Published: September 21, 2007 01:22 pm      

CITY OF LOCKPORT: McCann fleshes out housing plan

Chief Building Inspector Jim McCann briefed the Common Council on a plan to revive a long-dormant housing inspection effort Thursday.

McCann’s department is set to expand next year if the council approves Mayor Michael Tucker’s hiring plan with adoption of the 2008 budget. The department head who has been criticized for letting the inner city fall apart under his watch — and for seeking a pay raise in exchange for delaying retirement — set out to convince aldermen that he and the plan are worth the investment.

“We’re trying to bring the city back to where it was in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s a long road,” McCann said. “It doesn’t end with me. We’d like to get started.”

Tucker’s plan calls for a department of seven — the chief inspector/department head, one senior inspector, one building inspector, two housing inspectors, one zoning officer and one typist — to handle functions including state and local code enforcement, permit processing, contractor licensing, construction, plumbing and housing inspections.

While training a new senior inspector to succeed him in two years, and training a new building inspector in planning, zoning and plumbing issues, McCann also would field-train the housing inspectors to run a regular inspection program. The city hasn’t had one in 15 years, he said; it fell by the wayside as inspector staffing gradually dwindled to two from six.

To re-establish the program, McCann said he’d take the new hires out to hit up whole streets at a time, one inspector on each side, with exterior and interior inspections. On follow-up visits, he’d have the inspectors switch sides and critique each other’s work so both learn how to spot violations.

Of interior inspections, consultation with Social Services is a possibility. Once inspectors have determined the legal occupancy rate of any given apartment based on bedroom square footage, the rate could be reported to Social Services, ultimately to help cut down on overcrowding. The agency was “receptive” to the idea in early talks, McCann said. It’s not in play in any local municipality now and could be a model of sorts, he added.

McCann said he’d focus a housing crackdown on the city’s “inner core” — the area roughly bounded by High, Transit, Walnut and Pound streets — and pockets of the north end and lowertown.

A piece of the inner core was introduced to the crackdown Thursday, when McCann, building inspector trainee Doug Benedict, Streets Superintendent Mike Hoffman and Tucker walked South Street between Washburn and Locust. According to McCann, 12 exterior inspections were done, a number of violations were written up and two illegally parked vehicles were towed from city right-of-way.

He and Benedict will continue the effort on a section of Genesee Street today, “and we’ll keep on moving around,” McCann said.

Council President John Lombardi, who has butted heads with McCann in the past, had questioned whether the solution to building inspection’s troubles was more or just different staffing. He seemed to change his tune Thursday, when he told McCann he’s reassured to see a solid game plan in place.

“I feel more comfortable now, knowing what you want to do,” he said.

Alderman at Large Joe Kibler reiterated his opposition to McCann getting a $10,000 raise to delay retirement — “extra money doesn’t mean a person’s going to do a better job,” he said — but pledged he would not vote “no” on the 2008 budget because of it.

Terms of McCann’s duties and the restructuring plan are being put into writing, Tucker said.

Next up, the council is expected to start tackling legal issues associated with rental properties. Proposals are being drafted by the law department now to introduce landlord licensing in stages. McCann also recommended a look at ways to hold banks accountable when foreclosed properties are cited for code violations. Legal ownership is basically in limbo during foreclosure, preventing inspectors from pursuing violators.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.