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Minutes of the Land Use Subcommittee, November 16, 2006 at 7:15 at
Beth’s house
Present: Ernie Burgess, Mabel Doughty, Beth Howe (Chair), Sheila Jordan and Peter
Olney.
Absent: Nancy Adams, Leila Bisharat, Marguerite Bowman, Bruce Bowman, Jane
Frizzell and Bob Libby.
Summary of the discussion with Bill Shane and Bill Longley at the Town Office that
afternoon.
It was a very useful meeting and there is a tape recording of it if anyone wants the details.
People who came were Mabel, Beth, Sheila, Bruce, Peter and Bob.
Cumberland has four code enforcement officers: Longley who is joint with Yarmouth,
Richard Peterson, plumbing; Stanford Brown, electrical inspector; and Dan Small who is
the fire chief but also does some back-up inspections especially on chimneys, oil burners
and sprinklers.
Shane did a “back of the envelope” calculation that Chebeague might need a CEO for one
day a week and that this should be covered by the building permit fees which have
recently been high on Chebeague.
We asked Longley about the pros and cons of having a building code. He said that there
are two national model codes. The Residential Code covers one and two family
dwellings while the International Building Code covers nonresidential structures
including apartment buildings. He said that when he had worked in Woolwich they did
not have a building code. Neither does Arrowsic. If Chebeague had a building code it
would be unusual among small communities. A few communities like Freeport have
building codes other than the state-adopted ones, but they get out of date as building
technology changes.
Backup safeguards: In communities without an electrical code there is a state-wide
electrical code and there are state inspectors, but not enough to provide regular
inspections to all small communities. The state licenses electricians and plumbers. CMP
requires a sign-off by a master electrician (and?) a state permit to connect to a new
building. There is no state licensing of builders.
Not having a building code is not really an issue of cost since the building permit fees can
cover the cost. It is an issue of how regulated people want to be. Localities have no
choice about shoreland zoning. As a firefighter, he thought that the danger of fire due to
faulty wiring was not great. But it is true that people building their own houses may be
an issue.
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Peter asked whether, if we do adopt all of Cumberland’s land use codes, would it make
sense to adopt them completely initially and then make modifications. Longley said he
thought that made sense.
He walked us through the process of inspections that would be done on a new house:
Septic.
Get HHE 200 permit. Prebed inspection of the cleared site for the septic system.
Then a second inspection is one when the chambers are all in. A final inspection
is done when the septic system has been covered and grassed over.
Then the builder gets a building permit.
He has to submit plans, specs, a plot plan with setbacks. Then when the
foundation has been put in and before it is back-filled there is an inspection
related to the drainage and frost protection. Once the framing is done and before
the sheetrock there is an inspection of the framing, wiring and plumbing in the
walls. After the sheetrock and finish work there is a final inspection of the
plumbing, electrical and building elements. Then the occupancy permit can be
given (it seems not to be automatic and is sometimes forgotten till the house is
sold.
Inspections take from 10 to 30 minutes. Multiple inspections will take longer.
The building permit fee covers the cost of the inspections. It cannot be an arbitrarily high
amount but must be consistent with the cost of the inspection work that it covers. The fee
in Cumberland is based on square footage (some towns use value of the building).
Electrical permit is 5 cents per square foot with a minimum fee of $50. Plumbing has a
minimum $24 that goes to the state. The rest of the fee is based on the number of fixtures
(?). [We need to get copies of the fee schedules.]
If Chebeague adopts a code it should get a copy to keep in the public library so that it is
available to anyone who wants to look at it. There should be enough copies for the CEO
and the Town Clerk to have. He lent us copies of the various model codes. The budget
item for “publications” is for getting multiple copies of these codes. Membership in ICC
which publishes the codes is $100 per year. The codes cost extra.
How much work comes to the Board of Zoning Appeals from Chebeague? Longley said
about 2 cases over the past 2.5 years. This will depend on how many special exceptions
the zoning that Chebeague adopts has. Special exceptions are acted on by the ZBA. Also
it is an appellate body for the decisions of the CEO; some CEOs have a lot of appeals,
others, very few.
Someone asked how he handles the enforcement of the codes. He said they are not out
looking for violations. If an occupancy permit has not been issued, for example, that will
turn up when the house is sold. But he did recommend that the CEO and the assessor
have an annual update on every project that is underway, from whole houses to decks and
sheds. This minimizes slippage, and it is useful for the two officials to look at
construction projects together.
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Longley and Shane said that since Cumberland and Yarmouth already have an interlocal
agreement on code enforcement, they would not have enough capacity to provide this
service for Chebeague.
Someone asked how we might find an inspector. Longley said that the State Planning
Department keeps a roster of certified inspectors. North Yarmouth would be a logical
community to approach because of Barbara Skelton’s (McPheters) background on
Chebeague. She is full-time there. Frye Island has a full-time CEO though it has no
winter residents, so that person might be approached. The jobs of assessor and CEO
might be shared if someone had the skills. He thought it is better for the CEO not to live
in the community where s/he works because of the pressures inherent in knowing people
and being interdependent.
Someone asked if there is a special computer program for doing the code enforcement
record keeping. Longley said that Cumberland just uses an access spreadsheet. He does
use the Town’s GIS system sometimes but usually gets help from someone else when he
wants information.
Other budget items: legal services. Longley said this is something that is very erratic
from year to year Chebeague did have a junkyard case a few years ago that went to
court. He went to court but also had the help of the Town attorney. Attorneys fees may
be paid by the violator.
He belongs to the Maine Building Officials International (?) Association, paid by the
Town. Cumberland is doing less of their printing of forms and ordinance changes
outside, and more internally. He had a capital item of a lap-top computer.
Should we have a floodplain ordinance? Longley said that it is a good idea. FEMA is in
the process of revising the Cumberland maps, including Chebeague, now.
Mabel asked about having a wetlands ordinance. Longley said Cumberland does not
have one but Yarmouth has adopted one in the past few months.
Subcommittee meeting that evening:
Sheila moved, seconded by Mabel to adopt the minutes. Sheila corrected $1700, should
be $17,000. Amended minutes passed unanimously.
Ernie reported that Harpswell has no building code but they do have two full-time code
enforcement officers. They also have a full-time town planner. The CEOs issue permits
and do inspections for zoning and site plans, shoreland zoning, runoff and siltation.
Construction and electrical inspections as well though others asked what this involved if
they have no building code. The most pressing problem with their ordinance now is
regulation of wharves. They are not interested in having an interlocal agreement with us
for code enforcement.
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Since Bill Longley had virtually recommended that Chebeague not have a building code,
the committee discussed again the pros and cons for one. It is a very basic issue of
individual freedom weighed against health and safety. Peter made the point that the issue
of protection from fires is not just an issue of whether the wiring is faulty but whether the
house is built so that it is fire resistant or retardant and that can be required in a building
code. It was agreed that this issue is one that has to be put before all Chebeague
residents, perhaps at the public meeting on December 3.
Beth said she would work up numbers for a code enforcement budget and update the RFP
draft.
Ernie will talk again with Long Island – probably Stevie Train – about what their
inspections cover and whether they would be interested in exploring an interlocal
agreement.
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