Lewisburg City Manager outlines landlord-registration delays, proposes deadline extensions; announces economic development hire

Lewisburg — At its Dec. 9 meeting the Mayor and Council heard a report from City Manager Barbara on several administrative items, including landlord registration enforcement, an update on outreach letters, and a personnel announcement.

Barbara said the landlord-registration ordinance adopted in 2023 carries a Dec. 31, 2025 deadline but that not all required letters have been sent. She described an ongoing effort to identify landlords using water and tax records and said staff initially sent about 150 letters, then found about 200 additional records that need to be contacted: "It was a 150, and then he found about 200 more, and he's still working on the next batch to have him send the letters," Barbara said. She reported roughly 90 property owners have complied so far.

To address fairness in enforcement, Barbara proposed sending a second batch of letters after Dec. 15 and setting a later deadline for those who receive the later mailing, while leaving the original recipients to the December 31 deadline. She also asked staff to revise the registration form to include a 24/7 emergency contact field so the city can reach a responsible party if there is an urgent property issue.

Barbara also announced the hiring of Clint Williams as director of economic development; Williams is expected to begin work at the end of the month.

Finance staff (Carrie) noted municipal revenue is about $28,000 higher than the same period last year and reported several parks and recreation participation metrics that will appear in the monthly packet.

Next steps: staff said they will prepare an updated registration form, continue the batch mailings, and bring ordinance-deadline language back to council if a formal extension is required.