Butler City Council took another step Thursday, May 23, in preparing to implement its rental inspection ordinance for enactment Jan. 1, by approving a property condition checklist that will be used to evaluate rental properties.

Councilman Don Shearer, who spearheaded the rental inspection ordinance, said at Thursday’s council meeting the list right now focuses on fire code and fire safety issues, which are already laid out in city code.

“Everything that’s on this year’s check list is to address fire code and concerns,” Shearer said. “Whenever a tenant moves in, the landlord has to through the property, check this report; the tenant must sign off on it.”

Council approved the rental inspection ordinance last month, and it will take effect Jan. 1. Under the terms of the ordinance, landlords of residential properties have to provide the city with a copy of the check list, as well as a few photos. Shearer said the council still has to fill in an email address for where those photos will be sent.

Chris Switala, chief of the Butler Bureau of Fire, said city fire code addresses three main areas, which are property identification, requiring 4-inch numbers identifying a house number outside; working smoke alarms; and mitigation of electrical hazards.

“The photos that are on this year’s check list are the house numbers in front, so the fire department can get it loaded into their software for emergency response, and the other is a visible picture of their electrical box,” Shearer said.

There is also a place on the check list where landlords can report issues they know about, and their expected fix date. Shearer also said code enforcement will be able to “hold their feet to the fire,” when it comes to properties that have more frequent complaints.

“If they have a broken window and they know they have a broken window, they can put on the form they have a broken window on the second floor, ‘It will be fixed by the end of May,’” Shearer said. “It basically gets a working relationship with code enforcement and landlords, but also so that the code enforcement can focus on the more problem-some issues.”

Also at the meeting, the city voted to enter into a contract with Breakthrough Butler to run its summer parks feeding program. Under the terms of the agreement, Breakthrough Butler will rotate through five parks throughout the summer and provide activities at each two days a week.

Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy said the program has sponsors which allowed the program to be put into place without costing the city any money. Talks unfolded between the city and Breakthrough Butler’s founder, Nick Yannotty, over the past month.

“Excited that this is going to happen; Nick’s excited,” Dandoy said. “I think we’ll have a really nice program.”

Dandoy said the city raised about $7,500 to fund the program, and there are no income eligibility requirements for children and no enrollment limits at this time.