Hamlet officials are exploring their options, when it comes to building inspections. The town has been without a building inspector for years, and with new home construction taking place, Town Council Member Brian Earnest says it’s time to fix that.
During Wednesday’s council meeting, Earnest said he reached out to Knox Director of Building and Code Compliance Kenny Pfost about contracting with the city for his services. “He would do it, but I mean, he even talked about how we feels like it’d be a lot to take on with what he’s already doing,” Earnest said. “Those are his words.”
Another idea is to simply require people to get their own inspection from a town-approved company. “It’s on their end,” Earnest explained. “They pay for it. The town wouldn’t be obligated to pay an inspector, but you can still demand that they get it inspected before they move on with the next process. And I think there’s like seven within 50 miles or 40 miles that would probably be willing to come out.”
Earnest suggested that Hamlet could end up with a combination of the two, with a town-contracted inspector for smaller things like decks but private inspections for larger projects like new homes.
Going forward, Earnest said he can continue discussing possibilities with Knox officials and also check on what other towns are doing. “The key would be is we’d have to see what they’re going to charge and then change the permit fee for new home builds,” Earnest added, “and I think that needs to be done anyways, because right now, you’re paying, what, $25 to enclose your porch or you’re paying $25 to build a $200,000 home or whatever.”
He said he hasn’t asked about partnering with Starke County yet, since the county is currently without its own building inspector.
