Mountain View County (MVC) council has approved the creation of a new full-time building safety codes officer position for the municipality, at an estimated cost of up to $80,000 a year.
The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting
“The key responsibilities for the position would be to provide building safety codes inspections including fire inspections for new and existing residential, commercial, and industrial buildings and structures in all stages of construction, alteration, and repair, and to ensure compliance with the standards of the Alberta Building Code and Fire Code regulations,” administration said in a briefing note to council.
The position will not change the service level provided by the county, but the position will change the service delivery, councillors heard.
“The officer will be reviewing, issuing and conducting inspections for building permits compared to a third-party service provider, reviewing the maintenance component post-construction compared to the relevant fire department, and conducting the required fire code compliance inspections for schools and college every 24 months and requests for inspections compared to the relevant fire department.
“Fire investigations would remain with the area fire departments and would be outside the scope of the new position.”
The net funding increase for the position will be $80,000, taking into account that 55 per cent of building permit fees, the percentage fee currently paid to the third-party service provider, will be available to offset the cost of the new position.
“In 2018 the total value of building permits was $133,773, of which 55 per cent is $73,553.32. The position will have a dedicated workstation and an assigned vehicle from the existing office fleet.”
Deputy Reeve Angela Aalbers said, "I support it (new position) and think it's very valuable."
