Jim Thorpe council hears from zoning, code inspection firms

Jim Thorpe Borough Council heard from three prospective zoning and building code inspection firms Thursday night during a special meeting scheduled for interview purposes.

In addition to Barry Isett and Associates, the firm that has worked for the borough since 2012, council received proposals from Lehigh Valley Inspection Services and Bureau Veritas.

Council members said one of the biggest things it has heard from residents is the need to understand exactly what permits are necessary from the outset of a project.

“Helping educate the public is one of our main jobs,” said Paul Jarrett of Lehigh Valley Inspection Services. “I think the best way to do that is just by talking to people. We resolve 90 percent of our issues that way.”

Likewise, Todd Meltsch of Bureau Veritas spoke of the complexity of the Uniform Construction Code and the need to simplify it as much as possible for residents.

For property maintenance issues, Bureau Veritas’ Jim Melber said, a simple phone call before sending a violation letter goes a long way.

“You’d be surprised how far you can get if you talk to someone like a real person and not military style,” Melber said. “Sometimes you have to go that tough route, but it’s usually the exception rather than the rule.”

Matt Walter and Kathryn Forry from Barry Isett answered a series of questions from council including how they would deal with people who did not have the financial means to correct violations at their property.

“If there is a 90-year-old woman who lives by herself and can’t afford to pay someone to cut her grass, we’ll try to provide alternatives like recommending she contact local church or local youth organization to see if there are any volunteers who would help her out,” Walter said. “On some bigger issues though, sometimes things do start to affect neighbors at some point. We coordinate with borough personnel on how to proceed with individual situations.”

Asked for ideas to get residents to get the permits they need instead of trying to duck the system, Walter spoke of Barry Isett’s option of online permitting.

“It works really well for smaller things like decks or pools,” Walter said. “People are not always available to come in when the borough office is open. People will always try to get away with doing stuff without paying for permits, but giving them easier access to submit applications and plans has helped.”

Melber told council in his experience, the greatest way to get residents to comply is to make the fines for noncompliance double the cost of the permit itself.

When it comes to giving residents options to meet code, Melber said he won’t recommend any one path in particular, but will list the choices.

“We give them what the code requires,” Melber said. “There are always options to meet the code. We give those options to the people. We’ll show them the different avenues code will allow you to travel in order to get where you want to go.”

Jarrett told council his business started as an electrical inspection company in 1982 and branched out to a building code inspection company in 2004.

He also vowed to work with residents when it comes to meeting code on different projects.

“You have to use a certain amount of common sense,” he said. “Code can’t predict every building or situation. We’ll use our experience and engineering practices when working with people.”

Council plans to choose a firm at a future meeting.