Serving the Towns of Wawarsing, Crawford, Mamakating, Rochester and Shawangunk, and everything in between
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Wawarsing Building Department Could Be Brewing Lawsuits

WAWARSING – The town will not be replacing former municipal building inspector Bryant Arms' position as earlier indicated and the reason, Wawarsing supervisor Leonard Distel, said comes down to "dollars and sense."

"At this time, because of budget restraints, the consensus of the board is to not replace the building inspector position," Distel said.

Arms resigned on July 10 after supervising the department for over four years after years working in similar positions throughout the region. Not filling the position would save the town about $50,000 in salary, plus a benefits package.

"That's a significant savings, especially in terms of us trying to remain below the tax cap," Distel further explained.

Initially, upon Arms' resignation, the town board considered posting the position and seeking a qualified replacement. Since then, though, the civil service list to choose candidates from expired and while the town could request the county to administer a new test, resulting in a new list of potential candidates, he and other board members felt that the current building department staff seems more than capable to take on the responsibilities of overseeing compliance and enforcement of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Construction Code (the Uniform Code).

Local governments are required to enforce the Uniform Code as specified by the NYS Department of State.

"Regulations require the local government to establish a code enforcement program and to include certain features in that program," Department of State spokesman Laz Benitez said.

Those features, he continued, include provisions requiring construction inspections at various stages of building, as well as periodic fire safety and property maintenance inspections of buildings.

Wawarsing's current building department is staffed by three enforcement officers and two secretaries — certified code enforcement officer Robin Coleman, Dan Pollen (who is in the process of obtaining his CEO certificate), and Carl Hankle, fire and safety inspector appointed by the town to work three days a week.

While Coleman is civil service certified to enforce the Uniform Code, her certificate does not allow for supervision over other staff, like that of the building inspector II title that Arms held. Which, according to village building inspector Brian Schug, could leave the municipality in danger.

"Any municipality is vulnerable and has increased liability and risk without a qualified individual," he said.

Noting that he is unaware of any legal requirements for a town building department to staff a building inspector position, Distel said that while he does not conduct field inspections, he does himself oversee staff administratively. He further noted that he had also appointed a board liaison to the building department: councilman Mike Durso.

While local governments are required to enforce the Uniform Code, the state's Benitez continued, how they do it can vary. Of key importance, he said, is to designate code enforcement individuals to enforce the codes. If a local government chooses to "opt out" of their code enforcement responsibilities, the responsibility falls onto either the county in which the municipality is located, or in certain cases to the Department of State.

Additionally, Benitez added, a municipality can choose to enter into an inter-municipal agreement where two or more local governments provide joint administration and enforcement of the Uniform Code.

"Each local government entering into such an inter-municipal agreement remains legally responsible for code enforcement within its boundaries. However, an inter-municipal agreement may provide that code enforcement personnel employed by one local government may perform code enforcement activities for other local governments," he said.

But no inter-municipal agreement has been reached — or discussed — involving Wawarsing and the village of Ellenville, according to Schug; even though he has agreed to work with the town on an emergency basis.

Distel, who has pushed for more consolidation between the two municipalities on other fronts, said the town isn't considering establishing an agreement as of yet.

A final option, Benitez said on behalf of the state, offers local government the opportunity to use the services of a private firm or person "to perform the bulk of the local government's code enforcement activities."

"The local government must assure that the private person or firm is qualified, and the local government is still required to use its own public officers to issue building permits, certificates, orders or appearance tickets related to administration and enforcement of the Uniform Code," he continued.

As for the day-to-day operation of the building department — how the department is fairing with the absence of Arms and the current workload — that's relatively unknown. When asked, Coleman refused to comment.

There may have been some bad blood between she and the former building inspector, Distel insinuated when he noted how Arms had taken fire and safety inspections away from Coleman. But Arms disputes that.

"In any department you have employees, you have a difference of opinions," Distel said, noting how he's had to "step in from time to time."

"When we had interviews in 2010 there were a number of outstanding candidates," Distel said, referencing his first term as supervisor, when Arms was approved for the building inspector position 4-1, with the supervisor the sole no vote. "I thought there were better qualified individuals... Maybe the results show I was right."

Continuing, the supervisor said he's heard complaints over the years.

"You really want them to do the job, get positive impact," he added. "You want to have a good relationship between town and client."

Arms said that's not what the job is really about.

"The building department in Wawarsing is a well-connected tight-knit group. They did not appreciate my presence there. I was foolish to accept that job under very unfortunate circumstances," he said. "But the department eventually tolerated me during the several years I worked there and for the most part I left the building department the way I found it. I didn't have the support to change much. That would have been different if I was hired without the baggage created by my initial circumstances there. But we managed."



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