MINUTES
NOT VERBATIM
BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS
MINUTES
The
regular meeting of the Santa Rosa County Building Code of Adjustments and
Appeals was held
Bill
Adams, Chairman was absent.
Building
Inspection Department staff in attendance were Martin
Riley, Building Official; Rhonda Royals, Office Superintendent; Skip Tompkins,
Field Superintendent; and Amy Allen, Permit Analyst.
Randy
Jones, Building Inspector
Vice
Chairman, Mr. Charles “Pete” Southerland called the meeting to order at
Approval
of Agenda:
Mr.
Blackman made a motion to accept the agenda.
Mr. Hall seconded the motion. The
motion carried with an unanimous vote.
Approval
of Minutes:
Mr.
Blackman made a motion to accept the minutes from the
Next
Meeting:
The
next regularly scheduled meeting is scheduled for
New
Business:
Frank Harwood VS Douglas Dodd d/b/a Bay Breeze
Builders, Inc.
Mrs.
Royals briefly explained the case to the Board.
Mr. Frank Harwood contracted Mr. Dodd to construct a single-family residence. Mr. Dodd failed to pay contractors during the
construction. The owners ended up having
to pay more money than the contract had stated.
The Building Department did make several attempts to contact Mr. Dodd;
however, all letters sent out came back to the department as
undeliverable. Mrs. Royals has done
several searches to locate Mr. Dodd but has failed in all attempts. According to Mr. Harwood, Mr. Dodd has left
the state of
Mr.
Frank Harwood and his wife, Mrs. Sandra Lang were in attendance
to state their case. Mr. Harwood would
like to see the Board take the case to a formal hearing.
Mr.
Southerland asked Mr. Harwood to give a brief summary of his complaint against
Mr. Dodd. Mr. Harwood explained in the
fall of 1999 he and his wife contracted with Mr. Dodd (Bay Breeze Builders) to
construct a house. The contracted price
was $231,000. At the closing a down
payment and the first draw was given to Mr. Dodd, $115,000. This was the closing on the construction
loan. Out of that money, Mr. Dodd paid
for the permits, surveys, a few small appliances, purchased and installed the
pilings for the home, and constructed $10,000 worth of framing for the
house. During the framing portion of the
construction, Mr. Dodd ran out of money.
Wicks
Lumber, the prime supplier of materials, was contacted by Mr. Harwood and
explained that Mr. Dodd had about $25,000 worth of materials that had not been
paid for. Mr. Dodd wrote a bad check for
$17,000; $13,000 was Mr. Harwood’s money.
This action resulted in a lien of $25,000 that Mr. Harwood had to pay in
order to move into the house. Mr.
Harwood took over constructing the house with his own money. Mr. Dodd was juggling several different
houses at that time. It was later
determined that Mr. Dodd owed money all over
Mr.
Southerland asked Mr. Harwood which bank was used. Harvester’s was the bank Mr. Harwood
used. The Board discussed with Mr.
Harwood the amount of money paid to Mr. Dodd as the down payment. Mr. Hall asked Mrs. Royals about the recovery
situation. Mrs. Royals explained how the
Recovery Fund is operated.
Mr.
Hall asked Mr. Harwood if he had filed any other charges against Mr. Dodd. Mr. Dodd explained that an attorney had been
involved. Mr. Harwood also explained
that he and his wife had contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office to
file a criminal complaint against Mr. Dodd; however, fraud was not proven.
Mr.
Hall asked Mr. Harwood about the down payment.
Mrs. Royals and Mr. Harwood explained that a down payment of $77,000 was
given to Mr. Dodd. Mr. Blackman asked
Mr. Harwood what made him stop paying Mr. Dodd.
Mr. Harwood explained that Mr. Dodd had come to the point were he was
out of money. He would not be able to
pay the framers and they would have to leave.
Mr. Harwood realized at that point Mr. Dodd was in trouble and Mr.
Harwood would not give him any more money.
At this time, Mr. Harwood took over the construction of the home at that
time.
Mr.
Hall asked Mr. Harwood who recommended Mr. Dodd and Bay Breeze Builders to
him. Mr. Harwood explained that American
House Plan’s recommended him. Mr. Harold
asked Mrs. Royals if the Board could handle a case dealing with money. Mrs. Royals explained that this was a part of
the ordinance.
Mr.
Harold made a motion to carry the case to a formal hearing. Mr. Blackman seconded the motion. The motion carried with an
unanimous vote.
Mrs.
Royals asked Mr. Harwood if he knew what state Mr. Dodd had moved to. Mr. Harwood had heard he had moved to
Mrs.
Royals read the disciplinary actions under the new ordinance to the Board.
New
Business:
Michael
Bunyan (Reinstatement of marine contractor’s license)
Mrs.
Royals briefly explained the case to the Board.
Mr. Bunyan’s license was revoked for a period of two years. The two-year period is not up until April of
2003. Mr. Bunyan would like the Board to
reconsider taking the test now and having his license reinstated if he put up a
performance bond. Two months ago Mr.
Bunyan wanted to come before the Board.
He was put on the agenda but did not show up. Last month (
Mrs.
Royals asked the Board to table the case.
Cherry Hill Builders had submitted revised drawings to the Building
Department. The plans examiner had
submitted notations to the engineer and was waiting on the revisions to come
back in. The Building Department would
watch the case and ensure revisions were submitted in a timely manor. Mr. Blackman made a motion to continue the
case until the next meeting. Mr. Hall
seconded the motion. Mr. Southerland
recommended the case be tabled until Cherry Hill Builders made the
revisions. The motion was made to table
the case until revisions had been made.
Mr. Hall seconded the motion. The
motion carried with an unanimous vote.
Mrs.
Royals explained the pool contractor report to the Board. The report was based on a
60-day expiration; however, the ordinance stated that the contractors
have 90 days to final a pool. Mrs.
Royals stated that the Building Department would notify the pool contractors,
reminding them that 90 days was the allotted time
limit for pools to have an inspection.
The
Board had a general discussion regarding the pool contractors. Mr. Hall asked the Board about the process
for pool inspections. Mr. Riley
recommended that the Board send out a letter reminding the pool contractors
that 90 days are only allowed. Mr.
Harold agreed with Mr. Riley and also recommended that once the 90 days are up,
the contractors will have to appear before the Board.
The
Board had a general discussion about the pool inspections. It was agreed that a letter would be sent out
to the pool contractors reminding them that only 90 days were allowed for a
pool permit. After that, the contractor
would appear before the Board. Mrs.
Royals read from the ordinance and determined that the 90 days would be in
effect after the last inspection. Randy
Jones, Building Inspector
Mr.
Harold made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Mr. Hall seconded the motion. The
motion passed with an unanimous vote.
Mr.
Southerland adjourned the meeting at
Approved this _______ day of _________________ 2002.
____________________________________________
Bill
Adams
Chairman
Prepared
by Amy Allen, Permit Analyst I