By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Bronson Town Council members agreed Monday to approach the Levy County Development Department about possibly handling its building inspections after complaints surfaced about the town’s current inspector.

            The town contracts with SAFEbuilt to perform building inspections and uses company employee, David Greenbaum, as the town’s Building Official. He performs all site inspections and plans examinations.

            Greenbaum was accused at a previous meeting of requiring a homeowner to hire a licensed contractor to reroof his house when state statutes indicated the homeowner probably could have served as his own contractor to do the work if he followed state law. The interpretation of state statute in the reroofing case sparked debate on the council regarding what the homeowner could have done on his own but was never really settled.

            After a lengthy delay, the homeowner decided to hire a licensed contractor to reroof the house, but his complaint sparked interest in possibly using the county to handle inspections rather than SAFEbuilt.

            Town Councilman Tyler Voorhees said he believes the town should contact the county to determine what services they would offer and at what cost to the town.   Mayor Robert Partin asked Voorhees to look into it and report back to the council.

            Councilwoman Sherrie Schuler cautioned the council that she wants to see a detailed comparison of what the county would offer the town for services and at what cost before a decision is made on whether to end the town’s contract with SAFEbuilt.

            “I want to know specifically in writing, are we going to get the same thing we’re already getting. I don’t want to change, and oh, they don’t do this, or oh, they are not available. Is it going to be in writing exactly what we’re comparing? I want to compare apples to apples”

            Councilman Jason Hunt was the board member who originally tossed out the idea of switching back to the county.  The county has handled town building inspection duties in the past. He didn’t alter that position at the council meeting.

            Hunt pointed out that the town’s total income from sales of building permits in 2021 was $36,287.25. The total paid to SAFEbuilt in 2021 was $30,287.35.

            “If we transfer to the county, the county’s proposal in the past and probably now is for the county to receive half of the permit fees,” Hunt said. “That would mean we would make $18,000 roughly, whereas we only made $5,800 with SAFEbilt. My goal is more profit for us. We gave all our permit fees to SAFEbilt.”

            Small cities in Levy County including Chiefland, Bronson, and Williston once operated their own building and zoning departments until the national and state economies tanked and they began looking for contracts with private companies. The Great Recession made cities tighten their belts. Bronson, Chiefland, and Williston turned to M.T. Causley, and its affiliate, SAFEbuilt, to perform Building Official duties at a much lower cost. Today, construction in cities and in the unincorporated areas of Levy County is booming.

            The reroofing case wasn’t the only complaint that surfaced about Greenbaum. Councilman Aaron Edmondson said people approached him complaining about Greenbaum failing to work at Town Hall for at least four hours every Wednesday as advertised by the town and as required by the town’s contract with SAFEbuilt.

            “What I’m hearing is we have to have a building official and he’s here for a couple of hours and gone,” Edmondson said. “We’re not paying him to talk to you (the town manager). We’re paying him to do business back there. He needs to be here more than a couple of hours a day and that’s what the problem is. I figure if we get that straightened out, we’ll be alright. If we don’t, we’ll have to do something different.”

            Realtor Natalie Thomas cautioned the town council to be careful about trading SAFEbuilt for the county.

            “They (the county) have a shortage now. They are looking for people. He (Greenbaum) does a good job. If I had anything to say, I would say we need an inspector more than once a week. It does hold people up If something fails, you automatically have a week delay,” Thomas said.

            Greenbaum said he works in Chiefland and Williston on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but if he is passing through Bronson and there’s something he can inspect while he’s here, he will manage his time and do the inspections.

            “I kind of have a pulse on all the construction sites and know what’s going on. I’m always available by phone. I’m always available by email,” he said.

            He said he also manages his time at Bronson Town Hall on Wednesdays to avoid having downtime when no one is actually stopping by to see him.

            Thomas disagreed with Greenbaum’s assertion that the soil testing he requires of builders, developers, and homeowners is required by state law to assure that the foundations of buildings are on solid ground.

            Thomas said she was associated with the construction of 12 homes in University Oaks and there was no soil testing required by the county development department for any of the homes.

            Greenbaum responded by saying he can’t speak for the county. He said he is responsible as the Building Official in Bronson.

            Town Manager Susan Beaudet offered one other alternative. She said she talked it over with Mayor Robert Partin and they were willing to work with property owners if Greenbaum turned down a permit and the homeowners weren’t satisfied with his decision. Council members expressed no interest in the proposal.

            Beaudet said she also contacted SAFEbuilt to find out if it was possible to replace Greenbaum with a different inspector from the company if the council wasn’t satisfied with his work. She said that option is on the table as well.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting January 24, 2022; Posted January 27, 2022