Neighborhood Notes
News for rental property owners & managers from the Office of Neighborhood Services April 2017
Crime Free Multi Housing
next session will be April 19
Developed in 1992, the
Crime Free Multi-Housing
program takes a multifaceted
approach to crime prevention and includes a unique
coalition of police, property managers, and residents
of rental properties. The Columbia Police Department
designates one community liaison officer to organize
and provide training for the program. Officer Amy
Bishop was selected in 2015 to fill this role and serve
at the Office of Neighborhood Services.
It encourages the police department, as well as
the property managers to work hand-in-hand to create
a safe environment for all the community of residents
that live in their apartments, says Officer Bishop.
Officer Bishop hopes awareness of the Crime
Free Multi-Housing program and the benefits it brings
will lead more properties to become certified. The
next Crime Free Multi-Housing phase one training is
scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 from 8:30 a.m.
to 5:00 p.m. at the Columbia Police Department
Regional Training Center, 5001 East Meyer Industrial
Drive. To register visit:
http://www.como.gov/police/crime-free-multi-
housingprogram/, or call (573) 874-7426.
Its time to get the lawn
mowers out!
Spring is here! The grass
is growing and soon lawns will
be mowed. In the case they are
not, the City enforces the weed
ordinance. The weed ordinance addresses
vegetation that has attained a height of 12 inches.
Property owners may receive an abatement notice if
they are in violation. When properties are out of
compliance, the City may abate the weeds and tax bill
the property for mowing. In 2016, Neighborhood
Services handled 1,277 weed cases.
If tenants are responsible for mowing please
make sure they are aware of this expectation.
To report a weed violation, call 874-7339 or
report via the Citys website at www.CoMo.gov.
We are piloting a new HVAC form
Some of you will find a new HVAC form in your
renewal paperwork. We want to pilot a more detailed
inspection form and get feedback from property
owners and HVAC mechanics. The purpose of
asking for additional detail during the inspection is to
get increased consistency and improved quality from
the inspections.
Use of the new form is currently optional; the
standard form will still be available to use and you can
find it on our website.
Tire & E-Waste Collection June 3
The Mid-Missouri Solid Waste Management
District will be hosting their annual tire and e-waste
collection on Saturday, June 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
at the parking lot just south of the Hearnes Center.
There is a charge for tires and some electronic items.
To learn more, call 874-7574.
Household Hazardous Waste Collection is held the
first and third Saturdays of each month, April to
November, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Grissum
Building, 1313 Lakeview near the City Power Plant.
Keeping your COCs current
Renewal notices are sent 90 days in advance to
give you plenty of time to conduct HVAC inspections
(if needed) and get your paperwork and fees
submitted to us. It is important that all rental
properties have a current Certificate of Compliance,
or an application submitted to the City. Missed
renewal deadlines subject property owners and
managers to prosecution in municipal court.
Make monitoring your properties a routine
In the field we are hearing concerns about
squatters and homeless entering vacant properties.
We want to remind property owners to visit your
vacant properties regularly (once per week is
recommended) so that someone is not taking up
residence in your units without your knowledge. Once
someone is there for a while, received mail there, and
considers it their residence, it is more difficult to get
them removed and you may need to go through the
eviction process.
Building addressing
The City encourages property owners to convert
to a numeric numbering system on buildings in order
to improve addressing and identification for public
safety response.
Alphabetic identification (Units A, B, C, etc.)
should be replaced with a numeric system that helps
identify levels. For example, basement units would be
1, 2, 3; ground floor 101, 102, 103, second floor, 201,
202, 203, etc.
 The City has hired Chris Valleroy as an
addressing specialist to help with the process. To
learn more about this issue or get your properties
converted, please contact Chris at
chris.valleroy@CoMo.gov or 874-6361.
Inspection Scheduling
In order to expedite rental inspections, our staff
schedules with the goal of grouping inspections in the
same area of town, with the same owner or manager
and also to take them in the order of expiration. We
know that time may not always work for you and want
to be flexible.
If you receive an inspection appointment that
will not work for your schedule, please contact
our office at 817-5050 and we can find another
time that will work. The sooner you call us the
better so we can reschedule the inspector. This
makes the best use of everyones time.
Please note that ONS is using new appointment
reminder software that may call, text or email you
about your appointment. We appreciate you
confirming with us, or asking to reschedule if needed
through this new system.
Emailing of inspection reports
We know that many of you want a list of items
that need to be addressed following an inspection.
Emailing the inspection report can be the quickest
and most efficient way to get your report to you. If
you would like it by email, please let your inspector
know and also make sure he or she has the best
email address so it will reach you!
Utilities need to be on for inspections
Even if a unit is vacant, please make sure the
utilities are on so we can adequately test plumbing
systems and make sure items like the hot water and
bathroom fans function. Thanks for ensuring utilities
are on so we can complete the inspections.
Revised Rental Application Form
Please note that the rental application has
changed and now has two places for rental property
owners or managers to sign: once to indicate the
information is accurate and once to agree to an
inspection. The application will not be considered
complete without both signatures.
Rental unit count
As of March 29, 2017 the City of Columbia had
10,094 buildings and 27,250 units registered under
the Rental Unit Conservation Law.
Meet the ONS Staff
ONS has five inspectors who you might work with
on various cases along with others who support our
work. Heres a review of who is who, what we do, and
how to reach us!
David Brockhouse Senior Code Enforcement
Specialist Rental inspections & property
maintenance cases 441-5567,
david.brockhouse@CoMo.gov
Sara Ferrill - Code Enforcement Specialist
Rental inspections & property maintenance
cases 874-6351, mailto:sara.ferrill@CoMo.gov
Lisa Frank, Code Enforcement Specialist
Health code violations, nuisances, unlicensed
cars west of Providence, 874-7562,
lisa.frank@CoMo.gov
Marsha Perkins - Sr. Code Enforcement
Specialist Health code violations, nuisances,
unlicensed cars east of Providence, 874-7441,
marsha.perkins@CoMo.gov.
Ken Reeves - Code Enforcement Specialist
Rental inspections & property maintenance
cases 874-6334, ken.reeves@CoMo.gov
Jim Stark Code Enforcement Specialist
Rental inspections & property maintenance
cases 817-6420, james.stark@CoMo.gov.
Other ONS staff you might work with:
- Officer Amy Bishop CPD Officer assigned
to our Division 874-7426,
amy.bishop@CoMo.gov.
- Bill Cantin Neighborhood Communications
Coordinator 874-7248,
bill.cantin@CoMo.gov.
- Leigh Kottwitz Neighborhood Services
Manager - 874-7504,
leigh.kottwitz@CoMo.gov.
Julie Giboney and Lacy Scott are our administrative
professionals who keeps everything going; either can
be reached at 817-5050 or
neighborhood@CoMo.gov.
City of Columbia
Community Development Department
Office of Neighborhood Services
701 E. Broadway City Hall 3rd floor - Historic Daniel
Boone Building, P. O. Box 6015, Columbia, MO 65205
573-817-5050
neighborhood@CoMo.gov
www.CoMo.gov/Neighborhoods