09-17-18 Personnel and Finance (#9)

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Mr. Horvath stated, I'll get with Sue on the location of where those lights are at on Sample Street. In terms of the total number of lights, 9,800 are AEP lights,and about 2,300 are City-owned lights. Building Department Chuck Bulot, Building Commissioner with offices at 135 S. Lafayette Blvd., stated, The Building Department's goal is to ensure the safety and quality of the building environment through the expeditious issuance of permits, distribution of up to date property information and timely inspections of projects. This goal can be achieved by streamlining the issuance of permits, the certification of all inspectors, having consistency in processing procedures, and innovation. Our overall budget summary, in terms of revenue, has a projected two percent (2%) increase over the 2018 budget and the same for over the next three (3)years. If there is any kind of leveling off, the maximum activity would last for approximately three (3) years before any sufficient downturn, primarily due to the back log of any ongoing projects. We have upgraded a couple of our vehicles to all wheel drive for better site access. We have had problems in the past with accessing certain work sites due to weather and things of that nature. In regards to personnel changes,we now have eight (8) Inspectors and they are all now filled. We are preparing to hire a full-time Secretary position and there are no new full-time employees budgeted for at this time. The thirteen(13) staff that is currently from our fifteen (15) is that we are planning with the City to include two (2) of our staff for the current proposed Zoning Administration for the City. This will better help you understand how this will be better organized. The Building Department would move under the Department of Community Investment. We have a Deputy Building Commissioner, an overall Building Inspector that would supervise the other inspectors and a License Administrator that would work on behalf of the City that would work with permitting and zoning. We have three (3) Administrative Assistants,a Permanent Secretary, and a Violation Auditor for the Zoning Auditor. Our overall staff changes include us having one (1) or two (2) people retiring at the end of 2018 and three (3) more than likely within the next two (2) years. We have had an addition of a new Instructional Inspector which builds our current budget. We are looking at a change of title for our Design Plan Review Specialist to the Deputy Building Commissioner. We look to have a total of thirteen(13)full-time employees after the transfer for Zoning Administration. We look to integrate a Business License Administrator into the License and Registration Administrator. Then the License Auditor is looking to be a part-time Auditor and the cost is covered by expected donations. He continued,2018 accomplishments for the Building Department include, and are verifiable,that all of our permits are tracked by a timing device so it's verifiable for different permits. They are all processed within three (3) minutes and we have met that goal within three (3) years. It's a testament to the quality of the current personnel that operate the processing of permits. We have two (2) new Building Inspectors and one (1) of them is instructional. Five (5) new inspector certifications include CBO, which is Certified Building Official in legal aspect, Plumbing Plan Examiner, Residential Plumbing, Residential Electrical, and Commercial. We have also transferred the ABZA duties to Area Plan so we can focus more on building issues. We have also included over the past year, two (2) new Spanish-speaking personnel for better inclusive service in the community. Our 2019 goals and challenges include hiring, training, and rotating new staff into the retirement positions as well as increasing our attendance at the national level building and flood meetings. We also look to begin certification incentives for front-office personnel. We are installing a credit card point of sales station for the office and will have limited online use. We look to reduce the turnaround time for planning new notes and new information. We are implementing online outreach information for the community through City mailings. We'll do that EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W Jefferson Bvld 1 South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235 9221I f 574.235.9173 j TTD 574.235.5567 j www.southbendin.gov 4