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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-17-19 Public Comment - D. Smith (with Montana Contractors' Assn.) - Additional Professional Staff MONTANA CONTRACTORS ASSN. Quality People.Quality Projects. May 17, 2019 Andrea Surratt City Manager City of Bozeman 121 N Rouse Avenue Bozeman, MT 59715 Dear Ms. Surratt On behalf of the members of the Montana Contractors'Association I am asking you to strongly consider adding professional staff to the building and fire inspection divisions of the City of Bozeman. MCA members understand the frenetic pace of construction has resulted in pressure on City staff. However, the inability to do timely inspections has caused delays in construction. This is also placing stress on current inspectors. Delays at crucial inspection times results in contractors sending crews to other job sites, with uncertain times of returning. In order to help the situation, MCA members would like to meet with City leadership to discuss ways to improve the process. One example is to not make it mandatory to inspect certain areas of work that already have a third-party inspection requirement in place (occurring by the design engineer of record). This would free up more time for inspectors. Contractors deal with workforce issues on a daily basis, and we understand there is no easy answer. We ask that you make it a high priority in the upcoming budget to add more professional staff to the building and fire inspection departments. This is not a problem that is going away. Thank you for your consideration. pectful David Smith, Executive Director Montana Contractors' Association Copy: Mayor Cyndy Andrus 1717 11 th Avenue I Helena,Montana 59601 1 406 442-4162 1 www.mtagc.org