City of Du Quoin Public Hearing on Property Inspections met May 8.
Here is the minutes as provided by the council:
Call to Order:
Mayor Alongi called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. with the following individuals present:
Commissioners Dale Spencer, Charles Genesio, and Gerald Whitley. City staff included City Attorney
Aaron Atkins and City Clerk Andrew Croessman.
Public Comment:
Mayor Alongi opened the Public Hearing stating that the City and all involved in real estate need to find
a common solution that all can live with to prevent Du Quoin’s housing stock from deteriorating.
Mayor Alongi said that requiring rental property inspections every three years was tabled because it was
too intrusive. He proposed drafting an ordinance that only required a rental property inspection if both
of the following conditions were met: 1.) a public or tenant complaint was made to the City and 2.) the
Fire Department validates complaint as legitimate.
Chase Porter suggested that if a tenant had an issue and there was a known solution to fix it, he should be
able to fix it immediately without wasting money on an inspection that just confirms that there is an issue.
The Council agreed that this could be addressed in the ordinance. Another landlord said that she has
younger tenants that are not educated in property maintenance and would likely report small or
nonissues. Commissioner Genesio assured her that the City is only concerned about significant life and
safety issues. Bart Bishop asked if the City already had the authority to do what it was proposing. Mayor
Alongi said that it did, but that this proposed ordinance was an effort to formalize and streamline the
process.
Mayor Alongi expected that the first draft of the ordinance would appear at the next Council meeting.
Adjournment:
The Public Hearing adjourned at 5:34 p.m., motion by Commissioner Spencer, seconded by
Commissioner Whitley; all ayes.
http://duquoin.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Public-Hearing-Minutes-05-08-2017.pdf
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