Rental registration proposal put on hold

The idea of creating a program that would require all rental property to be registered and inspected by the city will be an issue for the next City Commission to tackle.

Commissioners at their Tuesday night meeting agreed to discuss the idea of a new rental registration program as part of their 2008 budget process, which will begin later this spring and stretch into the late summer. That means it will be after next week’s City Commission election.

Several people spoke in favor of the proposal, which was presented to the city by the Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods. Several residents said they thought the program would improve the safety of rental properties and make it less likely that old homes that have been converted into apartments would fall into major disrepair.

Several landlords spoke in opposition to the proposal. They said the city had a complaint-based system that could adequately deal with concerns about safety of rental units. They also requested more specifics on what problems renters were facing.

Commissioners Boog Highberger, David Schauner and Mike Rundle all expressed general support for the concept of a new rental registration program. Highberger and Schauner are running for re-election. Rundle is not seeking re-election.

Park-spraying program gets recommendation

A proposal to maintain all the city’s parks without the use of pesticides also will be a topic for the 2008 budget process, commissioners decided Tuesday night.

Marie Stockett, coordinator of the Pesticide-Free Parks Project, said a two-year test project to maintain Watson Park near Sixth and Kentucky streets without pesticides went so well that the city should adopt the practice for all parks.

Commissioners said they had interest in the idea but wanted to receive a full report from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department before moving forward. Commissioners also said they wanted to consider the idea as part of the 2008 budget process because the policy likely would require the hiring of more employees to maintain the parks.