With longtime officer retiring, Greensburg looks to privatize code enforcement

Greensburg plans to eliminate the city's code officer and contract with a private company to handle enforcement and building permits, a move officials say will lower the cost of permits and save the city money.

Council will vote Monday whether to hire Code.sys, a Pittsburgh company. Council then would decide on making the necessary amendments to city ordinances to dissolve the code office and allow Code.sys to take over.

Changes to city ordinances typically are not voted on until a month after they are proposed, but the plan was fast-tracked to allow the city to quickly finalize the contract with Code.sys, said city administrator Sue Trout.

Longtime code official Les Harvey is retiring by Aug. 14.

“Without him being here, I would not have a building code official if we don't move quickly,” Trout said.

The average cost of building permits in the city will drop if Code.sys takes over, according to planning director Barb Ciampini. Greensburg bases its permit fees on the cost of the project. Under Code.sys, property owners would pay a flat rate of $60 plus 90 cents per square foot of the project.

“We believe we will be the lowest cost (Uniform Construction Code) permit in the area,” said Councilman Randy Finfrock, director of accounts and finance.

Code.sys would retain 80 percent of the fees raised; Greensburg would receive 20 percent.

Permits for smaller projects, such as decks and sheds, would still be handled in-house by city building inspectors Chris Doberneck and Dave Wodoslawsky, Ciampini said. The city will keep all fees associated with those projects.

The city's code enforcement department would merge with the planning department into a single office, the planning and development department.

Council will vote next week on whether to increase the salaries of Ciampini, Doberneck and Wodoslawsky by $5,000 a year each to compensate for the additional duties they will take on in the merged department.

That would raise annual salaries to $67,000 for Ciampini, $55,000 for Doberneck and $49,000 for Wodoslawsky.

Greensburg usually collects about $60,000 annually from building permits. Even with the loss of much of that income and raises for three employees, the city will save money through the elimination of Harvey's $62,000 salary, according to Finfrock.

“We're still ahead by $10,000 or $15,000,” he said.

When Harvey announced his retirement in June, the city initially tried to find a code officer who would work under Ciampini in the reorganized planning office. However, the city received only three applications for the position, and none was fully qualified for the job, Trout said. That's when the search began for a third-party code enforcement agency.

Jacob Tierney is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-836-6646 or jtierney@tribweb.com.