Inspections Department will add employee to handle future development needs
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on December 19, 2007 1:45 PM
Goldsboro's inspections department will add one more employee soon to handle anticipated needs as development increases, officials decided Monday.
City Council approved the addition of a building plans examiner position at its meeting Monday night -- a move Chief Building Inspector Ed Cianfarra said is a necessity if the city wants to keep up with development.
There will be much more development in Goldsboro's future with all of the current progress the city is making, Cianfarra said, and it is the city's responsibility to make it easier for that future progress to occur.
"We are trying to move toward better customer service," he said. "This is one of the ways we are doing that."
The main reason for the addition, he added, is that builders and developers need to have one person to go to with questions about the whole permit and plan approval process.
As the situation is now, permits and plans go through different people, and the developer might not know at which point their project is at.
Having this position would give them a focal point and would free up time for other individuals in the planning and inspections departments.
In turn, more will get done, Cianfarra said.
For instance, plans are usually reviewed every Friday, but with the building plans examiner, he hopes that they can be reviewed daily.
The duties for the position would include examining plans, blueprints and specifications of all types of commercial and residential developments to make sure they comply with building codes and ordinances as well as reviewing other preliminary plans.
The examiner would also meet with developers, architects and engineers for preliminary plan reviews and assisting with approving proposed projects.
Performing the final review of designs, coordinating the permit process and reviewing permit applications would also be part of the position's duties.
The examiner must be familiar with zoning and related ordinances pertaining to the flood plain, noise overlay, historic district and erosion control.
The salary range for the position is $42,756 to $64,134.
The interviewing process will be held in January, with an estimated hire date in February.
To subsidize the expense required to hire the examiner, an adjustment to the plans review fee schedule will be made.