City Council members discussed proposed housing ordinances during a special meeting Wednesday.

The council discussed a three strike rule which could lead to interior inspections. Also discussed were planned sidewalk inspections and how to fund the new housing ordinance project.

The first meeting that discussed housing ordinances was in December 2010. Almost two years later, the council is nearly in agreement, said 4th Ward Alderman Brendon Gallagher.

However, whether or not to have landlords and homeowners license with the city continued to be disputed among council members.

“I’d like to see licensing,” said 5th Ward Alderman Ron Naylor. “I’m willing to support the staff’s recommendation in this case.”

This program, which would necessitate hiring a new staff, brought up concern for 6th Ward Alderman Dave Baker.

“I don’t want to see as big of a program to start,” Baker said. “The bottom line is we need more police.”

Baker said if neighborhoods aren’t safe, people will not want to live in DeKalb.

Some council members suggested working with the departments DeKalb already has to eliminate crime.

“We have a problem; we have to tackle that problem,” said 1st ward alderman David Jacobson. “For me, someone sitting in an office up in city hall isn’t going to do that.”

A consensus has not been reached by the council for how to fund the resources for the housing programs.

An initial one-time start-up cost has been estimated at $135,000. This initial cost would include hiring five employees specifically for this program, staffing costs and equipment. Annual program costs would be $454,000.

The proposal to pay for this is a 50/50 setup in which half is covered by fees and half is covered by General Fund sources.

Some council members believe the added cost to landlords to pay for the program will trickle down.

“The cost is going to be passed on to the tenant,” said 3rd Ward Alderman Kristen Lash.

Two options were proposed to pay for the annual program costs: The cost can be divided per unit or per building.

Members of the DeKalb Area Rental Association (DARA) have agreed with the proposal on all areas except for how to fund the project, said City Manager Mark Biernacki.

Council members differed on how to handle and enforce ordinances and the council moved to put ordinances up for discussion at the next regular meeting of the council on Nov. 13.