by Andrew Getty
All too often when meeting someone at the grocery store, in the post office, in a restaurant, or on the street, they will come up and start talking about their project…
Maybe it’s about an addition, new boathouse, a deck, a shed, a boundary line adjustment, even problems with a neighbor…
Whatever the issue, they simply assume everything is remembered and understood as if pulling up a saved document in a computer.
Yes, this old brain has a lot crammed into it, but good grief… it’s not a computer either.
Here in the Town of Webb code office, there are around 1,500 or more, open, active property files.
These are issued permits, not yet closed out, with a final inspection at various stages of progress and/or enforcement actions not yet resolved.
Add to that the yearly 350 to 400 new permit applications and another 130 to 170 Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals applications each year…
There is quite a bit going on.
In those files or applications there is never just one player. Always in the mix are property owners, Engineers, Architects, Professional Land Surveyors, multiple contractors and sub-contractors, and the occasional neighbor who may not be too awfully happy.
Time and the level of involvement with a particular file is also part of the remembering game.
It is common this time of year to see someone, either in the office or out, who will say something like, “Hey, I got that information you wanted and I talked to Harry about the other problem, what do I need to do now to move forward?”
They have been thinking of this ONE project for months, not thousands of others just as important.
Absolute total blank… Nothing… Nada. Don’t recognize the person, have no idea what or where they are talking about.
Is age part of the equation for me? Sure.
However, having so many active and on-going files, and talking to so many new people and their situations on a daily basis, makes it hard to focus, especially out of the office.
Hopefully this is a good enough reason to simply say… “I’m sorry; I really need to see the file.”
So when approached in one of those “off-duty” social settings, and the reply is “I’ll have to see the file to answer your question,” don’t get upset.
It is amazing what is burned into this memory, but saying things without the file, maps, plans, notes, previous actions and facts is actually unprofessional and very dangerous.
Another challenge for this time of year… (you know, the snow is almost gone and everyone is thinking about getting started on that project) is the cascade of people just stopping into the office without an appointment with all kinds of questions.
It is always easier to address and help, on-the-spot, the ones who have maps and plans in their hands and are prepared with competent and professional information.
Doing this multiple times a day and fielding many phone calls on a variety of issues, means it is near impossible to get to the dozens of actual applications and plan reviews that are waiting to be looked at!
Yeah, yeah, yeah… complain, complain, complain! It comes with the business, and is probably pretty consistent with any municipal code enforcement office.
It’s that time of year. Never changes.
To better help yourself with your project, help us.
Call for an appointment… Tina does a great job in scheduling this stuff and all outside site visits and inspections.
Tell her where the property is and what the project is.
She will put it on the calendar and before you come in, will have the file on my desk for review before you come in.
Everything is filed by tax map number or address—not by ‘the big brown house on Route 28.’
Now we can have an intelligent conversation about the issues without relying on this old memory.
All the technical reference standards are right here.
We can decide on what course of action needs to happen, if any, and move forward minimizing confusion and misunderstanding.
Believe it or not, our job is not to create stumbling blocks, but to be your advocate and find that path that hopefully accomplishes what you need or as close to that as possible.
Sometimes, we can actually make things much easier than you may have assumed!