1 June 2004 | Approved: 7 September 2004
John McClelland called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. In attendance were Commissioners Darrell Anderson, Peggy Ebner, Bob Evans, John McClelland, Bud O’Connor and alternate Jim Leng.
Approval of Minutes
The minutes for May were approved.
Code Enforcement Officer
Commissioner Ebner reported the results of her research on a code enforcement officer for the Town. She found that the town of Chevy Chase employs a full-time officer (Tom Carter) to do building code inspections and enforcement, parking patrol and other duties (see attached job description.) He is paid $43,255 per year plus benefits. The same individual is also employed on an as-needed basis by the town of Somerset as a building inspector at a rate of $30 per hour. The Commissioners talked about the possibility of offering employment to Mr. Carter as an independent contractor to do building code inspection and enforcement for Washington Grove. There was discussion as to whether the money currently allotted in the budget would be adequate to cover the cost and that some calculations would need to be done to estimate the number of hours an officer would be needed. Commissioner Leng commented that only buildings that had resident complaints would need to be inspected. Chairman McClelland pointed out that the Town would need to be consistent and that all permit applications of a defined scope would need to be inspected. Commissioner Anderson agreed to report the Commissions findings to the Town Council and report back with additional questions and comments.
Ordinance Revisions
Chairman McClelland asked the Commissioners for input on Article IV, Section 2 a 10 regarding requirements for submissions with building permit applications. The HPC has requested that construction drawings be required with permit applications. The HPC also submitted a request for additional information from an applicant through the Planning Commission instead of contacted the applicant directly. Chairman McClelland expressed concern over the effectiveness and time required for the Planning Commission to be in the middle of communications between the HPC and an applicant. Commissioner O’Connor stated he feels that requiring construction drawings may be requesting too much information and on a larger scope than is necessary for Town permit purposes. He was also concerned that they may create unnecessary delays for the applicant. Commissioners Anderson, Evans and O’Connor agreed that framing and elevation drawings are really all the Planning Commission needs to make a decision. The Commissioners agreed to add construction drawings to the building application checklist but when asked they would explain that framing and elevation drawings are all that are needed for their purposes.
Missy Yachup – Secretary
The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.