Council hears draft code‑enforcement plan; staff proposes citations and abatement tools

City staff told the Baxter City Council they have drafted a code‑enforcement program that pairs a proposed code‑enforcement coordinator position with code amendments, a revised fee schedule and new administrative tools intended to speed compliance and reduce lengthy hearings.

Staff described four work streams: developing the enforcement program for an incoming coordinator, preparing code amendments, drafting a job description and proposing fee‑schedule updates. The package would allow an administrative citation process with escalated fines and an abatement tool to address visible public nuisances that create health or safety risks; staff said abatement is limited to items viewable from public rights of way and would be followed by an administrative hearing process for contesting fines.

Councilors generally supported moving forward but urged careful scope definition. Several members said the council should remove or refine codes that are impractical to enforce and asked that the city make clear the program is a compliance tool rather than a revenue source. A councilor noted experience in other jurisdictions where new enforcement officers quickly expand enforcement activity and urged deliberate code review before a hire.

Staff said job description drafts, code amendments and the fee schedule are nearly complete and that the city could proceed with the program even if the coordinator position is not filled immediately, arguing the code changes would give staff better tools to respond to complaints promptly.

Next step: staff will finalize the code amendments, fee‑schedule changes and the job description and return to council for formal approval; no hire will occur until the council signs off on the final package.