SPENCER — The town of Spencer will soon be able to target problem rental properties for remediation.

The Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday evening to move forward with a residential rental remedial action program. The program is designed to minimize illegal actions at rental properties and to flag rental properties that show “and unacceptable level” of criminal activity and to put the responsibility for fixing the problem on the landlord.

Alderman James “Mike” Boone proposed the action, saying he’d spoken with Land Management Director Troy Powell and Town Manager Reed Walters.

“I would like the Spencer board to give this ordinance consideration as I believe it would be an excellent tool,” Boone said.

Salisbury recently approved a similar program, which will go into effect Nov. 7. Other cities with similar ordinances include Charlotte, Gastonia and Fayetteville.

Under the remediation program, tenants of rental properties will be allowed a certain number or “threshold” of offenses — receiving more strikes for more serious crimes.

If they reach a certain threshold within a given time period — typically three months, Powell said — the tenant and the landlord would sit down with police and land management for a hearing. If they’re deemed in violation, the landlord would go through a remediation process.

“I think this is a good idea,” Alderman Howard White said.

Other aldermen agreed, referencing the board’s commitment to make Spencer a safer place to live.

“We basically live close enough to Salisbury to inherit a lot of their problems if we’re not careful and keep them out,” Boone said.

Alderman Kevin Jones, however, was a bit more hesitant.

“There are some concerns I have about it marking the property. That would make it difficult to resell,” he said.

Jones said he also wasn’t sure that the Salisbury ordinance could be cookie-cutter applied to Spencer. He’d rather sit down with town staff and see how it could be changed to best fit Spencer and to talk to and look at other municipalities with similar ordinances.

“I think we need to hear from all stakeholders as well — landlords,” Alderman David Lamanno chimed in.

“I don’t think that our good landlords will be affected by this at all,” Boone countered. “… Our absentee landlords will probably be affected most by this ruling as they’re away.”

And the program would benefit property neighbors, as well — who are the ones who really have to deal with the issue.

Police Chief Mike James was asked for his opinion. James said police could typically identify a problem tenant or property within a month, and he said there were several rental properties in Spencer that police constantly respond to.

“I can see it working,” he said. “I think we need to study it. Is the three-month window a fair thing?”

Powell said that to track the data well, the town would need to hire an additional person in land management and in the Police Department — though if that wasn’t within the town’s means, the staff could make do.

The Spencer Police Department does not have crime analysis software, James said, which means that flagging problem properties would have to be done by hand, with careful attention to detail.

“In a small town setting, hopefully there’s not that much that it would be time consuming,” Boone said.

Mayor Jim Gobbel said that even if the board didn’t move forward with the ordinance, it should consider granting extra manpower to the Police Department if James felt it was needed. He, too, said he is in favor of the program.

“We have been plagued with property owners in this town who do not respect the Police Department or anybody else,” he said. “… If we’re going to be a safe town, we need to get something like this in place.”

Alderman David Smith made a motion that the board move forward with the ordinance, with a possible April implementation, and that the board could tweak and edit the program as needed for Spencer. Lamanno seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

In other business, the board:

• Discussed a trunk-or-treat to be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 31 in the Eighth Street Ballpark. The event is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the Spencer Cal Ripken Facebook page.
• Agreed to waive fees for the Voices of Hope Concert to be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 5 in Library Park.
• Allocated $20,000 to replace a police car that was damaged in a recent car chase. The Spencer Police Department’s insurance valued the damaged vehicle at about $17,000. The department plans to use the total $37,000 to purchase an SUV to replace it.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.