Town of Goderich enters shared services agreement with Central Huron

Council approved the recommended one-year shared services agreement between the Municipality of Central Huron and the Town of Goderich for a part-time Building/Plumbing Inspector.

Since 2020, the Build Department has seen an increase in the issuance of building permits and various planning project files.

However, the increase of workload is not consistent enough to justify hiring a full-time employee.

The Building Department receives revenue from building permits, zoning certificates and sign application fees.

Staffing currently includes a full-time Chief Building Official (CBO) plus a part-time Building Inspector on a six-month contract.

In February 2021, due to increased workload in the department, the CBO proposed contracting with a private company to provide plans review, inspection services, and to assist with the peak periods.

This option was not entertained at the time due to budget constraints.

According to the report to council, in 2023 a part-time inspector advertisement was posted. Unfortunately, the recruitment process was not successful in attracting candidates with adequate qualifications.

So began discussions with the Town of Goderich and the Municipality of Bluewater in April 2024.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2024 where the Town of Goderich participated in a Building Inspector Internship Program. The program was a webinar that provided valuable presentations from other municipalities such as Pickering and Ottawa.

From this webinar, town staff explored the opportunity to provide a training program for staff within the organization to become an inspector.

In 2024, a shared services agreement for a full-time Building Inspector between Central Huron and Huron East ended due to increased building demands in Huron East.

It was in early 2024 when Goderich’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Janice Hallahan inquired with Central Huron’s CAO about a shared service agreement for a part-time inspector for one day a week.

In November 2024, Central Huron hired Mario Blazevic, a plumbing inspection qualified Building Inspector as their full-time Deputy Chief Building Official.

Not knowing the demands for 2025, Central Huron has thus agreed to a short-term (one-year) shared service agreement with the Town of Goderich.

The part-time Building Inspector primary functions will be to assist the CBO with completion of inspections, plans review of new applications, and respond to technical inquiries relating to building, plumbing and zoning.

The inspector will also assist with the backflow prevention program by supporting any outstanding permits from the initial phase of the program, and transition to the yearly reporting of the program required by the Ontario Building Code.

The agreement will be monitored throughout the one-year agreement and evaluated prior to the end of the agreement.

An estimated related cost is valued at $25,000, which has been included in the draft 2025 budget.

The Building Department is self-supporting with the assistance of the Building Rate Stablization Reserve Fund.