Building Code Workshop:
In 1999 the PA legislature voted to have a state wide building code. They then turned it over the PA L&I to write and implement the code. This is another state wide mandate, and if you enjoyed mandatory recycling you'll really like this one.
The code is state wide, however, townships can "opt in" or "opt out" If we opt out it only means that the township will not enforce the code L&I would still enforce it in the townships that "opt out." The code is twelve volumes. It will affect nearly all types of building in the state. It creates new categories of inspectors to assure that buildings comply with the code. The inspectors have to carry liability insurance and be certified by PA L&I.
Before you can build you need formal drawings approved by an architect or engineer that has also been certified in this 12 volume code.
At various points in the construction, inspectors will come to the site. The code creates 5 types of inspectors each must be certified and carry a $1,000,000 liability policy. Inspectors have up to 48 hours to come, and the construction schedule must wait for them.
The cost of these inspections will drive up the code review fees of building projects by more than a factor of 10.
The most affected people will be do-it yourself home owners, one of a kind construction projects (schools, commercial buildings etc.)
The least affected people will be the developers of tract homes since they can amortize their costs of approved plans over many buildings.
The PASBO in their 48TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE did an analysis of the higher review fees. The result can be found on page 14 of the PDF document liked to here.
The example on page 14 of the above document is a 36,500 sq. ft. school that is to be renovated and have another 36,000 sq. ft. added on to it. The L&I fees under the old system are $3,435. Under the new building code these fees are $36,570 That is over a factor of 10 times the old fees, and better yet there is no added value. We are just creating jobs for inspectors that add no value to the building process. I can only assume that similar increases will apply to commercial and industrial. Berks County has been hard hit with the closing of the Agere and Dana plants. Will increasing the fees for 72,500 sq. ft. of factory space by $33,000 help economic recovery in Berks and PA overall? I think not.
The supervisors can not change this building code for Maidencreek. We can not help the businesses that will be affected. "Opting out" will cause L&I to directly administer the plan in Maidencreek. Apparently L&I will not administer the plan for buildings of two families or less. It is possible the supervisors could minimize the effect on home owners by opting out. Home owners would then be expected to get their own inspectors to comply with the code. However, if L&I is not going to look at projects of two families or less, and the township is not going to administer the plan, the practical effect of opting out would be allow the home owners to do what they want with their homes. If they did poor quality work they would experience the consequences. People buying homes in Maidencreek (new and used) would have to be responsible to assure their house was satisfactory. In short, by "opting out" the supervisors would be increasing liberty and requiring an increase in individual responsibility on the part of the home owners and home buyers. I am undecided on "opting out" I have been told that only the rural communities are likely to "opt out." I will continue to gather information we have several months to decide this issue.
In short the legislature has set in motion a process that has given us a twelve volume code that increases review fees by a factor of ten. This is likely to stifle economic development. At the end of the day, we can only have what we have all produced. Creating jobs doing expensive inspections to avert problems that largely do not exist is a valueless exercise.
This twelve volume code with its expensive implementation reminds me of one of the grievances that helped define King George III as a tyrant. I quote from the Declaration of Independence:
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
This building code is twelve volumes of tyranny and the inspectors will eat out our substance.
Thoughts on the Maidencreek June and July Regular Business Meetings:
Attendance:
6/12/03 - All three supervisors attended the meeting. 6/19/03 - Roy and Gloria attended Bob Kopfer was absent.
7/11/03 - All three supervisors attended the meeting.
Martin:
The big news in June was that Roy and Gloria voted (Bob Kopfer voted against this) to have the solicitor pursue an injunction shutting the failed septic system down. The solicitor wrote an eloquent complaint and got the following order which is now public:
ORDER
AND NOW in consideration of Motion of Maidencreek Township for Preliminary Injunction and after hearing thereon, this Court hereby ORDERS and DECREES that Defendant, Raymond Martin SHALL:
1. Immediately prevent any further discharge of sewage effluent from Defendant's premises located off Lee Spring Road, in Maidencreek Township Berks County Pa and described as follows: deed volume 1983 page 21, deed volume 1979 page 1858, plan volume 33 page 36 and plan volume 257 page 817 Berks County Recorder of Deeds office;
2. Forthwith contract with a duly licensed contractor, at Defendant's sole cost and expense for the pumping and removal and proper disposal of the on-site sewage system no less frequently than once per week or more frequently if required to prevent any further discharge of any effluent from Defendant's property. Defendant shall provide written proof to Maidencreek Township at all times, and from time to time of the existence and subsistence of said written obligation with the licensed contractor and any failure for any reason to pump and properly remove and dispose of effluent from the on-site sewage system shall be deemed contempt of this order. The pumping and removal and disposal described above shall continue until the proposed sanitary sewer line is constructed and all mobile homes are properly connected to the same;
3. Not later than 20 days from this Order commence and diligently and continuously pursue to completion, the construction of the sanitary sewer line from the Premises to the Maidencreek Township Authority sanitary sewer line and the connection of all facilities on the Premises to the same as soon as possible, but in no event later than 60 days from the date of this order;
4. Not later than 30 days from this Order, fully reimburse the Township for all costs and counsel fees incurred to date for pumping, inspecting, and/or testing the Premises and for the costs and legal fees associated with this action. If Defendant fails to comply with this requirement, all rentals subsequently received from tenants of the Premises shall be deposited into a special escrow account with the Township until all such fees and expenses are fully paid;
If for any reason Defendant fails to complete construction and full connection of the Premises to the sanitary sewer within the times set forth herein, OR if there is any further discharge of sewage effluent from the Premises, ALL further use of the Premises for residential use by Defendant and all Defendant's tenants are immediately declared illegal and shall terminate until such time as completion and connection as required in this Order is accomplished. The Township is specifically authorized to enter the Premises and to take all actions necessary to enforce these provisions. Time is of the essence of this Order. In addition to the Township, the Berks County Sheriff's Department and the Northern Berks Police Department are expressly authorized to enforce and assist in the enforcement of this Order.
Recycling:
The board authorized the solicitor to investigate ways of preventing the unfairness of the per property tax on some Maidencreek residents who have their homes on several deeds. ( See some previous meeting for further information on this issue.) The solicitor reported back in July that we may be able to do this as a per household fee and remain constitutional. There are two potential problems.
One is that the fee was calculated by dividing the costs by the number of properties. Going to a per household would cause us to loose the commercial properties and these multiple deed properties. This reduction would be offset by picking up some additional apartment dwellers, but it remains unclear if this change would allow the program to be properly funded.
The second is that there is no easily available data base of households. The township personnel will have to manually merge information from the property roles and the per capita tax roles. We are not sure of the magnitude of this job, and we are not sure of the accuracy of the resulting list.
The board decided that we will have the bills printed by BCIU for the property method, and the township employees will look at getting the per household data together. If it seems that we can go with the per household method, I (for one) would be willing to vote to switch to that method. We would use the majority of the BCIU bills. We would pull duplicates, and add missed households from per capita tax data.
Upcoming Ordinances:
The board will be considering a recreational equipment ordinance and a recording of public meeting ordinance.
paid for by Roy Timpe