CRESTVIEW — The Crestview city council advanced three items on the agenda at its April 23 workshop.
The items discussed were an overhaul of the city’s property maintenance code, an update of the flood damage prevention ordinance and a change to council rules regarding scheduled public presentations. Council members also agreed to hold a special meeting April 30 to discuss elements of the new proposed city charter.
The city’s growth management department was responsible for rewriting the property maintenance code, which outlines rules for buildings, exterior property areas and features like swimming pools and lawns, among other things.
“I’ve reviewed this several times and I think it covers what the city’s looking for as far as the maintenance and the upkeep of structures and automobiles in the yard and falling-down structures,” council member Shannon Hayes said. “I’m glad to see that we finally have this where I think it needs to be.”
The proposed changes to the property maintenance code will go before the council at the May 14 regular meeting. Members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on it at that time.
Modifications to the flood damage prevention ordinance were necessary due to it being outdated and no longer up to state standards. Teresa Gaillard, director of the growth management department, said that “band-aids” had been applied to the now more than 20-year-old ordinance over the years, but that it now required a full rewrite.
“It’s simply modifying the verbiage of our old ordinance, and the easiest way to do that is to delete the old ordinance and adopt in our new verbiage in a format that is approved by the state, approved by FEMA and the other entities that we must address in the environmental area,” Gaillard said.
The third topic of discussion was a revision of the council’s rules on scheduled presentation by members of the public at city council meetings. If the council adopts the proposed changes, members of the public wishing to make a presentation must present documentation to the city clerk 12 days prior to the council meeting so that council members have time to review the material.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: City council talks property code, flood prevention