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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 09Lakeville May 1, 2014 Item No. PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ZONING ENFORCEMENT SERVICES MAY 5, 2014 CITY COUNCIL MEETING Proposed Action The Planning Director recommends adoption of the following motion: Move to approve the proposal from WSB & Associates to provide Zoning Enforcement Services. Passage of this motion will provide the City with zoning enforcement services performed by WSB & Associates in 2014. Overview Since 2008 when the Planning Assistant position that performed zoning enforcement duties was eliminated due to budget cuts, the City's zoning enforcement duties have been split between Planning, Inspections, Engineering, and Police personnel. The 2014 budget includes approximately $22,000 for a part-time zoning enforcement position. The position was advertised and approximately 50 applications were submitted. A proposal to provide zoning enforcement services to the City was also submitted by WSB & Associates. After reviewing the applications received, interviewing several candidates, and conducting discussions with WSB staff, I am recommending the City approve the proposal from WSB & Associates to provide zoning enforcement services for 2014. Primary Issue to Consider What are the advantages of utilizing WSB & Associates to perform zoning enforcement services? Supporting Information • Staff Analysis of Primary Issue • Proposal from WSB & Associates Daryl Mkrey, Plaryhit Director Financial Impact: $22,000 Budgeted: Y/N Y Source: Planning Dept. budget Related Documents (CIP, ERP, etc.): Notes: Zoning Enforcement Services Proposal May 5, 2014 City Council Meeting Page 2 Primary Issue to Consider • What are the advantages of utilizing WSB & Associates to perform zoning enforcement services? After extensive review of the applications submitted for the Zoning Enforcement Technician position, and after conducting several interviews, I concluded that there were not any viable candidates that would fit well into this position and remain in the position for more than about a year. In follow-up discussions with WSB planning staff, I have concluded that the City would benefit from WSB providing the zoning enforcement service in 2014 in the following ways: • Flexibility. With WSB, the City can utilize their services when it is needed the most, during the spring and summer months. A part-time City employee would work the same number of hours during the fall and winter months as they would during the busy spring and summer months. • Experience. WSB has experienced planners on staff and they perform zoning enforcement services for several Minnesota cities (South St. Paul, St. Anthony, Mahtomedi, Long Lake and Albert Lea are examples). As such, a shorter orientation period would be needed to train the WSB planner assigned to Lakeville. I spoke with the City Engineer from South St. Paul who oversees this position in his city and he indicated that WSB has exceeded his expectations in the roughly year and a half that they have contracted for zoning enforcement services. • Trial Period. By utilizing WSB to provide zoning enforcement services in 2014 the City can evaluate whether we want to continue with WSB providing the service part-time in 2015 and beyond, whether we want WSB to provide additional hours to perform the service in 2015 and beyond, or whether we want to hire a full-time City staff person to perform the duties in 2015 and beyond. The WSB proposal would provide 16 hours per week of zoning enforcement service to the City from approximately the first week in May to the first week in October. This would fall within the amount budgeted for 2014. The WSB Zoning Enforcement Technician would have Lakeville office hours for one full day and two half days per week so as to provide consistent days/times to receive and respond to zoning complaints. An additional four hours could be provided every other week if needed given budgeting considerations. WSB && Assoc- engineering • planning -environmental • construction May 1, 2014 Daryl Morey, Planning Director City of Lakeville 20195 Holyoke Avenue Lakeville, Minnesota 55044 701 Xenia Avenue South Suite 300 Minneapolis, MN 55416 Tel: 763-5414800 Fax: 763-541-1700 Re: PROPOSAL TO PROVIDE ZONING ENFORCEMENT SERVICES TO THE CITY OF LAKEVILLE Dear Mr. Morey: It was very nice to discuss the opportunity for WSB & Associates, Inc. to provide the City of Lakeville with zoning enforcement services last week over the telephone. As we mentioned, our experience providing similar services to other communities within the metropolitan areas has helped provide leadership and expertise in the zoning enforcement field. WSB is fortunate to have a highly skilled and diverse staff that possesses a wealth of knowledge in providing the services you seek. With discussions relating to changes in staff over the past few years, WSB understands that now, more than ever, is an opportune time for the City to be conscious of expenditures and think about ways to be more efficient with the services you provide your residents. WSB's Planning Group has experience that includes a wide variety of projects including addressing City Code violations, zoning complaints, development plan review, building permit review for zoning compliance, and land use planning. Zoninx Enforcement Services It is our understanding that the City of Lakeville is interested in contracting with WSB to provide the City with zoning enforcement services. In this role, we will be responsible for requested zoning enforcement needs including, but not limited to the following: Phase 1 • Receipt of Complaint. Upon the receipt of an initial complaint, the Zoning Enforcement Technician (ZET) will open a case and login the complaint including the complainant contact information, date received, initials, complaint information, address, phone number, property owner information, etc. Inspection. The ZET will conduct an initial inspection and document in writing and by taking pictures the complaint issue and any other violation that is notable on the property at the time of the initial site inspection. The ZET will make in-person contact during the initial inspection (if possible and necessary) and input the findings into the case file. If no City Code violation is found, the case will be closed by documenting the date the issue was resolved in the case file and contacting the complainant regarding the results. 1st Notice of Violation. If a City Code violation is found during the initial inspection, the ZET will input the code violation into the case file and email or regular mail the 1st notice to the property owner outlining the violation, including any pictures documented during the initial visit, and providing a timeframe to comply (typically 10-14 days) and the notice of cost recovery fee if the violation is not corrected within the time allotted. This notice will be copied to the case file and staff as needed. A re -inspection will be scheduled at this time (10-14 days). St. Cloud • Minneapolis • St. Paul Equal Opportunity Employer wsbeng.com May 1, 2014 Page 2 • 2nd Inspection. The ZET will conduct a 2nd inspection and verify if the violator is in compliance or not. The ZET will document the status of the violation in writing, take follow-up pictures (if necessary) and determine next steps. If the violation has been resolved, the ZET will close the case file, input the date the violation was resolved and if possible contact the complainant regarding the results. Phase II • 2nd Notice of Violation. If the violation has not been corrected at this point, the ZET will email or regular mail a 2nd notice of violation including an invoice as prepared by the Finance Department, for the cost recovery fee for the second inspection, and include notice that if the invoice is not paid it will be assessed to their property (typically 7 -days to comply). A copy of the 2nd notice of violation will be placed in the case file and copy staff as needed. The ZET will schedule a re -inspection (7 -days typically). • Pendine Assessments. The ZET will coordinate with the Finance Department to ensure that all invoices for cost recovery fees that are unpaid by the invoice due date are added to the pending assessment list as maintained by the Finance Department. • 3`d Inspection. The ZET will conduct a 3rd inspection and verify if the violator is in compliance or not. The ZET will document the status of the violation in writing, take follow-up pictures (if necessary) and determine next steps. If the violation has been resolved, the ZET will close the case file, input the date the violation was resolved and if possible contact the complainant regarding the results. Phase III • Issue a Citation. If the violation as not been resolved, the ZET will coordinate with the Finance Department to send an invoice, as prepared by the Finance Department, for the cost recovery of the 3`d inspection. The ZET will notify the Police Department to issue a citation with any supporting documentation from the case file. The ZET will input the citation issued and citation date into the case file as well. Additional Items In addition to the items as listed above, WSB will collaborate with City Staff to review and enforce zoning permits and site plans as needed. At this time WSB anticipates spending a total of sixteen (16) hours per week in the City either conducting site inspections or documenting inspection findings; but recognize that more (or less) time may be necessary depending upon the complaint log. WSB staff will be available any time during the week by telephone, email, or fax to address questions related to zoning enforcement issues. It is WSB's policy to respond to telephone calls or emails within 24 hours. If complete answers to inquiries take longer to develop, we will follow up with a telephone call or an email to let the concerned individual know that we are working to find an answer to their question or a solution to their problem. We also recommend utilizing a service that WSB can provide to the City at no additional cost called IssueTracker. IssueTracker is an effective and transparent communication tool that can help enhance the communication process between the City and WSB. IssueTracker efficiently and effectively transfers information to appropriate individuals within any organization (e.g. city staff and ZET) and can be customized to meet your needs. By adding this program to city staffs network, you are able to provide input and monitor the actions being taken resulting in a more connected community. Benefits of utilizing IssueTracker include, but are not limited to: • Immediate issue notification to the appropriate person(s) • "Chain -of -custody" for all documented issues • Easy prioritization and identification of critical issues • Permanent record of all issues and their resolutions May 1, 2014 Page 3 Fees Billin We propose to offer high quality zoning enforcement services at a rate of $250/4 -hour increment. Based on our proposal of 16 hours per week, for 22 weeks, it is anticipated that fees for providing planning services from May 5th through October 3`d would be $22,000. Additionally, we can offer (if needed) an additional 4 - hours every other week, which would provide zoning enforcement during the seasonal time period at a rate of $24,750. We will not bill the City for miscellaneous costs including mileage, miscellaneous copying, mailings, faxes, or phone calls. We feel it is important for our clients to be able to call or email our staff for general information or advice without the anxiety of getting invoiced for a ten minute call. We understand the desire for the City to have a clear picture of expenses ahead of invoicing. To that end, we will gladly work with the City on a basis of compensation that works most efficiently for your needs. This letter proposal represents our total understanding of the project and proposed scope of services. If you are in agreement with the scope of services, please have the City of Lakeville block of this letter signed and returned to WSB. Our receipt of an executed copy will be WSB's authorization to proceed. Should the City request additional services outside of the above scope of services, we will gladly work with you to establish a revised scope and fee. WSB has enjoyed working with the City in a consulting engineering capacity and is looking forward to the opportunity to assist the City in the zoning enforcement capacity. If you have any questions or comments about our offering, please feel free to call me at 763-287.8521 or email me at kjohnson@wsbeng.com. I look forward to hearing from you! Sincerely, WSB & Associates, Inc. VJ491i Kelsey Johnson, AICP Community Planning and Economic Development Group Leader ACCEPTED BY: The City of Lakeville Matt Little, Mayor Charlene Friedges, City Clerk Date Date