ST. PAUL - County of St. Paul Council gave its support to administration to move forward with an amended agreement with Superior Safety Codes to expand its services to the County by taking on the role of issuing safety permits on behalf of the municipality for at least the next two years. The company already provides safety inspection services for the County.
CAO Sheila Kitz advised council at its Feb. 8 meeting that the County’s only staff member trained to issue safety permits is taking a leave of absence and so the timing to move the service into the hands of a private operator makes sense, especially since it provides the same service for more than 80 other municipalities in the province.
Asked if she had any concerns about impacting the service level negatively, Kitz said it is quite possible safety permit applicants will see an improved service particularly during the busy construction season.
“I anticipate that we might actually in the busy times of the year have a better service level with Superior Safety Codes looking after the permits because they would have a number of staff that could issue permits where we have only ever had one, and when that person goes on vacation the permits just sit until that person is back.”
She explained the majority of permit applications are done through email and most permits applied for are done by contractors who are used to the process as opposed to coming into the County office in person.
“I don’t anticipate a whole lot of problems. Of course, I can tell you that councillors only ever hear from ratepayers that are unhappy with something that didn’t go well in planning. But generally, we get a lot of people who are quite happy with our planning and development planning process.”
However, the change does not come without a price. Kitz said currently the municipality collects 100 per cent of the revenue for the safety codes permits, with 55 per cent then paid to Superior Safety Codes for the inspections services they provide. With the company also issuing the safety permits, they would require 70 per cent of the fees paid, meaning the County gives up an additional 15 per cent which, based on last year’s permit revenue, would be in the neighbourhood of $12,000.
“I would not necessarily replace a position that would solely do safety code permits. I am looking to replace the position as a development officer which would have a higher level of skill set,” Kitz said.
