During April’s Morrisville Borough Council Meeting answers were provided to the questions raised during the public comment section of March’s Council meeting on the still-tabled residential rental program which was causing confusion and anger for some property owners and renters.
Spokespersons from Barry Isett & Associates, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm explained the yearly program in detail.
One Isett & Associates representative will communicate the residential rental program with a second associate acting as the “VCO inspector” for all rental properties. They will schedule inspections and contact the property owner or their designated representative for the look-overs, communicating with them throughout the process.
Each year, a rental license is issued after a successful inspection. If the inspection fails at any point, the property owner will have 30 days to fix the failed items. At that time a secondary inspection is scheduled and if satisfactory, a one-year rental license will be issued.
The Isett & Associates Spokespersons explained inspections are mainly for safety risks and the items to be checked are, to name a few, smoke and/or carbon monoxide detectors, utility closets where there is a hot water heater and/or electrical panels, boxes piled up on top of a stove, space heaters, and electrical outlets making sure they are GFI (ground fault interrupter) compliant.
It was explained that the firm handles inspections in other municipalities and how these inspections will help first responders and school districts, officials said.
At March’s council meeting, many landlords spoke on both their own and tenants’ behalf.
Some residents voiced concerns last month about the costs filtered down to them. They also voiced concerns about a possible invasion of privacy, and lost time/wages to name a few. Some landlords reiterated their tenants’ concerns, including the same concerns residential attendees voiced at the meeting.
Some of the landlord’s own concerns presented to the council were the speed of putting this into action, lack of information given except for the letters, no input from the landlords, affordability of the tenants especially when costs will be passed on to them, and no knowledge of where the fees will go.
At Tuesday’s meeting, one landlord, who also spoke last month, thanked the council and representatives for explaining the process. He said, it was not the inspection itself that presented a problem but actually how it came to be – which was a letter and then confusion of the unclear message, the speed of it and no input from landlords.
This being a first-time process can be scary. As years go by, it will be easier as landlords and tenants will know what to expect during an inspection, officials said
Council tabled a vote on the motion to institute the program in March. Borough officials did not say or indicate when the item (or if) would be re-presented to the full council again for a vote.
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