Chief Cool to Code Enforcing

CAPE MAY – Cape May City Council introduced an ordinance June 20 aimed at strengthening and making more efficient code enforcement. 
Following the lead of Middle Township, which adopted a similar ordinance earlier this year, Cape May seeks to put a Division of Code Enforcement under the direct administration of the police department.
The new code enforcement process would include issues related to animal control, planning and zoning and property maintenance.
The argument in favor of the new approach is that it strengthens code enforcement through a direct line to the police who, even today, become involved in cases of code enforcement and that the ties to police records systems improve data collection and tracking in ways that will increase efficiency.
Deputy Mayor Shaine Meier and Council member Tricia Hendricks supported the reorganization saying that it would improve inconsistencies in code enforcement and remove a burden from the city manager who is the current supervisor of the process.
Council member Roger Furlin said he thought the introduction “premature” and that he would like more time for consideration of issues involved in what he termed a major change in city administration.
Police Chief Anthony Marino raised some concerns and did not enthusiastically embrace the new role. He expressed concerns about city-driven priorities for the new division using as an example property maintenance issues which “could become the flavor of the moment for code enforcement.”
He also said he was concerned about potential areas of conflict of interest in the chain of command.
The ordinance places the new code enforcement staff under the direction of the chief of police but reserves final hiring authority for the city manager and gives the city manager overall control of staffing.
Many of Marino’s concerns may have stemmed from a short review time since he indicated that he had not had the ordinance in time to thoroughly study it.  “I have not really seen the ordinance or how it’s written,” he said.
The ordinance passed the vote for its introduction 3-1 with Furlin voting no and Council member Beatrice Gauvry-Pessagno absent.
Any ordinance introduction sets up a process for a public hearing prior to a vote to adopt the ordinance. 
The hearing on this ordinance will be held during the July 18 council meeting.
Start Bureau of Fire Prevention
In a related move, the city also introduced another ordinance setting up a Bureau of Fire Prevention under the city manager.
The move is an attempt to regain control over fire inspections.
While the city did its own fire inspections, a contentious set of issues with state inspectors and owners of bed-and-breakfast inns (B&Bs) led to the state assuming responsibility.
Jerry Inderwies Jr., city fire chief at the time, said that the city gave up doing the inspections in part because of liability concerns related to code inspections of the B&Bs.
City Manager Neil Young explained that fees from inspections would support the new bureau, making the proposed plan budget neutral.
Solicitor Frank Corrado added that the new bureau would be different from what the city had in that the bureau would have authority over residential and commercial properties.
Hendricks stressed that safety is the principal goal of the ordinance which will give the process “the attention it deserves.”
Meier said the measure would give residents and business owners a “friendly, hometown official” to deal with.
What was unclear was how the new arrangement would resolve the issues that led the city to turn over inspections to the state in the first place.
A hearing on this ordinance will also be scheduled for the July 18 council meeting.
Victorian Towers
Victorian Towers is an age-restricted, 212-unit affordable housing complex in the heart of Cape May. 
In operation since the 1970s, the Towers works on a “payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT)” arrangement with the city that is characteristic of housing projects with state and federal financing.
In the most recent year, the Towers paid the city $192,000.
Council adopted an ordinance that renewed and extended the PILOT agreement for a 30-year term.
The amount of each annual PILOT payment to the city remains based on a formula that gives the city a percentage of gross revenues in the complex.
The new arrangement adds a floor to the PILOT arrangement, guaranteeing that the city will never receive less than the current $192,000 level.
The new agreement was needed to allow the Towers to finance improvements to the 40-year-old structure.
A condition of the outside funding was that the PILOT arrangement with the city had to be settled for the full 30-year term of the financing.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.