Agenda - Council - 06/28/2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Building Inspections 2 7 It took over two weeks to get our building permit. We were told that it would be ready by Friday of that week and when Friday came we were told that it was being held up because of an issue with our sewer permit, which is a completely separate permit and shouldn't have anything to do with my building permit. Then, we find out that the "issue" with our sewer permit was that there was no sewer design, which is absolutely untrue. I not only made sure that I had all the proper documents with me when I dropped it off (that IS why paid a sewer designer to provide me with the drawing) but the gal who took the permit at the desk also flipped through the paperwork to make sure I had everything they needed. Somehow the drawing was lost in your office and weeks went by with no one calling to get another one, even though you have all of our contact info. We only found out because my sewer guy called in to find out what was taking so long with the permit. Then, because the building permit was not done when we were told it was going to be, our framer couldn't start work and had to start another job. By the time he got back to our job winter had started with terrible weather and he could not work as much on the house (it was beautiful weather the week he was supposed to start and the exterior shell would've been completed before bad weather came) in the end putting the whole project back an entire month because of ONE day of unnecessary delays at the city office. This extra month meant our family continuing our stay at Wapiti Campground (not good) in our camper, in the winter, with three kids, filling propane tanks, dealing with freezing water lines, driving to the bus stop twice a day and hauling laundry around. Picture yourself living like that for a moment, and imagine how upset you would be if someone caused you to continue living like that for an entire extra month for no good reason. Did you really think, when you drove home to your nice warm house after work, that your actions of the day at the city office didn't affect anyone's life or did you just not care? In my opinion, when you work at a city office you should always put yourselves in the residents' shoes and do your best to accommodate, it IS our tax dollars that pay your salary. [Comment redacted for personnel reasons.] The entire process went very smoothly. We are very pleased weith the cooperation of all parties involved. Permit was issued earlier than originally estimated. Septic pumping permit do not contain a time limit to obtain the permits, but the system works very well and the employee are very educated on the subject and very easy to work with. I very highly rate that service. Applied for permit; was told I needed to re -do my septic system before permit could be issued. Ultimately, it was decided by the City I didn't need the septic system re -done, but jumping through hoops delayed start of project over a month. Rating given related to radon mitigation. As of 2015 I was the very first mitigation in the city to be required to have a permit after the Feb. 14th / 15th date. In this new experience with permits required a 10 day review.... in my opinion, it was too long of a time period for a system that is limited in the types of designs used. Often, the timeline for a system to be installed is within a real estate transaction. Radon contractors are called on to install a system as a result of a high radon test done by the buyer as part of a home inspection. The seller is often required to fix the house prior to closing which sometimes is within a few weeks. In non -real estate situations, home owners test on there own and contact us if result are high. If a certified radon contractor is in good standing with the city of Ramsey and has paid up for the current year for the contractors license... then I'm not sure why there needs to be a long review period. It would be helpful and appreciated to be able to stop out at the city office and pay for the work permit and receive approval the same day as the scheduled install date. This may not be appropriate for other types of contracted work... but within the radon mitigation field, the system options to solve for radon are limited to 3 basic type... Sub slab active soil depressurization, drain tile & sub membrane systems. 8 Office staff very helpful! 9 It's been a long time and I really don't remember. 10 The timing for permits and staff response time was great 11 Any time that I have talked to Katy or Ellen they have said that it would be 3 weeks and that is roughly what it ends up being. 3 weeks seems like a long time. 12 The office has always helped and are very friendly. 13 For me the problem wasn't that it took too long to get the permit, the problem was that I was given 6 sheets of paper to fill out. All 6 sheets asked for the same information and when I turned them in, the permit technician set all 6 sheets on a stand next to her computer and she typed in some information into the computer, and them handed all 6 sheets back to me. That was a complete waste of time and effort. 14 The process took way too long in review and delayed the project. 15 Although I do believe 3 weeks is too long 16 Katy Hauan was extremely helpful as an "out of town" contractor applying for the first time in your city. 17 the first building permit application took quite awhile to be issued, the next couple were approved in a more timely manner 4/20/2016 11:22 AM 4/12/2016 3:53 PM 4/7/2016 10:42 PM 4/5/2016 9:20 PM 4/5/2016 8:59 AM 4/5/2016 8:33 AM 4/5/2016 6:40 AM 4/4/2016 1:24 PM 4/4/2016 10:00 AM 4/1/2016 3:16 PM 4/1/2016 12:16 PM 3/31/2016 5:37 AM 3/30/2016 6:23 PM 3/30/2016 4:12 PM 3/30/2016 1:09 PM 3/30/2016 12:46 PM 5/24