First reading of rental property ordinance passes city council
Butler City Council gave unanimously preliminary approval Thursday, March 21, for an ordinance that would place new requirements on residential landlords and tenants in the city.
Council has to vote to pass the ordinance one more time in order for it to be put into code, and it wouldn’t go into effect until Jan. 1.
The ordinance was crafted and proposed by Councilman Don Shearer, who spent months speaking with area landlords to create guidelines which they agree would be reasonable to implement.
The ordinance would require the conditions of residential units be reported to the city before tenant occupancy, and includes requirements that could apply penalties for violations.
“That’s why this took a long time; we weren’t trying to rush anything through,” Shearer said at the meeting. “It took a while to build up ... we were trying to bring people to the discussion.”
Two landlords Shearer worked with to pen the ordinance were in attendance Thursday.
After the vote, members of council applauded the collaboration between officials and private citizens that led to the proposed ordinance.
“We have a lot of stuff we have to hammer out and bang out and figure out over the next nine months before this goes into effect,” said Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy. “I would hope ... we would still have that cooperation from the property owners and landlords.”
Councilman Troy Douthett said the collaboration between council and landlords was good to see.
“I’m so impressed with the landlords stepping up and working together,” he said. “It was amazing, quite frankly. Going to the first meeting where it was an explosion to the last meeting — incredible.”
Only one landlord, Mark Krenitsky, spoke out against the city adding more regulations to landlords.
The ordinance, Shearer said, could be amended throughout 2024 before it officially takes effect next year.
Council approved closing Main Street on several dates for upcoming events. A portion of Main Street will be closed the morning of May 27 for the Memorial Day parade, the morning of June 22 for the Butler Road Race, and a majority of the day June 23 for Cruise-A-Palooza.
Council voted to accept a quote from Shultz Ford-Lincoln for the city to buy a 2023 Ford F550 for $67,400 for use by the streets department. The vehicle will be paid for with the Liquid Fuels Tax Revenue Fund, but it needs some repair work before it is street ready, which also will be covered by the city’s liquid fuels fund.
“This is a pretty much exact replacement of the truck that’s rusted out,” Douthett said. “It’s going to be a while. The goal will be before winter.”
