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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The idea of a sticker program to identify rental properties met with opposition at Tuesday night&#8217;s city council meeting.</p><p>Councilman Tony Brooks , a renter, raised the issue as a way to recoup revenues that the city might be missing. The city is supposed to collect $75 when it inspects a rental unit each time a new tenant takes up residence.</p><p>But Susan Gilbert, mother of Councilwoman Beth Gilbert, objected, saying it&#8217;s a violation of privacy and placing stickers on a building with rental units will make it unsightly.</p><p>&#8220;Right now nobody likes renters in the city at all,&#8221; she said, adding the stickers will subject them to further scrutiny with people reporting tenants to the landlord and the city.</p><p>&#8220;You should not know whether someone is renting that&#8217;s nobody else&#8217;s business,&#8221; Gilbert said. &#8220;I&#8217;m really against it, and I&#8217;m sure a lot of people will be.&#8221;</p><p>The city had looked at a sticker program before, and the expense of a sticker program was a concern. Council Chairman Bill Barrett pointed out that the city&#8217;s been struggling with rental properties, and it would be difficult to provide an exact number of units.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just another way that we think maybe helpful,&#8221; Barrett said of the sticker program.</p><p>Controller Darren Snyder, a licensed real estate broker and president of Marilyn K. Snyder Real Estate Inc., said he was concerned a sticker might &#8220;devalue&#8221; the property value of a neighboring house.</p><p>As he has in the past Angel Jirau brought up the possibility of the city marking the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday off site. The city does not close for the holiday and instead holds a program at City Hall. Jirau suggested holding the program at the Keystone Rescue Alliance Mission outside Sherman Hills apartment. &#8220;They have a chapel up there I hope you take that into consideration,&#8221; Jirau said.</p><p>In regular business, council:</p><p>&#8226; Authorized city officials to enter into a contract with the lowest responsible bidder for various street projects worth approximately $400,000 to be paid from the Office of Economic and Community Development budget.</p><p>&#8226; Authorized the disposition of records from 2008, 2009 and 2010 from the City Clerk&#8217;s Office.</p><p>&#8226; Approved the first of two readings of an amended ordinance regarding the Hollenback Dog Park. The added regulation states, &#8220;All dogs must be spayed or neutered.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Temporarily suspended the ban on and the enforcement of the open consumption of alcoholic beverages to allow wine tasting at the Old Fashioned Holiday Market on Public Square on Dec. 9 and 10.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre city council discusses sticker program to ID rental properties