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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02142006 CB ~/" ~/~ CHAIRMAN /' (BOARO)~~'~ APPROVED. DATe' oC, SEBASTIAN CONSTRUCTION BOAiW'ROVEO SUBJECT TO h. , REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 14. 2006 -7:00 P.M. Meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Chairman Garland. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Ch. Garland. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Lanning Mr. Dalessandro Mr. Widup Mr. Nagy Ch. Garland V.C. Morris Mrs. Carbano Absent: Ms. Falco - excused Mr. Conover - unexcused Also present: Wayne Eseltine, Building Director Rich Stringer, City Attorney APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular meeting held 1/10/06. MOTION: Lanning/Carbano I make a motion we approve the minutes of meeting held 1/10/06 as written. A voice vote was taken - passes unanimously. OLD BUSINESS: None. NEW BUSINESS: Experior Exam: Ch. Garland swore in all of the applicants. Courtney, Steven R./Electrical Contractor MOTION: Morris/Garland I make a motion we approve Steven R. Courtney to take the Electrical Contractor exam which includes the Master and Business & Law. ROLL CALL: Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes Motion carried 7 - O. Cross, Adrian l.1Residential Contractor MOTION: Lanning/Carbano I make a motion we approve Adrian Cross to take the Residential Contractor exam. ROLL CALL: Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - no Mrs. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Motion carried 6 - 1. Leary, Kevin/Roofing Mr. Leary told the Board he would probably start out working 6 months in Florida and 6 months in Maine since it would be about a year before he moved here permanently. Some of the Board members had a problem with this. Since there is no type of licensing in Maine, Mr. Leary had a supplier write a letter to help verify experience. Ch. Garland felt that there should be more verification of experience. MOTION: Carbano I make a motion the Kevin Leary be allowed to take the Specialty Contractor Roofing test. Motion dies for a lack of a second. Ch. Garland suggested more information such as letters from other contractors or people he did roofing for be submitted and brought back before the Board for approval. Leman, Douglas A.lRoofing MOTION: Morris/Garland I make a motion that Douglas A. Leman be approved to take the Experior Specialty Contractor Exam for Roofing. ROLL CALL: Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Motion carried 7 - O. Clearwater, Harlie/ Aluminum Construction MOTION: GarlandlCarbano Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes I make a motion to approve Harlie Clearwater to take the Aluminum Construction exam. ROLL CALL: Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Motion carried 7 - O. Godfrey, Robert/Ltd. Painting MOTION: Morris/Garland Ch. Garland - yes V.c. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes I make a motion to approve Robert Godfrey to take the Ltd. Painting exam. ROLL CALL: Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Motion carried 7 - O. Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Chapin, Lee P.lTile MOTION: Garland/Morris I make a motion to approve Lee P. Chapin to take the Tile exam. ROLL CALL: Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy- yes Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - absent Motion carried 6 - O. Mr. Eseltine asked the Board to wait a couple of minutes to start the violation hearings until the City Attorney was present. V.c. Morris asked that while we were waiting that Mr. Eseltine look at some correspondence that the Board is getting ready to send to the Mayor and asked his opinion of it. He said he had no objection to it. The City Manager said that if the Board approved it to let him know and he would forward it to the City Clerk who would distribute it to all the Council Members. (A copy of the letter is attached.) VIOLATION HEARINGS: M.A. Pelletier, Mike's Landclearing, Inc. 331 Pineapple Street - 26-171 (a), Unlicensed Contractor Rich Stringer, City Attorney, spoke to the Board. He explained that Mr. Pelletier's Attorney wanted to make use of the subpoena process that is listed on the hearing notice, but there is no system set up for issuing the subpoena. Because of this, it is being asked that this case be moved to next month so that a subpoena can be issued to the witness for this case. MOTION: Morris/Nagy I make a motion that we postpone or reschedule the matter ofM.A. Pelletier, aka Mike's Landclearing, Inc. until the next scheduled monthly board meeting. ROLL CALL: Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Motion carried 7 - O. For matter of record, Mr. Hurley was not present at the meeting. Raymond S. Hurley, Hurley Builders & Developers, Inc. 1391 Whitmore Street - 26-172(5), Diversion of Funds 26-172( 1 0), Abandonment of a Construction Project 113 loy Haven Dr. - 26-172( 5), Diversion of Funds 26-172( 1 0), Abandonment of a Construction Project 1162 Croquet Ln. - 26-172(5), Diversion of Funds 26-172( 10). Abandonment of a Construction Proj ect 805 Holden Ct. - 26-172(5), Diversion of Funds 26-172(! 0), Abandonment of a Construction Proj ect 749 Wentworth St. - 26-172( 5), Diversion of Funds 26-172(10), Abandonment of a Construction Project The Building Official told the Board that he had suspended the permit pulling privileges for Hurley Builders. V.C. Morris asked Wayne how many of the jobs were permitted. Wayne said that 1 did not apply at all, 1 was held up in plans review so a permit was not actually issued and the rest were issued permits. V.c. Morris asked what recourse the home owners had besides hiring an attorney. Attorney Stringer said that some of the people had been talked to by detectives here, that there actually is a multi-agency investigation going on because this has been going on throughout the entire state. It was also noted that there is a benefit if all of the parties concerned got together and hired one attorney and shared the cost across the board. Rich said it is easier doing it this way. V.c. Morris noted that if a state certified contractor is used, there is a general fund that the state maintains that is specifically for this purpose. Rich said it was the Licensing Industry Construction Recovery Board. He said that a restitution order was needed which is from them if you go through the disciplinary proceedings at the state level and enter a finding and a restitution order. You have to be careful the contractor does not surrender his license. If he does, the state would close the case. MOTION: Morris/Garland - 1391 Whitmore Street I make a motion referencing 1391 Whitmore Street, Code Violation 26-172(5), diversion of funds, Code Violation 26-172(10), abandonment of a construction project that we find Mr. Hurley guilty of these and assess the maximum fine of $500.00 per violation with a total of $1 ,000.00. Attorney Stringer asked that when the order is prepared that we insert the amount of funds that each homeowner has testified to. As to 1391 Whitmore Street, Ms. Lanning noted that the amount is $16,200.00 V.c. Morris amended his motion to include the value of$16,200.00 which was the total of funds deposited to Hurley Construction. ROLL CALL: Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes v.c. Morris - yes Mr. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Motion carried 7 - O. MOTION: Morris/Garland - 113 Joy Haven Dr. I make a motion referencing 113 loy Haven Dr., Code Violation 26-172(5), diversion of funds, 26-172( 10), abandonment of a construction project totaling the amount of $2,581.67 paid by Mrs. Lorusso, that we find Mr. Hurley guilty of these and assess the maximum fine of$500.00 per violation with a total of$I,OOO.OO. ROLL CALL: Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Motion carried 7 - O. Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes MOTION: Lanning/Morris - 1162 Croquet Lane I make a motion on the case at 1162 Croquet Lane that the maximum fine be imposed and violations 26-172(5), diversions of funds and 26-172(10), abandonment of a construction project in the case of Mr. Nicolini having paid $1,904.00 and assess the maximum fine of$500.00 per violation with a total of$I,OOO.OO. ROLL CALL: Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Ch. Garland - yes Motion carried 7 - O. V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Mr. Nagy - yes MOTION: Lanning/Morris - 805 Holden Court In the case of 805 Holden Court, I make a motion that we penalize the maximum amount of $500.00 each for violations 26-172(5), diversion of funds and 26-172( 1 0), abandonment of a construction project at the Michaud residence having paid the amount of $9,480.00. (Total of fines, $1,000.00) ROLL CALL: Ms. Lanning - yes Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Motion carried 7 - O. Ch. Garland - yes V.C. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes MOTION: Lanning/Morris -749 Wentworth Street On 749 Wentworth Street, I find Hurley Builders guilty and impose the maximum fine for 26-172(5), diversion of funds and 26-172(10), abandonment of a construction proj ect in the amount of$500.00 per count for Mr. Sutter's residence having paid the amount of $3,983.00. (Total of fines, $1,000.00) ROLL CALL: Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes Motion carried 7 - O. MOTION: Morris/Garland V.c. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes I make a motion that suspends indefinitely Mr. Hurley's privileges to operate in the City of Sebastian. ROLL CALL: Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes Motion carried 7 - O. MOTION: GarlandlCarbano V.c. Morris - yes Mrs. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes I make a motion that we ask the Building Department to come up with something to put in the Press 10urnal to notify the public that this gentleman is in the area and that his permit pulling privileges has been suspended. ROLL CALL: Mr. Dalessandro - yes Mr. Widup - yes Mr. Nagy - yes Ch. Garland - yes Motion Carried 7 - O. BUILDING OFFICIAL MATTERS: None. BOARD MATTERS: None. V.c. Morris - yes Mr. Carbano - yes Ms. Lanning - yes ATTORNEY MATTERS: Rich spoke about the meeting to be held in the council chambers Wednesday night, starting at 5:30 P.M.. The meeting will be about builders and some of the things going on with some of the sites. He said enforcement would be stepped up. In regards to the letter written by Ms. Lanning that was discussed earlier in the meeting: MOTION: Morris/Garland I make a motion that we send to City Council the letter that was prepared by Ms. Lanning dated 2/13/06 with regard to the possible addition of some type of investigative and enforcement officer for the Building Department with regard to contractor licensing. A voice vote was done - passed unanimously. RECORD SCORES IN SCOREBOOK: Lanning/Garland 15 MINUTES TO PUBLIC: None There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 9:20 P.M. " February 1 3, 2006 Mayor Nathan McCollum Dear Mayor McCollum and Distinguished Council Members: The Sebastian Construction Board would like to offer the following for your consideration and request that you review the possibility of introducing a full-time code enforcement officer for the Sebastian Building Department. Over the last few months, we bave continually experienced contractors in this area completing work without permits, performing work without being properly licensed, poor quality construction and abandoning construction projects. We believe that this problem will continue to increase based on the continued growth of the City of Sebastian, in addition to the fact that there are still many homes needing repair from the hurricanes of 2004. We bave discussed this issue with Indian River County and they have implemented the hiring of a code compliance officer who only investigates code violations for Indian River County. They are doing a good job of "policing" their construction activities and even though they havc been doing this for approximately one year, they continue to rcceive more than enough complaints to fund the position. Here are some of the facts we were able to obtain from Indian River County: · Prior to the 2004 hunicanes, 75% of the officer's time was spent in the field doing investigative work, and 25% of hcr time was spent in the office doing the paperwork. · Since the hurricanes, 100% of the officer's time is now spent in the office doing follow-up from complaints received through the Sheriffs office, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, residents, and other calls. · The officer's pay is frol11 Indian River County's enterprise fund; however the fincs they are imposing exceed her salary, to the extent that the County is considering hiring two additional investigators. · The officer currently investigates approximately 25 cases per week; equaling approx im8 tel y 1300 cases per year. . Of the contractors that they fine, they receive approximately 80% success rate in collections; however, they believe that education about building code and public awareness far outweigh the fines they receive. . Last year, Indian River County approved 7,400 new homes. Last year, the City of Sebastian issued 739 residential permits. The Sebastian Construction Board believes that we are only reaching a small percentage of the violations that are occurring and that the addition of a code enforcement officer would significantly impact the safety and health of Sebastian's residents, especially given that Sebastian is an area where so many residents must rely on the skills of others for their home improvement needs. We would welcome an oPPOliunity to meet with you and the Building Department and discuss these issues in depth. Very truly yours, The Sebastian Construction Board