Snowaert

MARQUETTE — The Ishpeming City Council will consider making changes to its current rental inspection and code enforcement budget during its regular meeting Wednesday.

The council meets at 7 p.m. in the city hall conference room.

According to a letter from Ishpeming Police Chief Steven Snowaert to City Manager Mark Slown, the workload for the rental inspector has increased in the past few months.

“We recently had a meeting to discuss the rental program,” Snowaert said. “We have identified serious issues involving the compliance of some landlords and safety issues for tenants.”

City ordinance requires the rental inspector to inspect rental units within the city once every three years. The ordinance applies to between 800 and 900 rental units in Ishpeming, Snowaert’s letter states.

Snowaert is requesting to increase the $29,110 budget for rental inspection and code enforcement by about 26 percent, to $36,725.

The change would allow Snowaert to hire a rental code administrative assistant for 15 hours per week to help process paperwork and update and maintain rental files while keeping the rental code inspector at 25 hours per week.

“My proposal is to increase the budget so we can become more efficient, thus generating more revenue, so the end result is actually a savings to the city,” Snowaert said.

The efficiencies, such as confirming upcoming inspection dates and times with landlords, will potentially enable the city to increase rental fee inspection revenue from $12,000 to $22,500 annually, Snowaert said.

The council will also consider $3,167 in security improvements for the Carnegie Public Library.

The improvements would include replacing three cameras and installing seven additional digital cameras on the upper and lower levels of the library, as well as three panic buttons.

Library Director Jessica Shirtz in a March 29 letter requested the council waive competitive bidding “in the interest of keeping our security system through the same company we currently utilize for other security measures to prevent a hodgepodge system.”

The library uses Range Telecommunications in Marquette for its alarm system and door counters, Shirtz’s letter states.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242.