Neighborhood Response Team

Public Communications serves as a communications link between the city of Columbia’s municipal government and the citizens. The Public Communications Office coordinates several programs that are designed to link citizens with their city government.

Neighborhood Response Team (NRT)

In September of 1999, the Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) was formed by the City of Columbia to address neighborhood concerns in the central city. The NRT consists of various city agencies that work together in an effort to address quality of life the community policing philosophy of "Broken Windows". This philosophy includes working in a proactive partnership with citizens to identify and solve problems. Through the development of the NRT, City agencies began partnering as well, to try to solve the central city's problems together. Identified by a community survey in 1999, these main concerns of residents in the area include illegal drug activity, trash, abandoned vehicles and dilapidated housing.

The City agencies involved in this team are the Environmental Health division of the Health Department, the Protective Inspection division of the Public Works Department, the Police Department and the Department of Public Communciations. Only those things that can be observed from the street, such as roof deterioration, peeling paint, debris in yard, etc., are noted. In the event that a property is found with conditions that do not meet city property maintenance codes, the owner is asked to take corrective action. The city has several programs in place to assist eligible homeowners in financial need to bring their properties back into code, including housing rehabilitation and code deficiency abatement. The NRT partners with the Community Development division of the Planning Department in referring individuals to these programs.

In the case of rental property, rental owners are subjected to the provisions of the City’s Rental Compliance law. Other programs owners of rental properties can take advantage of are the Dilapidated Building Removal program and the Substantial Rental Rehabilitation program.

The Neighborhood Response Team currently meets approximately once a week between March and November, with several weeks during that period dedicated to following up on previously issued citations. For more information, please contact:

Bill Cantin, M.P.A.
Neighborhood Response Specialist
Department of Public Communications/Neighborhood Response Team
P.O. Box 6015
Columbia, MO 65205
(573) 874-7248
Fax: (573) 442-8828
bpcantin@gocolumbiamo.com