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General News: Steps Made to Bring Town Inspector to Village
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| Chad McCormack hopes to get an inspection so he can finish work on his newly-purchased home. |
February 16, 2011
By Charlie B. Scirbona
The stalemate between the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson board of trustees and village mayor Joe Gross over building inspection services may be nearing an end.
Following a 30-minute work session Monday, trustee Mark Edsall reached out to Cornwall town supervisor Kevin Quigley, asking him to look into amending the town’s requirement of a unanimous vote on the intermunicipal agreement for building inspector services.
Until now, the town board has wanted a unanimous agreement from the village board to share building inspector services until a new inspector could be found for the village.
Mayor Cites Concerns About Unbudgeted Spending
The board never voted whether to approve the town's proposal but discussions showed a majority wanted it. Mayor Gross said he will not sign off on the proposal, citing the required majority vote and saying the village had not budgeted money for that kind of service.
Quigley said that during the Town Board meeting Monday he unofficially polled the board members and found that they would accept a majority vote on the matter.
The town supervisor added that Gross told him that the funds to pay the town for the building inspector’s services were not included in the municipal agreement vote.
“That sounds like double talk and pig latin to me,” said Quigley. “I just find that kind of conversation a waste of time.”
Backlog of Requests for Inspection Services
The village has been without a building inspector since Bruce Yancewicz stepped down from the position in mid-December. Since then a backlog of requests from around 20 people waiting for service provided by the building inspector has piled up, according to Arlene Roberts, secretary of the Planning and Zoning board.
Though public comment has been restricted at the board’s work sessions, people like Kenneth Kukkonen, a village property owner who is included in the backlog, had a simple question for the trustees and the mayor:
“What do I tell my bank?” asked Kukkonen. Kukkonen is waiting on a certificate of occupancy to be issued for the renovations done to his home. He needs to show the certificate to the bank that financed the work on his house.
When Kukkonen asked whether the state should step in Gross said he’s been in constant contact with state officials and suggested Kukkonen try to get a response from them on his own.
Renovation Work on Newly Purchased Home at Standstill
Chad McCormack, who is waiting on a building permit, had more pressing concerns.
McCormack bought a house on Duncan Avenue in early January in hopes that he could renovate enough of the house to move in by the time the lease on his apartment on River Avenue ends on March 15.
“I’ve done all I can do without a building permit,” said McCormack.
The house needed to be almost completely gutted, according to McCormack, who is a building contractor by trade. Because he can’t get a building permit the house lacks running water, heat and electricity.
McCormack said that even if the situation is resolved at the February 28 board meeting, he likely won’t have enough time to get the house ready to move in by mid-March.
“Either I’ll be living in an uninhabitable house or I’ll be living out of my truck and that’s unacceptable,” said McCormack.
McCormack added that he’s been in contact with an attorney over the issue.
“I don’t want to have to sue the village over this, but the residents of this town shouldn’t have to go without a basic service they pay taxes for because of political infighting,” he said.
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