authorizing reoccupancy for apartment units.

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Two sticking points appear to remain: the cost, and if newer properties should require inspections immediately. Carla Powell, a regional property manager for told council members her facility holds itself "to a higher standard," noting that it does elevator inspections monthly, even though they're only required annually. She proposed a 10-year exemption for new buildings. Chief Building official Steve Unser answered that there are general maintenance issues which are important to check on, regardless of when a facility was built, and that he wasn't aware of exemptions in the international property maintenance code.

Powell also said the costs of the $80 inspections needed to be addressed, as those costs would likely be passed along to consumers. There was support among council members and building staff to at least examine if a tiered payment system depending on a facility's age, or if there would be a cost at at all for new facilities to have reoccupancy inspections.

Find out what's happening in Creve Coeurwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The measure will come back before council for a final reading.

In others council business:

There was a public hearing on the 2012 budget for the fiscal year which begins July 1. City Administrator Mark Perkins oulined a $14.9 million budget that represents a 2.4 percent increase over the current year.

Public comment on the budget encouraged the city to be more transparent in posting more information about expenses and overtime staff costs on the city's website, and included a call for the reduction or elimination of the city's property tax.


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