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Topeka committee discusses yard'of'the'month judges, property maintenance updates and recent sanitation fines
Summary
The Public Health and Safety Committee approved minutes, heard a yard'of'the'month update from the Director of Community Engagement and received a property maintenance report including 47 sanitation cases that produced about $61,000 in fines; the committee set a one'week timeline to submit judge nominees and scoring comments to staff.
The Public Health and Safety Committee on Wednesday approved meeting minutes, received a status update on the city'run Yard of the Month program and heard a property maintenance update that included court actions and sanitation fines.
The committee approved the minutes by voice vote. Chair Karen Hiller called for the ayes and recorded the minutes as approved; the meeting record does not include a numeric tally.
Monique Glaude, the city's director of community engagement, briefed the committee on the Yard of the Month program timeline and proposed duties for a judging panel. Glaude said staff recommends running the program from April through September but asked the committee to consider a May start this year so staff have time to identify judges and complete marketing. She provided a candidate list of potential judges and recommended an odd'number panel (three, five or seven members) for fairness. The proposed scoring form reduces categories to seven and adds a total score field.
The committee discussed who should select judges. Monique Glaude told members the committee may recommend community leaders, and staff can take the lead if the committee prefers. Councilmember David Banks suggested a five'member panel and asked members to review the materials and submit comments or candidate names to Glaude within one week; the committee agreed on a deadline of noon next Wednesday for comments and names.
On property maintenance and sanitation, staff reported that 47 sanitation cases were processed through the courts recently and that the city collected "a little over $61,000" in fines related to trash issues. City staff and the city attorney's office were credited for pursuing the cases; public discussion also noted the large private property owners and the complexity of long'term cleanup work.
Committee discussion touched on abatements and encampment cleanups. Staff said they have tracked abatement costs and staff hours for 2023 and 2024 and that multiple divisions (public works, property maintenance, police) are involved; a finance staff member (John Shardine) is tracking those costs. Committee members expressed differing views on whether abatements should continue; staff said the process is lengthy, includes required notices and offered outreach and services before cleanup.
As meeting follow'up, committee members agreed to provide candidate names and comments on the judging criteria to Monique Glaude by the stated one'week deadline. No formal ordinance, resolution or new policy was adopted in committee; the yard program operational details will be finalized by staff with input from committee recommendations.
Ending: Staff said they will accept comments and names by the stated deadline and will finalize the judging panel and scoring details ahead of the program launch.
