The first inspection of a rental property in International Falls is expected to be conducted this month.

Landlord Bob Discenza, a member of the city’s Rental Licensing Tax Force, volunteered to be the first client for inspection, after assisting in developing an inspection form with other members of the task force, according to Falls Councilor Cynthia Jaksa, who is also a member of the task force.

The task force includes landlords Discenza, Pauline Glennie, and John Vinar and tenants Jessica Ysen, Sarah Valentine and Sarah Morin.

Jaksa said the task force has developed a pre-inspection form that provides landlords with guidance on how to prepare for inspection, “what we will be looking for.”

The task force has also developed an inspection form, which will be used by city officials during inspections.

City Building Inspector Kelly Meyers will perform inspections of some of Discenza’s rental units and the two will report back to the task force on the results and what may need to be changed in the inspection forms.

“We need to do a few before we uncover issues we maybe have not thought about,” said Jaksa.

The task force has made a few decisions, she said, including that rental properties inspected by the Housing and Urban Development agency will not be inspected by the city unless there are complaints.

“This will cut down on the number of inspections by the city, and it will continue to be complaint-driven,” she said.

In addition, it is likely that rental units will be inspected on a rotation system every four years.

“It won’t be every year by any means,” she said. “The burden will be met every four years. Because the complaint-driven process is still out there, if there is an issue in between the four years we will look at it.”

Jaksa said there is “cohesion around the process. I think the task force is an excellent idea and there has been excellent participation by the landlords and hopefully everyone will see a benefit to the community, tenants, landlords and the city. Anytime we can improve working relationships we can solve problems better.”

The task force will consider licensing issues in January, she said.

“I warned (task force members) that we will probably be meeting periodically, maybe not once a month, but as need arises we will be getting together,” said Jaksa. “Their dedication to a long-term process is a valuable contribution of time and thought.”