A new senior building inspector could soon be coming to Greenport.
At last week’s work session, Greenport Village Mayor George Hubbard said with the rental law in place, the village “is struggling with it. We don’t have the resources to roll it out.”
Hubbard said he’d like to see a new senior building inspector hired with a focus on code enforcement; currently, Eileen Wingate’s position is listed as the Village Director of Development, not as building inspector, and it’s not possible within civil service structure to change that position.
The mayor said he’d like to advertise for the position; civil service already has a job description.
The senior building inspector, Hubbard said, would work closely with Village Attorney Joe Prokop, working on issues including legal notices as well as working in code enforcement to make the “rental law workable, doable and easier to enforce.”
The new employee would perhaps work on alternate weekends, to get out into the community and deal with code enforcement violations, Hubbard said.
“Taxpayers are screaming and hollering that they want more code enforcement,” Hubbard said. “We definitely need more code enforcement.”
Trustee Doug Roberts, who, along with Trustee Jack Martilotta said in their report this month that they’d like to direct code enforcement to focus on unsafe housing conditions in the village, said he was “not in disagreement” with the idea of a new hire but said he’d like to see how it would be paid for, and how the staff would be held accountable. He also said he’d like to see an analysis of how the position would be funded before a board vote.
Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said she’d like to see a job description.
Roberts said he’d like to know where the funding would come from. Hubbard said the money would come out of the fund balance for this year, but the year is almost over. Next year, he’d like to include the position in the budget and said he hoped fines and fees would help to offset the cost.Greenport mayor suggests hiring new senior building inspector to bolster code enforcement efforts
Roberts then asked if there would be a spike in code enforcement efforts, leading to an increased number of violators cited, if additional funding would be needed to help Prokop, such as outside counsel or a paralegal.
“You can’t just go hire people without having a financial plan,” he said.
Prokop said the cost is the same; he’s in court every Friday.
“You can handle triple the volume at the same rate?” Roberts asked.
Prokop said he could.
On Shelter Island, Hubbard said code enforcement fees total hefty revenue.
“The system we have right now is not working. This is an attempt to fix the system,” Hubbard said.
Roberts then said he’d like to see that the hire would break even and suggested a short-term contract to try out the idea.
Village Clerk Sylvia Pirillo said there is a built-in six month probationary period.
Trustee Mary Bess Philips said Village Administrator Paul Pallas is “overloaded,” and said the new position would help him to focus on pressing issues including the power plant. “I think the money will come. We just need to move forward and simplify things so we don’t have this frustration” with applications that spark issues and legal fees.
“I’d like to see a plan. Something better than, ‘We think the money will come in,'” Roberts said, asking again for an analysis. “Show me where the money comes from and how the staff will be accountable. We need to be able to turn to them and say, ‘You are supposed to be delivering X amount in revenue.’ I don’t want it to come out of the taxpayers’ pockets.”
Resident Bill Swiskey said you have to budget for a new position, not expect fines and revenues to fund the new hire’s salary.
Roberts and Martilotta said that they’d like to direct the village’s current code enforcement to focus on investigating unsafe housing.
“We want to go after landlords who are putting people in unsafe housing,” Martilotta said. “We are sensitive to tenants; they are not the enemy. Landlords who let them go without heat are the enemy.”
To that end, Martilotta said they’d been working with Sister Margaret Smyth of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate and had ideas including an anonymous bilingual hot line where tenants could call in complaints, as well as workshops around the village with the building inspector and code enforcement officer, so residents can become familiar with them and bring their concerns to them.
“This is not immigration, not the police. We are coming to make sure your kids are living in safe conditions,” Martilotta said. He asked for the board’s blessing to work with Sister Margaret.
Hubbard reminded that it’s not always the landlord, but sometimes, the tenants, who are bringing in additional individuals into overcrowded homes. Home inspections are difficult if residents don’t welcome village officials inside, he said.
“We don’t want to put people on the street,” Hubbard said, adding that he has not seen the houses in question and would like them pointed out. “You can assume but you don’t know,” Hubbard said.
Roberts and Martilotta said they’d like to be able to direct code enforcement and the building inspector to spend more time on the issue so there are no tragedies this year, such as the homeless man who froze to death in an unheated garage last winter in Greenport and a fire during a blizzard in Southold that left tenants on the street.
