Published: February 15, 2008 10:37 pm         

Building code gets another chance

CHARLESTON — A new and improved proposal for creating a Beckley-Raleigh County Building Code Authority has surfaced in the Senate, and its sponsors hope this one can finally pass muster in the House.

“It gives people that need it more say in getting their permits to do the work,” the lead sponsor, Sen. Billy Wayne Bailey, D-Wyoming, said Friday.

The co-sponsor, Sen. Mike Green, D-Raleigh, acknowledged some delegates have voiced concerns about the measure, so he shied from making any predictions about the outcome in the lower chamber.

“I think we’re going to get it out of the Senate,” he said.

For six winters now, such legislation has arisen, only to die in the House, largely out of fears the authority would deny citizens much say-so in the appeals process.

“Some citizens were concerned that empowering one individual as head of the building authority may be giving them too much power,” Green said.

Under the revised bill, the city and county would appoint to the appeals board certified licensed contractors, engineers and experts in the industry, the senator said.

Bailey and Green are calling for a five-member board with two alternates that lets the city of Beckley name an engineer or contractor, along with a mechanical or plumbing contractor. Each must have 10 years of experience.

Two members to be named by the Raleigh County Commission must be a professional structural engineer or architect, and an electrical or fire protection contractor, again with a full decade of experience.

A fifth member must be a registered engineer or architect, or a contractor, agreed upon mutually by the city and county.

Both entities may name an alternate member.

The authority itself would consist of five members, two apiece named by the city and county, while the fifth member must be the president of the Southern West Virginia Homebuilders Association.

Bailey pointed to the concerns that both the city and county have expressed about services being duplicated in the current setup.

“It saves the taxpayers of Raleigh County a good chunk of money,” he said.

Moreover, Bailey and Green feel the appeals board should alleviate concerns by House members in the past that citizens would lack protection when bringing in complaints.

“Hopefully, the House can see the Senate comes up with some pretty good things once in a while,” Bailey added.