City to revisit Property Maintenance Code

The debate on property maintenance code in Siloam Springs has been on hold since January.

The debate over property maintenance code in Siloam Springs is set to return to the Board of Directors on Tuesday in the form of a workshop and an ordinance.

Tuesday’s meeting will be prefaced by a workshop that will take the 30 minutes before the regularly scheduled meeting to consider property maintenance code in Siloam Springs. The workshop will begin at 6 p.m.

In addition to the workshop, the single new ordinance on the agenda is a city code amendment that, if approved, would overhaul city code on property maintenance and nuisance abatement.

The code, titled as the “Siloam Springs Property Maintenance and Nuisance Abatement Code,” would apply to every residential and nonresidential structure in the city. A full copy can be obtained on the city’s website on the agenda for Nov. 15.

In general, the code would require the exterior of all structures to “be maintained in good repair, structurally sound and sanitary so as not to pose a threat to the public health, safety or welfare,” according to the text. More specific instructions are listed for specific facets of a buildings exterior.

The 38-page-long ordinance contains nine articles, each

concerning a different aspect of property maintenance. The articles address exterior and interior maintenance, lighting, ventilation, occupancy limits, plumbing and fixtures, mechanical and electrical, fire safety, nuisances and noise.

The Siloam Springs Property Maintenance and Nuisance Abatement Code is the next step in an effort that began in December 2015, when the International Property Maintenance Code was proposed as a solution for perceived deficiencies in local building codes. After some debate, city staff spent the better part of a year tweaking the ideas presented in the IPMC to better fit the community of Siloam Springs.

Along with the property maintenance and nuisance code, the only other new item on the agenda for this week will be the approval of the 2017 city budget. The city’s staff report outlined some of the budget’s highlights. They are:

• Combining the Animal Control Division’s budget within the Community Development Department’s budget.

• Combining the Cemetery Division with the Parks and Recreation Division.

• Separating the Infrastructure budget from the Street Fund budget.

• Eliminating the Maintenance Division and the Engineering Division as Internal Service Funds and moving these divisions into the General Fund.

• Four percent of 2016 salary and wages included for merit-based pay increases.

• Increase pay for Board members and Mayor.

• Four new full-time positions (IT, HR, Community Development, and Water/Wastewater).

• Three new part-time positions (Police and Parks).

• Increased part-time hours in the Fire Department.

• Reduced healthcare costs.