NORWICH – Cleaning up Chenango County could get a lot tougher as the number of code enforcement officers on duty has dwindled from six to three.
What’s more, Public Health Director Marcus Flindt told members of the Safety & Rules Committee last week that the vacated full-time and part-time positions wouldn’t be refilled because revenues have fallen off by $26,000 from last year. If the trend continues, he said the code enforcement department’s anticipated $200,000 in revenues for the year could be cut in half.
Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Bates said fewer commercial permits were fueling the department.
“We may have to make a big change,” Flindt said.
Flindt echoed what Town of Norwich Supervisor David C. Law proposed May 8 before a meeting of the Chenango County Planning Board: “This department should be paid for by taxpayers rather than pay as you go. It’s something that supervisors have to decide.”
For the past eight years, the county’s code enforcement officers have been hired and fired based on fee collection within the department. Three to four officers were on board back in 2001 and 2002, for example, but when large box retailers such as the Super Wal-Mart and Lowe’s came to the area, more building and fire code inspectors were hired. During the same time period, New York state code regulations were revised and updated.
“Maybe it’s time to change. The job has gotten too big,” said Homer D. Smith, D-McDonough.
The number of complaints have tripled since clean-up efforts along the state Rte. 12 corridor in the Town of Norwich began, Bates said last week. The media’s attention to Supervisor Law’s successes in ridding the area of a large junk boat, dilapidated truck stop and garbage surrounding the Halfway House site has fueled the attention, he said. Bates said new complaints aren’t being followed up, however, because those in the works need to be completed first.
“We used to average turning around a permit within two days. Now it is averaging a 7-day turnover. Some are longer. New complaints aren’t being taken,” he said.
Law said officials recently spent 12 hours completing the paperwork necessary to require the Halfway House’s owners to begin clean up efforts. Officials in Afton and Coventry have also been busy cracking down on codes.
“I’m getting concerned. This time of year contractors need to have their permits signed for their livelihood. We just don’t have the manpower now. Is this the proper way for us to be doing business?” Law asked.
Committee Chairperson Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford, asked Flindt if the reduction in personnel would “hurt your building and fire inspections.”
“To maintain what we have right now, the staff isn’t enough,” he said. Flindt asked what the county’s liability would be if it didn’t inspect complaints called in.
Town of Coventry Supervisor Janice O’Shea made a motion that the county consider making the codes enforcement department a regular part of the county’s budget in 2008. “I see a severe problem. I’ve heard the complaints in my office. It doesn’t speak well of the county,” she said.
O’Shea’s motion was seconded, passed and moved onto the Finance and Personnel committees.
Supervisor Smith said the current problem still required attention. “What are we going to do to fix this now?” he asked.
Even with permission to hire more inspectors, Bates said he wouldn’t be able to do so until August 1. Law said that wouldn’t be soon enough for the laborers waiting for permits now.
“This is a serious problem. We are treating our taxpayers unfairly by operating under out-moded rules,” Doyle said. He made a motion to refer the department’s need for more staff to the Finance and Personnel committees. The motion passed.
Bates said Chenango County’s code enforcement office was the only one in the state that he knew of that paid for itself with collected fees.
Planning Board Chairperson Ken Ryan asked his board to develop a plan for cleaning up the county. “Any comprehensive plan we create for future economic development in Chenango County is no good if people drive around and see the trash in our countryside. What can we do to clean up the towns? Lets clean up Chenango,” he said.
Board member Linda E. Natoli, R-City of Norwich, suggested holding a “Make A Difference Day.”
“We need to get supervisors, town justices, town attorneys, everybody aware of what’s taking place. It should be a joint effort of all of those folks.”
Referring to people who throw fast food garbage out of car windows, Law said: “We just need to start having respect for our environment. We have no respect. We are destroying it.”