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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSBB 2020-10-13 Minutes MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD OF THE CITY OF NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TEXAS, HELD AT THE COUNCIL WORKROOM, 4301 CITY POINT DRIVE OCTOBER 13, 2020 The Substandard Building Board of the City of North Richland Hills, Texas met on the 13th day of October 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Workroom. Present: Brian Crowson Chairman, Place 6 Daniel Caulkins Place 1 Bill Wait Place 2 John Cope Place 3 Michael Gist Place 4 Robert McCary Place 7 Absent: Billy Parks Place 5 Staff Members: Stefanie Martinez Director of Neighborhood Services Kellie Brady Assistant City Attorney 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Crowson called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS - AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD ON MATTERS WHICH ARE SCHEDULED ON THIS AGENDA FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD, BUT NOT SCHEDULED AS A PUBLIC HEARING. IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD DURING PUBLIC COMMENTS, A PUBLIC MEETING APPEARANCE CARD MUST BE COMPLETED AND PRESENTED TO THE SECRETARY PRIOR TO THE START OF THE SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD MEETING. Chairman Crowson informed the Board that no one had signed up to speak during public comments. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 8, 2019 SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD MEETING. MR. BILL WAIT MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 8, 2019 SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD MEETING. MR. ROBERT MCCARY SECONDED THE MOTION. Substandard Building Board Meeting October 13, 2020 Page 1 of 5 MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-0. 4. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR Chairman Crowson asked if there are any nominations for Chair. In response, Mr. Wait recommended that the Board keep same Chairman and Vice Chairman. APPROVED MR. BILL WAIT MOVED TO KEEP CHAIRMAN CROWSON AS CHAIRMAN AND MR. BILL WAIT AS VICE CHAIRMAN. MR.JOHN COPE SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION TO APPROVE CARRIED 6-0. 5. 2021 SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD MEETING DATES Chairman Crowson informed the Board that the Substandard Building Board meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month unless informed otherwise by City Staff. The Board members were provided a handout earlier with all 2020 Substandard Building Board dates. 6. UPDATES ON PREVIOUS SUBSTANDARD BUILDING CASES — STEFANIE MARTINEZ, DIRECTOR OF NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES Stefanie Martinez, Director of Neighborhood Services, provided the Board Members an update on the following previous Substandard Building Board cases: • 8309 Sayers Lane o The property was demolished by the property owner and the lot has been divided into two separate lots. • 6608 Davis Blvd o This was a warehouse that was damage by a storm and the warehouse has been demolished. There are other structures on this property but this structure has been removed. • 4916 Eldorado Drive o In 2018, this Board ordered that the property be cleaned and the property owner did not comply with the Order. The City did hire a contractor to remove the accumulation from the property in September of 2018. Unfortunately, the debris did return. The City did get a Court Order through Tarrant County District Court ordering the removal of the accumulation from the property. This property was cleaned again in August of 2020. The City expended over $12,000 to clean this property Substandard Building Board Meeting October 13, 2020 Page 2 of 5 Chairman Crowson asked Ms. Martinez if the city put liens on the property. Ms. Martinez responded that the City has filed several liens on this property. Chairman Crowson asked if there was a reason why the property owner won't comply. Ms. Martinez responded the property owner has just not been able to maintain the property accordingly. A temporary judgement was issued in January of 2020 by the District Judge and property owner failed to comply with that judgement so a Permanent Judgement was issued in June of 2020 and that judgement also outlined several items that needed to be accomplished on the property. Unfortunately, those items have not been accomplished either. As of today signs have been posted on the property, stating the property is not to be occupied and property is to be vacated. The property owner has until the end of today to fully vacate the property. The property owner is in the process of moving out of the city limits and out of Tarrant County. Chairman Crowson asked Ms. Martinez what will happen to the property once it is vacant. Ms. Martinez responded that we do understand that there is a contract for sale so someone will be taking over the property and we hope they completely renovate this property. • 6430 Jerrell o The property came to the Board in 2018. There is a new investor involved with this property. They have begun repairs. The windows have been replaced and we believe a new roof has been installed. They are going to begin the construction on the interior of the home. • 6600 Jannie Street o This property came to the Board in 2018. The property was sold to a investor and the house was renovated. The property was sold to a new family. • 8008 Oak Knoll Drive o This property burned in 2015 and it did take a while to get this property brought into compliance. This property was repaired completely. • 4812 Nancy Lane o The owner was nowhere to be found. This property did go to Tarrant County Tax auction and the new owner demolished the structure. Actually, all the structures along Nancy have been demolished. • 4813 Ash o This was a rental property that the property owners were using as storage. The property owners live next door. The property owner repaired the property and paid the civil penalty issued by the Board. To Ms. Martinez, knowledge the property is still vacant. • 8250 Bedford Euless Road Substandard Building Board Meeting October 13, 2020 Page 3 of 5 o This is the old Benningan's location and the Board issued several Orders to owners requesting that they repair it. About three years later, we have a brand new restaurant and very nice restaurant. This is one of the best success stories we have. 7. TRAINING ON SUBSTANDARD BUILDING BOARD PURPOSE AND AUTHORITY— KELLIE BRADY, ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY Kellie Brady, Assistant City Attorney, presented her training presentation on the Chapter 54 Texas Local Government Code. Ms. Brady informed the Board that they have authorization to hear variety of cases besides substandard cases including animal cases based on the Chapter 54 Texas Local Government Code. Ms. Brady presented all the case types that the Board could be presented to the Board and the possible outcomes including civil penalties and different types of orders that can be issued by the Board. Ms. Brady also provided information on the appeal process on a Board Order and some cases could go to District Court. Ms. Brady, advised the Board that the City is also limited on what can be done based on what the city ordinance states compared to the Chapter 54 Texas Local Government Code. Ms. Brady informed the Board that the civil penalties under Chapter 54 Texas Local Government Code are much broader then the civil penalties that are allowed under our city ordinances. When the City Council created our ordinances and the Board, they limited the amount of civil penalties that could be issued. The Chapter 54 Local Government Code allows $1,000 civil penalty per violation per day to be issued whether the property is homestead or not. The city ordinance only allows up to $10 per day civil penalty if the property is homestead. Ms. Brady explained what the International Fire Code is to the Board and explained that cities can adopted these codes into their ordinance with amendments. Ms. Brady informed the board members that when the City brings cases to this Board, they have already done a lot of that back work and cases will go to the Municipal Court first. They have worked with these property owners for a long time and tried to get them to come into compliance. The city staff is not bringing this Board a case just to say we need you to tell them to get into compliance in actually they are coming to this Board because they need something more done as the property owners are not listening to them. Ms. Brady informed the Board that the Substandard Building Board is not an advisory board. This Board function is to make a decision based on evidence provided and issue Orders. 8. ADJOURNMENT Substandard Building Board Meeting October 13, 2020 Page 4 of 5 L4i4 Bill Wait, Vice Chairman ATTEST: KA Audrey Capp Ilo, Executive Secretary Substandard Building Board Meeting October 13, 2020 Page 6 of 6