By JUDITH O. ETZEL
Contributing writer
Landlords with rental properties in Oil City have a new job – signing up for city water, sewage, garbage and recycling services for their tenants.
City Council members voted unanimously at a meeting Thursday to toss out a previous amendment to the city code and revert back to one still on the books that makes landlords responsible for utility payments to the city.
“We’ve discussed this to death,” said City Manager Mark Schroyer in reference to public meetings to glean landlords’ response to the proposal. “… The landlords made no constructive criticism whatsoever because they don’t want to make changes for X, Y, Z reasons.”
Switching the bills from tenants to landlords could result in a lower delinquency rate and a better stream of revenue for the city, he said.
On Thursday, council agreed to scrap what had been an adjustment made to a long-standing city rule that held landlords responsible for utility payments. That more recent change made it possible for tenants, not landlords, to sign up to receive the utility services. If a payment were late, the tenant would then be responsible rather than a landlord.
“Now, the landlord will sign up for utilities. It is up to them to deal with their tenants. The city is not a bill collector,” said Schroyer, adding city staff spends an undue amount of time dealing with the landlord-tenant utility disputes. ” … We will go back to what was in the city code.”
Dale Massie, City Council member, noted, “Why all this angst when it is the normal procedure in most cities that the landlords are responsible?”
Michael Poff, a councilman, said, “I think if you don’t want to be the guardian of a property, you probably shouldn’t own it.”
Schroyer told council that final delinquent notices have been sent out and landlords will “have zero bills” when the reversion goes into effect Feb. 1.
“We want to get all the bills to zero before it goes to the landlords so they won’t be saddled with delinquencies,” said the city manager, adding landlords would then have the utility bills transferred to their names.
House renovation stalled
Council again tabled a request from city resident Walter Gibson to purchase a home at 171 Siverly Ave. The property was obtained by the city from the county’s land bank program and was targeted, along with others, to be demolished.
Gibson was directed at an earlier council meeting to present a more detailed outline of how he intends to rehabilitate the property. He submitted to council an updated estimate of materials, pegged at $7,000, that he believes would be sufficient to make some necessary repairs.
Repeating their concerns that Gibson would be unable to renovate the badly deteriorated house, a situation that would toss the property back onto a condemned list, council declined to act but did agree to have the property appraised. The appraisal would determine the worth of the house, said Mayor Bill Moon. If it is less than $1,500, the city can sell the home to Gibson without soliciting other bids.
In a related matter, two other Oil City homes retrieved for a nominal fee from the land bank were also on the council agenda.
Council voted to have the home at 1007 E. Second St. razed as part of the city’s blight eradication program.
There has been interest expressed in the second home, at 403 W. Third St., said Schroyer. Keystone Smiles is considering renovating the property, said Moon.
