New hours sought for building department
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Staff Reporter

Developer Geoff Evancic approached to board of selectmen at their Monday, Dec. 18, meeting about making the building permit process more conducive to businessmen.

Evanic asked the selectmen if they would consider changing the hours of the inspectors to create more daytime hours on the weekdays instead of the Wednesday night and Saturday hours that are now in place.

“You currently don’t inspect during business hours,” Evancic, an Ashburnham resident, said. “It puts an undue stress on the system.”

Evancic said he has called for an inspection and it has taken up to three weeks to get one. He said he doesn’t blame the staff because he thinks it is the workload as well as the inconvenient hours that make it difficult.

The state building code requires inspections to be completed within 48 hours of a request. Evancic said under the current system compliance isn’t possible.

“I’d say you need a full-time/part-time position,” Evancic said.

Evancic said he and other developers are willing to pay higher inspection fees if it would guarantee timely inspections.

“We are willing to pay for the service,” he said. “I’d be willing to trade dollars for service.”

The fees for inspections are allowed to be as high as necessary to help cover the costs of those inspections.

“It sounds like too big a step,” said Selectman Christopher Gagnon.

Town Administrator Kevin Paicos agreed with Evancic. He suggested hiring someone for 20 hours a week, which would include some weekend hours for residents who are doing their own home repairs. He said this would only increase the position about four hours but it would be a shift in those hours.

“It’s a sign of us growing,” Paicos said.

He said a 5 to 8 percent increase in the cost of the would not have a noticeable impact on the budget.

Board Chairman Jonathan Dennehy said he was concerned about encouraging too much development in town.

“We’re not looking to make residential development a six-lane highway,” he said.

Selectmen asked Paicos for more data about the building inspection process and will make a decision during the upcoming months.

In other business:

• Selectmen will have to make a decision soon about what to do with the transfer station.

The town received notification from Waste Management that they would be stopping operations in mid-January. The trash company has operated the drop-off center for trash and recycling since the closure of the landfill.

“They don’t make any money. They haven’t been making any,” Paicos told selectmen.

Paicos asked the board to consider whether they would want the town to operate the transfer station. But, he said, even if selectmen decide to take over the station, it could not be done by the mid- January closure.

The town would have to establish a fund to run it, hire staff and get a state permit, he said.

Gagnon, who uses the transfer station instead of curbside pick-up, said he didn’t realize usage was so low. Waste Management told Paicos only 30 to 40 people use the station to dispose of their trash.

Selectmen asked Paicos to look into how Ashby established its transfer station, the cost of running it, if they would be interested in a joint operation.