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Date: 4/29/2020
SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Select Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting on April 21 to conduct the final round of interviews for the town’s new building inspector.
For each interview, the board asked six questions of each candidate, including why they chose Southwick, what their experience was with zoning bylaws, how they would work with contractors that start work without permits, experience with e-permitting, experience with appointed and elected boards, and if they had read through the employee handbook.
The first candidate was Leslie Burnell, a building official for Holyoke’s Building Department. When asked by Vice Chair Doug Moglin about her experience enforcing zoning bylaws she said, “It’s an integral part of the job I’ve been doing for the last two and a half years in Holyoke. Setbacks and zoning regulations is something that we have to enforce, so it’s something that’s not new to me.”
After her round of questioning, Burnell then gave her closing statement and said, “One of the things that struck me is the importance the town puts on collaboration, I really appreciated that. It comes really natural to me, there have been some instances in my current position where that hasn’t been possible. However, it’s something that I feel is valuable and makes the job easier for everyone.”
Once Burnell’s interview wrapped up, the board jumped into its second interview of the night with Kyle Scott, a former code enforcement officer in Northampton for six years. He said he solidified his desire to work in Southwick after his first interview. “After interviewing the first time, I felt great about you guys. I actually felt much better after the interview than before it. I just felt really encouraged that it’s a good group of people to work with,” Scott said.
When Select Board Chair Russ Fox asked about his experience with e-permitting and using technology, Scott said he was comfortable with both. He said, “I have experience with all different kinds of software for building so it’s not an insurmountable challenge to learn your system.”
The final interview of the meeting was with the town’s current Deputy Building Inspector, Bob Sullivan. When Moglin asked about his experience with enforcing zoning bylaws he said, “I’ve done it for 22 years up in Granville at the direction of the select board and the town administrator, any complaints get passed onto me. I usually try to make contact within 24 hours of receiving the complaint and try to make a site visit.”
After Select Board Clerk Joe Deedy asked if Sullivan had any questions about the employee handbook, he asked if there were any specific guidelines for dealing with COVID-19 for the building inspector. Melissa Bridges, the Secretary of Inspectional Services, then came on to the call to respond and said, “It’s a case by case basis, but with new construction the inspectors are going to. If it’s not, it depends on what it is, but we are accepting pictures for most cases.”
During the meeting, Karl Stinehart gave an update on the fire department roof renovation project. “Last Thursday the GC bids came in and we had seven bids ranging from $929,500 to $1,545,601. So, our design firm is evaluating them now to make recommendations,” he said.