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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03202005 CB ~-4~~ ' (BOARD) \~\\l l('"'k-\l'\l.)~.. APPROVED ......-- DATE4 . l.l 'gs- SEBASTIAN CONSTRUCTION BoAWROVEfJ SUBJECT TO .- WORKSHOP MEETING MARCH 20. 2005 - 7:00 P.M. Meeting was called to order by Chairman Garland at 7:00 P.M. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. ROLL CALL: Present: Mrs. Carbano Mr. Conover Mr. Gilligan Chairman Garland Ms. Falco Mrs. Lanning Absent: Mr. Morris Mr. Mitchell Mr. Wolf All are excused. Also present: Rich Stringer, City Attorney Wayne Eseltine - Building Director/Official Chairman Garland thanked Attorney Stringer and Mr. Eseltine for coming. He explained that in the past when a violation was brought before the Board, there was a problem trying to decide what to fine them. We feel it would be helpful to have a set figure in mind. Attorney Stringer said the Code Enforcement Board has limitations that come from State Law. They are very restricted as opposed to the Construction Board. City Council can not change the maximum fine on Code Enforcement because the State Statutes set those fines. Since the Construction Board is created by City Council, they can raise the amount of the fines if $500.00 is too low. One of the advantages of the Construction Board is having the ability to raise the limits and to impose stricter fines. This is one of the things in favor of having a citizen Board over Construction. Attorney Stringer noted after reading some of the notes submitted by Board members that they feel that $500.00 is too low for what is going on out in the market right now. He said he would like to hear from the Board as to the maximum that should be put in the Codes. He recommended the Board keep some discretion as far as which violations are blatant and which ones were just not thinking. The Building Official said he felt it would more of a deterrent if we could penalize a contractor in the field rather then bringing them before the Board. Mrs. Lanning noted that the State has a fee schedule to use for dealing with contractors and that perhaps the Board should adopt it for their own use. Attorney Stringer said you could go "criminal sanctions" - arresting them and letting the States Attorney handle it. Another system being used is the when the Code Enforcement Officer writes a citation with a fine amount on it which can go up to $500.00. If the contractor wants to challenge the citation, then he can come before the Construction Board. If the Board fmds the violation did exist, the minimum is the amount of the ticket and the maximum is $1,000.00. Attorney Stringer talked about the 3-prong approach: I) Code Enforcement issues a citation with a fine right off the bat instead of bringing them before the Board. 2) A violation is served with everything spelled out and they are brought before the Construction Board. 3) When there are illegal people working, the Police Department would handle it. If the Board goes the statutory route, a person who comes before the Board to fight a citation could be fined up to $1,000.00 per each offense. Chairman Garland said that discussion from this workshop would be brought before the Board at their April 12th meeting for further discussion and hopefully decision Can be made. There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 8:25 P.M.