MAMAKATING � Building Inspector Mary Grass's pleas for help in serving violation summonses hasn't fallen entirely on deaf ears, apparently. Last week, a group of citizens, led by Bill Lucas of Phillipsport, came before the board to demand that something be done to ensure that the building department is able to fulfill its mission of ensuring safe building practices in the town. Mamakating Town Supervisor Robert Fiore admitted that fiscal corners had been cut � with the express intent that such cuts would help balance the budget � but that this may have been done in a manner that ended up causing more problems than it solved.

At issue is the fact that Grass has been unable to issue what are known as "appearance tickets," the legal document through which a homeowner or business owner is notified of a code violation on his or her property. Grass has been overwhelmed with such violations in recent years, and has simply been unable to keep pace.

The reasons for Grass's inability to serve these summonses have less to do with her abilities as a building inspector, however, and more to do with what now appears to be shortsightedness on the part of current and past town administrations. During last year's budget problems, the position of code enforcement officer was combined with that of the building inspector. Previously, under the administration of the late Charles Penna, the position had been cut from full-time to part-time. This lack of a full-time code enforcement officer over the past several years has led to a situation in which there is a bottleneck at the building department office, resulting in the delay in the serving of appearance tickets � to such a degree that many violations are overlooked or are going unpunished. Grass cited a total of 475 appearance tickets in 2008 alone, and this year there appears to have been another 108 violations in just the month of April.

"It was the wrong decision," Fiore said in regard to the elimination of a code enforcement officer.

This lack of code enforcement has created a situation in which violations are going uncorrected, which creates at the very least a liability problem, according to Lucas. It also can contribute to other problems including blight, which in turn can lead to declining property values.

"We're worried about our neighborhood and the town in general," Lucas says.

Porco Propane
A number of questions have surfaced regarding the Porco Propane site at 3508 Route 209 in Phillipsport. In April, 2009, a local resident filed a complaint that the company was using the site for propane storage, despite the fact that no certificate of occupancy had been issued by the building department. This complaint also noted that a building permit had been issued despite the fact that the company had not complied with the site plan that originally had been approved by the planning board.

The most obvious of these deviations from the original plan, according to Lucas, is the fact that the propane storage tanks that had been placed at the site were of a different shape and diameter than those on the approved site plan. The site also has two storage tanks instead of the three listed in the planning board document. Also missing from the construction is a berm that is to run along Route 209. This berm is designed to act as a sight and safety buffer between the highway and the storage facility.

The fact that the company has been storing propane in storage tanks that had received very little in the way of scrutiny is another major problem, according to Lucas. If an inspection of the building site had been done in a thorough manner, Lucas feels, it would have been obvious � even to a layperson � that one of the tanks was missing. The difference between the tanks depicted in the drawings and those actually present on the site is also quite significant and should have been noticed during an inspection, Lucas's group contends.

There is also the matter of fines which have not been collected, according to Lucas. Town code specifies fines of up to $250 per week for site plan violations. The fact that Porco seems to have been somewhat laissez faire in its commitment to adhere to planning board guidelines would tend to indicate that these fines might end up on the higher end of the scale.

There is also the matter of the illegally stored propane at the site. When they came before the planning board several weeks ago, representatives of Porco stated that there were still approximately 4,000 gallons of propane stored in each tank. There has been no indication that Porco has done anything to remedy this situation, or that the Town of Mamakating has moved to collect what could amount to several thousands of dollars in fines it is owed by Porco (a Freedom of Information Request confirms that as of two weeks ago no fines have been levied).

Homowack Lodge
The Spring Mountain Resort, formerly known as the Homowack Lodge, is another property that Lucas's group wants the town to address. Several code enforcement complaints regarding this property have been filed, according to Lucas. These complaints have cited the serious state of disrepair of many of the buildings on this property, including broken and/or missing doors and windows on many of the bungalows. There is also a problem with refuse strewn around the grounds of the old resort, though some of this has been cleaned up in recent weeks, according to Lucas.

Another disturbing feature of the site has to do with the words "HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS" being spray-painted on one of the ancillary buildings. What this building contains, if anything, has yet to be determined, according to Lucas. However, if hazardous materials are stored on the site, something should be done as soon as possible to mitigate any potential problem, Lucas feels.

There is also some question as to whether the current owner of the site � Ulster Mountain and Ulster Rivers, LLC � has been keeping up with its utility bills. In fact, a complaint was filed as of November 2008 regarding the apparent lack of electricity, as well as the apparent drainage of the hotel's fire-suppression system. With no electricity or fire suppression on site, there is a strong possibility that first responders would have grave difficulty fighting a fire should one break out. Lucas feels that the situation continues to get worse and that it behooves the town act quickly in this matter.

Fixing the Problem
Lucas and his group have made several recommendations, including the hiring of a new, fulltime code enforcement officer. In addition, he would like the town to give those who file complaints an opportunity to be involved in the initial site inspection � though this may not be possible as it could present a liability problem. He would also like the town building inspector to begin issuing monthly reports as to the state of the building department's code enforcement practices, as this could help identify problems before they get out of hand.

Lucas and his group avoided pointing fingers at the various members of the board, stating that what had happened in the past should not hamper plans to move forward on this issue. Supervisor Fiore stated that he will now make it a priority to begin the process of hiring a new code enforcement officer, and that he would do his utmost to fulfill Lucas's request that some sort of progress in the matter be made in a timely fashion.

"As supervisor for the town, I am responsible for what has happened here," Fiore said. "I've driven by the Homowack many times, and I'm just as disgusted as you are," he then said to Lucas.

Fiore stated that he should have something positive to report regarding an overall strategy at one of the June meetings of the town board.

"We're going to develop a system of triage in order to look at every one of these complaints," Fiore said.

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