FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 14, 2012
MEDIA CONTACTS: Collin Nash & Sid Nathan | (516) 869-7794
Supervisor Kaiman, Town Officials Meet with Industry Professionals to Discuss On-Going Enhancements to the Buildings Department
Manhasset, NY — More than 60 architects, developers, and real estate attorneys met last week with Supervisor Jon Kaiman and a team of North Hempstead officials to discuss ways to fine tune the Town’s Buildings Department to better serve both residents and industry professionals.
Capping the March 12 Town Hall meeting—one of several in a series of brainstorming sessions leading up to an April 30 conference—Supervisor Kaiman announced the hiring of building department inspectors as well as clerical staff. He said the process is in motion to hire more plans examiners as well as a new deputy commissioner. Attendees were also furnished with a handout of proposed code changes and encouraged to offer feedback.
“The goal is to make the Buildings Department more user-friendly,” Supervisor Kaiman said. “We want people to invest in improvements to our community, but we also want compliance with our building codes.”
Coming off what the Supervisor called a “crisis” caused in part by a culture in which the codes were often interpreted differently or ignored, the Building Department came under restructuring with the eventual goal of making it a national model.
“Supervisor Kaiman is sending a great message,” said Richard Bivone, Nassau County Chair of the Long Island Business Council. “It’s the first time in my 27 years in the industry that I’ve seen any elected official reach out to the constituents to try to fix a problem. These meetings will go a long way to make it so that the public can go to the Buildings Department and efficiently conduct business.”
“The meetings have been very productive so far,” said Philip Weiden, Legislative Liaison for the Long Island Board of Realtors (LIBOR). “While it’s very important to take the concerns of residents into consideration, it’s good to see that the business and real estate communities are involved in helping shape the Town’s building department. I can’t wait to see the final outcome.”
The Town has scheduled additional work sessions with Industry professionals before the April 30 conference.