New rental, vacant property ordinance finally OK'd

FORT MADISON – An ordinance resetting the city’s rental and vacant unit registration and inspection program finally found its way to a final city approval.
The third reading of the ordinance failed on Sept. 1 primarily due to lack of councilor attendance, but also because Councilman Matt Emmett wanted language added that would give greater protections to unwanted searches of tenant units.
A motion to approve language he added for the third reading failed two weeks ago, but then the motion to approve the third reading also failed 3-2 because two councilmembers Nicole Merschman and Rusty Andrews weren’t in attendance.
With the failed vote Emmett informed City Manager Laura Liegois after the meeting that he would put the motion back on the table for a full vote of the council Tuesday night.
That vote to reconsider the motion passed 6-0 with rental property owner Rick Thele abstaining. The vote to pass the ordinance on third reading also passed 6-0 with Thele abstaining.
“Nothing has changed since we brought this last time. Due to quorum situations, we are presenting the code as it was presented before to be approved,” Liegois said.
She said staff will be bringing back a policy piece that accompanies the new code language.
City Mayor Melinda Blind said city staff has been working on the ordinance changes since before she decided to run for mayor.
“I want to say that people were working on this before I even decided to run for mayor. This has been a long process. It’s come to council several times before it even got to the first reading,” she said.
“I know there were some compromises made on this and I’m just very glad that we have reached the point that some changes and improvements have been made to it.”
The new language allows the city to make sure that apartment units are up to code to protect tenants, but also make sure rental units are safe and well-maintained. The rental registry also comes with registration fees and additional fees for tenants who avoid inspections.
The city also voted to approve adding electromobility guidelines to the city code in a final third reading.
Blind said she’s been reading and hearing that some people think the devices will be banned, but that is not the case. She said the city just needs to have some regulations in place to make sure they are being operated safely and within city traffic codes.