Fulton Common Council Begins Discussions Of Landlord Accountability

FULTON – During public comment of last night’s Common Council meeting, Tuesday, August 4, one Fulton resident spoke before the council imploring for a nuisance abatement law to be created and passed, something Mayor Deana Michaels said is already being reviewed.

Karen P. of Ontario Street spoke of her experiences in dealing with new neighbors in a rental property who have become a problem for her to the point of reaching out to the city for help. She said she has met with the codes department and the police department who both did what they could but only to a certain extent. 

“Without a nuisance abatement law, we don’t have any grounds for anything,” she said. “I implore you, please make that a priority.”

She has lived in her home for almost 25 years and said she has never felt the need to install a camera system until now. 

Michaels said this is an issue all throughout the city and has been reviewing the nuisance abatement law recently passed in Oswego and Auburn. 

There will be a public hearing Tuesday, August 18, at 7 p.m. at the Fulton Municipal Building related to a proposed amendment to city code Chapter 152-J Housing Maintenance; Rental Permits. 

The proposed change to the city code would increase the rental fee per unit from $50 to $150 and rental permit certifications will go from being valid for five years to three years. These rental permit fees include the initial inspection of a unit and a followup inspection.

If the rental unit is in violation of city laws within the three years of its validity, the rental permit would be revoked and a new rental permit application must be filled out. The fee to renew a revoked permit is $500. As of right now, this part of the law has already been in effect, but with the five year permit validity instead of three years.

Michaels said this change is meant to contribute to the effort of making landlords accountable for their units.

She said she has instructed each of the six councilors to give a list of their top five problem properties. She said the property Karen brought up was on that list. 

“We’re going to start looking at those between Codes, Fire and Police and the council, and we’re going to look at those, identify what the problem is and we’re going to move forward with addressing those issues uniquely to each property,” Michaels said. “One of the things we plan to do is go out as a team… we’re going to go to these properties and we’re going to meet the landlords there and we’re going to communicate to them what our expectation is and what needs to be done to fix it.”

Following public comment, the council unanimously passed all agenda items except for awarding bids to tree maintenance and stump removal, which were scrapped from the agenda for further review from the Department of Public Works. 

• The council approved the minutes for the July 7, 2020 Common Council meeting
• The council approved the city clerks report for June 2020 in the amount of $7,570.25.
• The council approved to authorize Mayor Michaels to sign a supplemental contract with C&S Engineers for the Hannibal Street culvert replacement over Meadow Brook. This will change the contract from $125,000 to $241,000.
• The council approved the sale of 0 East Broadway to Keerti Reddy in Texas for $8,000.

Michaels then polled the council for closing remarks:

First Ward Councilor Tom Kenyon: Tom Kenyon said he has noticed several houses do not have the address numbers in a visible place and is concerned because this makes it more difficult for first responders to find the correct address in the event of an emergency. He asks for homes that do not have these numbers in visible areas to do so. 

Second Ward Councilor Doug Chapman: Chapman said he understands what Karen is going through with troublesome neighbors and that although change cannot happen overnight, the council is working on it.

Third Ward Councilor Don Patrick Jr.: Patrick said talks of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative have resumed and have started reaching out to the businesses in the plan so far for further discussion. He also said he has addressed the water chestnut issue on the river as part of his ward. 

He said he has met with Oswego County Legislator Jim Karasek (District 22) and Oswego County Water & Soil to make sure that part of the river is on the docket to be sprayed to avoid the invasive species next year. He also suggested everyone to keep their vehicles locked because there have been incidents of cars being broken into in his ward.

Fourth Ward Councilor John Kenyon: John Kenyon said he heard of a recent situation in his ward that resulted in tickets being issued rather than an arrest and said the state’s bail reform is not helping.

Fifth Ward Councilor Audrey Avery: Avery also sympathized with Karen’s situation. She said she recently spoke to a landlord and asked if he would want to be a neighbor to his own unit, who said no.

Sixth Ward Councilor/President Larry Macner: Macner said there are talks of revamping a neighborhood watch program and suggested installing porch lights, lights in backyards where it is dark and there are some affordable camera systems available for further security.

Mayor Deana Michaels: Michaels gave a rundown of recent projects that the city has been working on including:

• The multi-use trail system is in the final steps before it is ready to break ground and hopes it will be done this year.
• The new credit card machines are now being tested and hopes they will be up and running this upcoming Monday.
• This weekend the Splash Pad should be ready for a soft opening after about two years of waiting. Fencing has been installed and signage with the rules will be going up soon. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening next week, date to be announced at a later time. 
• The DRI is still underway and the city is still receiving the $10 million award from the state. 
• Dredging at Lake Neatahwanta has been put on hold until the completion of an experimental test to be done on blue-green algae by the DEC in collaboration with SUNY ESF and Clarkson University. There will be a webinar on the subject Wednesday, August 12. 
• To contribute to the city’s quality of life, the city is replacing lights that have gone out and adding more to darker areas. Also, she said there are plans of a neighborhood action taskforce in all six wards for community members who would like to be proactive in making the city a better place to live in.

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