The Town of Cape Vincent held
a public hearing last Wednesday; the Town council had been considering hiring a
Code Enforcement officer.
Immediately after the public
hearing opened Supervisor Hirschey stated that in light of further studies by
the board , comments from developers, and builder’s and the recent article in
the Watertown Daily Times that they were not going to adopt the law.
After Supervisor Hirschey made
this announcement, he opened up the privilege of the floor, Cape Vincent resident
Dennis Pearson addressed the board, reading a litany of reasons why he was
against hiring a Code Enforcement Officer.
After Mr. Pearson spoke
Supervisor Hirschey asked the board if they had any comments.
Councilman Byrne said that the law is not
appropriate at this point in time, nor do I think it will be appropriate later.
Councilman Schneider commented
that until the issue with the ZEO is resolved he did not think it was good idea
to move forward with the law.
He also said that a lot of permits that should
be issued in communities are not issued.
Further stating that the county
does a very good job with a lot of stuff, but they do not do a very good job of
enforcement.
He made a recommendation that
in order to get a better level of enforcement in our community, every time our
zoning officer issues a permit, a copy should be mailed to the county, so they would
know up front what zoning permits were issued, and that building permits will
be required as well. Mr. Schneider told the board that the town of Brownville
does this on a regular basis. He also stressed the importance of this in regard
to electrical work.
Councilwoman Oswald said that she was definitely
not in favor of this law, citing concern for the impact on small businesses and
small contractors. She further stated that she did not think it was necessary, adding that the county is doing it already.
Councilman Bragdon pointed out
that he thought the county did not have the budget for it. He also said that he
did not think that the issue should be abandoned, adding that he thought that
action should be taken to tighten up the process. He said he was not prepared to
vote at this time because of the level
of controversy existing in the community over this issue, and the board had not
heard from Mr. Millington at all about his side of the issue. Additionally, he
added that he did not fully understand the costs.
A Zoning Enforcement Officer’s
job is to inspect building construction, enforcing state and municipal standards
for the construction of all buildings and equipment.
This includes standards for
materials used for safety and sanitary conditions, and for the safeguarding of
life and property from the hazards of fire, explosion or release of toxic gases
arising from storage or use of combustible or hazardous substances. See
complete job description below.
One of the interesting question
posed after the meeting by some who attended the hearing was, “Do you think Dennis
Pearson had a building permit for the house he built on Stone Quarry Road, the
house that reportedly had its second story blown off in a wind storm?”
26 comments:
The answer to the question must be NO.
Please, we need a photo of the building that lost its top.
I heard Mr. Fixit was trying a new fastening technique: Elmer's instead of nails.
Yup!
You people are idiots I attended a couple of those meetings and Dennis is speaking the truth. Our town board did nothing and you have the nerve to say did Dennis have a building permit. The town board members are a solid click saying what they think regardless whose feet they step on. There form of government are lies no better then the people they replaced.
I want to be very careful in how I make this comment, not to suggest I know the cause of this fire. However, I recall probably ten or more years ago we had a tragic fire in the Cape where a woman and her two small grandchildren died in a fire. It may be impossible to know the cause of that fire, but the state codes that this law considers enforcing include fire prevention codes as well. The point was made at the meeting by Councilman Schneider that enforcement by the county is not the best and could be improved. I would hope everyone understands that building and fire prevention codes are in place for good reason. If we don't do a good job enforcing these codes then we open our community up to increased risks that improper construction, renovation or remodeling could have tragic results. Enforcing these codes is good for business, not bad. It will ensure that local contractors do good work and that the town is doing all it can to promote public health and safety.
Yup!
Cape Vincent is mired deep in the muck of wind controversey. Every decision and action considered or taken is scrutinized by either the opposition or the proponents of wind development,to make political points. It is disgusting! No good judgements will be made with this pall hanging over the community.
In the video, Pearson said all of the information put in front of them was ignored. HE SAID THAT AFTER URBAN ANNOUNCED THAT THE LAW WAS DEAD.
Good grief! And, this guy thinks we are safe with our town being ruled by people like him? And Bp.
He didn't listen then and he wasn't listening when he was told there was a 3 minute limit for all at the hearing. He was reminded several times and still violated the rules. Rules are rules even when it comes to codes enforcement for local handymen.
WTF is Oswald getting at. Making it hard on a small business should not be an excuse for not having efficient code enforcement. The county even admitted it was not able to do its job and has been encouraging local enforcement. It was the lack of the country not doing its job that lead to what happened with Millington. The desire to have a new home or a new addition or get paid to make it happen is no excuse for good enforcement. How many times has a CV local contractor played cute and avoided the permitting process?
Oswald's reasoning is BS and local businesses should comply with protection of the people they invite into their business. It looks like we only have two good town board members standing. This will be the year Bp and the CFG gets back a friendly government as Oswald, Byrne and Bragdon lose their courage to fight these political thugs working for Bp.
anon. 10:25 "The town board members are a solid click saying what they think regardless whose feet they step on. "
How many feet did Dennis Pearson step on without regard?
You have no high road to take here. Watching the video, it is obvious Dennis had a bone to pick, and was only concerned about imparting his negative feelings to the public. This was campaign garbage ,and he should be embarrassed.
The board took his thoughts into consideration, assessed the situation, and declined to enact the law. Isn't this what he wanted? What is his beef? His motives were clear-to deliver his campaign slurs on camera.
He loves to hear himself talk.
This whole deal was an honest attempt to make Cape Vincent safer. The CFG does not care about that because it is not the intent of Bee Pee to make this town safer. Zoning enforcement stands in the way of CFG's Bee Pee project. The Dems joined forces with the CFG. They worked to put Brennan into the village. Now she has put together a group that includes Oswald. And Oswald parrots the beliefs of Mr. Fixit. Hmmmm
Dennis took another shot at the brave bloggers and people like me who must remain anonymous because of the public behavior of Bp supporting thugs. Thank you bloggers for telling us what is going on. The video is what we rely on.
The town board should not allow privilege of the floor to be misused for election campaign mud slinging.
Can't belive what transpired at this hearing. The board should continue to look into the value of having a local building code inspector. Since when do contractor's criticisms become the driving criteria for exercising responsible code enforcement? Sounds a lot like the wind industry wanting to operate according to their own standards.
This discussion revealed a double standard by several of the board members. Not a meeting the board can be proud of. Even Bragdon ,who normally displays sound reasoning, showed a disconcerting support for a local contractor/developer's biased opinion.
Don't understand why councilman Byrne would express an unwillingness to entertain the concept at a future date ,free of the present controversey over Millington's expose.
The political atmosphere in Cape Vincent is full of vitriol, and small-mindedness. Hard to exercise sound judgement in the midst of this debacle.
Wind development produces a vicious and vile rift among once neighborly and co-operative community members.
"Since when do contractor's criticisms"
Especially when that same contractor has taken a public stand saying the zoning laws, the PB and the ZB should be abolished. Would you trust that attitude by someone who should be looking out for the safety of a project.
8:23
I noticed that too. What hypocrisy!
Start a business in CV, FD, Turbine Cowboy and HJW are all members of the Cape Vincent CFG and post their anonymous vitriol on WDT comment sections.
What chickenshits!
Pandora said, "One of the interesting question posed after the meeting by some who attended the hearing was, “Do you think Dennis Pearson had a building permit for the house he built on Stone Quarry Road, the house that reportedly had its second story blown off in a wind storm?”
Now that is an interesting question, isn't it, Mr. P? Not reportedly. Dennis' shit was all over the west end of town. Including town property. Where the hell was TR when all this happened? Was there any enforcement or offer of cleanup restitution? Hell no?
"He loves to hear himself talk."
But, I am not sure if he listens. He missedthe part about the 3 minute limit and the part about the problem already being resolved. Please engage brain before mouth is thrown into gear.
By the way, what ever happened to the side walk in front of your house, Dennis? Was that another violation?
I am with Mr. MacSherry on this one.
The facts as Dennis interprets them. Hoe much respect should we give a handyman who does not believed in zoning, planning and enforcement. The CFG found the perfect tool for Bp gutting and breaking our laws.
So Pearson supplies the muscle for the CFG to take back the Cape and give it to Bee Pee.
Cape Vincent has been very good to him and the summer folk have been very good to him and he rma rods a group that wants to null and void the voices of the summer people.
9:02
The top of that building is used for occupancy as a deck would be. There are no rails and there is an unshielded wind turbine there. What about codes? What about insurance approval?
6:12 It's art on Dennis property.Isn't that what you all called the junk on Ms. Chase's place.I guess if you can call Dennis a handyman,I Guess it's OK to call Hester a wanna be farmer.
Have you had enough, yet?
Of the CFG and Democrats callous attitude toward comprehensive planning, zoning, and code enforcement intended to protect the health, welfare and safety of Cape Vincent Citizens?
Take a moment and drive across Cape's Stone Quarry Rd. and take a look at the Dennis Pearson farm and residence.
"We have like little Appalachia going on here and it's expensive to do business here."...July 2, 2009 Marion Trieste on Community Acceptance of Wind describing her work in Cape Vincent, NY.
And just what's wrong with the appearance of Mr. Pearson's property?
Looks just like a giant petri dish.
I would say Mr. Pearson's residence and property is clear evidence that indeed we need a local building code enforcer. Was the county asleep on this one?
On a side note, if the county code enforcer had done even the minimum required inspection of Roger Alexander's hazardous wind turbine on County rt. 7, it would not be standing today. It is a testament to the utter failure of the code enforcement in the Town of Cape Vincent,relative to its intent and purpose of protecting residents from danger.
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