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Time needed to bring buildings up to code
Published September 10, 2009
In response to a recent article titled “Freeport businesses told to spruce up” on Sept. 3, I have this comment to the residents who were quoted in the article: I agree completely with your comments.
I have reviewed the processes in the Building and Code Enforcement department and concur that the first letter you receive from the city related to violations should not entail deadlines with asserted legal consequences. I have formalized a plan in the department that I feel will identify problems within our city, communicate them effectively and respectfully, while still allowing the city a mechanism to require results to resolve identified issues.
As we all will agree, we have much work to do in and around the city. Our Building and Code Enforcement program has been ineffective. It is my responsibility to ensure our residents, along with current and potential business investors, that we will be enforcing those important building codes to promote safety, a positive economic environment and a positive quality of live for our residents and visitors while creating a city environment we can all be proud of.
The foundation for the success of our Building and Code Enforcement program are the understanding of four words — positive communications, compassionate and fairly. It is our job to identify issues, communicate effectively, instill compassion and steadfast resolve while requiring actionable results within a reasonable period of time.
I have communicated with our staff, that we must remain cognizant some owners could be experiencing a time of hardship or might have special circumstances where they could need assistance, additional time, further direction, etc.
We should always be looking for these situations where we can help someone, not everyone needs a citation. We must be compassionate and we must provide assistance; however, we also must not let the mercy of our compassion be taken advantage of by lack of unreasonable timely corrective measures. This is a fine balancing act we must walk, but our community is counting on our compassionate, fair and steadfast resolve to make our city a better place each day. We do this by selling our message, selling the importance and creating a network of support and compliance.
As a community, without a doubt, we all want to be proud of our Freeport. As a city, we cannot be the sole catalyst for change.
It is going to take a partnership between government and the community to ensure we keep our homes, our businesses, our parks and our facilities clean and something we all can be proud of. It is going to take us looking around as a community and lending a helping hand to a neighbor or someone else who might be in need of assistance.
It’s about community, it’s about pride, it’s about compassion and it’s about leadership. As a community there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
Please rest assured, as your city government, we are here to help and we encourage communication with our staff as we work through issues together to reach an amicable resolve for Freeport.
Jeff Pynes is Freeport’s city manager.
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