A new ordinance could require properties in the process of foreclosure to be registered with the city of Kissimmee and require someone local to be named the point of contact should the city’s code enforcement have any issues with the property.

The registration would come with an application fee of $200 for the mortgage holder. The registration process would be handled by a company called Federal Property Registration Corp, the only such company in existence that performs such a duty, according to city staff.

The Kissimmee Commission agreed Tuesday night to allow the ordinance to be advertised. A majority vote at two public hearings will be required to approve it.

The idea for the registration process came after Federal Property Registration Corp gave a presentation to staff at the city of Kissimmee, St. Cloud and Osceola County, City Attorney Don Smallwood told the commission. The registration of properties allows the city to avoid maintenance problems, such as tall grass and dilapidation of the home or building, once the owners abandon it in anticipation of foreclosure.

“Staff liked it. We thought it would help us dealing with the foreclosed property,” Smallwood said.

The registration would cost the city nothing. Part of the $200 fee would come back to the city and part would be paid to Federal Property Registration Corp for the rights to act as the administrator for the city, Smallwood said.

Development Services Director Craig Holland said the city’s care of vacant lots used to encompass only about a fifth or sixth of the caseload handled by code enforcement, which amounted to usually about 400 properties. Now, that number is about 1,000 and most of those properties are due to foreclosures, he said. Even so, the city’s been lucky as far as burden of maintaining the foreclosed properties compared to other cities.

“It seems that once banks take ownership, they maintain the property really well,” Holland said. “We don’t know how long that’s going to happen because we’re expecting the foreclosures to continue.”

That’s because there’s a big chunk of houses that still have adjustable rate mortgages with interests that are going to increase starting this year.

“Once those interest rates change, the people can’t afford the mortgages,” he said.

As the amount of homes and properties that are left behind increase due to foreclosure, Holland said it might become more difficult to keep up.

“Some of the local banks have been really great about the homes they’ve had,” he said. “Other (banks), they’re going to wait until that grass is going to full 12 inches before they’re going to mow, because they have so many.”

In other business, the commission also approved Tuesday three Florida Department of Transportation grant applications which could bring up to $600,000 in funding for eco-tourism and multi-modal transportation for the city. Specifically, the city will be applying for money from the state to fund a bike path connection, a bus rapid transit study and a ferryboat on the lakefront.

Commissioner Jerry Gemskie applauded the idea for a ferry, which would allow residents and tourists alike to visit Makinson Island, accessible only by boat, as well as other attractions along within Lake Tohopekaliga, like the Disney Wilderness Preserve.

“This is really a good thing,” Gemskie said. “That’s really something that could bring the tourism to downtown.”

The city applied for about $250,000 to help finish a bike path loop around Kissimmee that the city has been trying to promote. The newest section would follow or parallel Central Avenue between the roundabout at Neptune Road north until Donegan Avenue.

The city also hopes to secure $200,000 needed to study the possibility of a bus rapid transit route along Vine Street, through the downtown and along Orange Blossom Trail.