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