Proposal received shows switch would result in higher cost
By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
The City of Elkhorn Common Council voted against a proposal for building inspector services from SAFEbuilt in a special meeting Monday night.
Aldermen had previously reviewed possibilities to change which company provides building inspector services for the city. Councilmembers had also voted in favor of city staff sending out a request for proposals from other companies that could provide the city with that service.
City Administrator Sam Tapson said Monday night that in exploring possibilities and looking at what other communities are using, they were only able to find three companies. Of the three, Tapson said SAFEbuilt, a nationwide company with an office in Waukesha, was the only one to respond with a proposal.
Tapson said SAFEbuilt offered two payment methods for their services. The first was a fixed fee along with a split of permitting fees, which Tapson said was what aldermen favored when the topic was discussed earlier this year.
He said when applying the fixed fee option, “it appears that it’s actually going to be more expensive than what we are currently offered. So, that didn’t seem to be a logical approach.”
The second option was an hourly rate for a one-year contract. At the end of the contract, it would be reviewed to see if the permitting fees split could be lowered from about a 70-30 percent split, to closer to 50-50.
Tapson said under the second model, the city would theoretically spend about as much as it would in the first model.
“I can’t really offer a compelling reason to change,” he said.
Tapson said that at this point, the City could advertise to fill the position with a full time employee, though finding qualified personnel to fill the slot may be challenging.
“Other communities in the neighborhood have been unsuccessful in doing so,” he said. “There’s not a lot of people available out there, and many of them work for these kinds of firms.”
Alderman Tom Myrin said this wasn’t “encouraging news. I figured for sure we’d be able to drum up something. It almost seems pointless to pursue something else when we have a really good guy who does a really good job.”
Alderman Scott McClory said he feels the Council has done its due diligence in exploring the options and looking to see if there was a better choice available.
“The answer is we’re better off staying where we’re at,” McClory said.
At this point, the city’s current contract with Joe Mesler lasts through December 2018.
Tapson said with that contract still in place, the contract is something that could be revisited in future years.
McClory suggested the Council look toward remaining status quo with the current contract, and reengaging Mesler to see if they could renegotiate the contract during the 2019 budget cycle, which would begin several months before the current contract would end.
A motion to reject SAFEbuilt’s proposal was passed unanimously by the full council.
As the council had previously voted in favor of advertising for a full-time position if the request for proposal did not provide satisfactory results, that will be the next step for city staff. As it stands now, the city’s current contract for building inspection services will continue as is.
