BRUNSWICK, Maine — In the wake of fires at three multi-unit apartment buildings in Brunswick this spring, the Town Council on Monday will discuss a proposal to create a new municipal fire-safety inspector position.
The proposal, co-sponsored by District 6 Councilor Margot Knight and District 7 Councilor Benet Pols, aims to improve municipal government’s ability to check multi-unit dwellings annually for life safety issues, Pols told the Times Record on Thursday.
According to a memo from Town Manager Gary Brown to the council, the proposal would create a new staff position at the level of the current building inspector, at an estimated yearly cost of $77,000.
Brown wrote that one possible funding model for the position would involve a flat building inspection fee as well as a per-unit fee for owners of multi-unit buildings in town.
Based on the estimated cost of the new inspector position and the buildings that would fall under the proposed ordinance, Brown wrote that a flat fee of $100 per building and $50 per unit could generate up to $78,200 to cover the estimated cost of a new inspector position.
Pols said the intention of the funding model is to have fee revenues cover the full salary and benefits of the proposed inspector position.
Knight, who said that most of the multi-unit buildings in town are in her district, said the program will aim to make renting apartments safer in Brunswick and, as proposed, would be entirely sustained from inspection fees for property owners.
“This is not something that would have prevented the fires over the last year,” Knight said. “But it would make sure that any of the obvious problems are corrected.”
Fire Chief Ken Brillant, who advised councilors and town staff in drafting the proposal, said Thursday that the Brunswick Fire Department does not currently have the capacity to conduct or track inspections on an annual schedule.
“We have the ability and authority to do it,” Brillant said, “but we don’t have the manpower.”
Brillant said that the fire department can conduct such inspections, but added that a special ordinance would make that authority stronger.
The proposal would require review of each multi-unit dwelling in Brunswick through inspections that would be conducted during business hours — with seven days of advance notice.
In total, Brown wrote in the memo that 194 buildings, comprising 1,176 individual living units, would fall under the jurisdiction of the proposed ordinance.
Brown wrote that he has spoken with a representative of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) about acquiring start-up funds in the amount of $25,000 to fund the implementation of the inspection program.
The OEA is an entity that provides support to communities adversely affected by Department of Defense changes, according to the OEA website. The OEA has provided assistance to Brunswick since the August 2005 decision to close Brunswick Naval Air Station.
Pols said that some of the motivation for the proposal emerged after he met with members of the fire department to discuss inspection schedules for multi-unit dwellings like the three that went up in flames during the first half of the year — at 45 Maine St., 18 Oak St., and 84 Union St.
Pols said the council found that building inspections only occur when a new permit is issued or when a direct fire or safety complaint is made.
“You have many people living together in one building and it’s just dangerous,” Pols said.
Because many rental arrangements are short-term or month-by-month, Pols said tenants might only have a “temporary interest” in the building and might not know the building well enough to identify health and safety concerns.
Pols also said the inspections would give firefighters a first look at buildings they may have never been inside.
During the fire at 45 Maine St., “firefighters were turned around about the layout of the building,” Pols said. “At the very least, this would be a walk-through to make notes on what the likely pitfalls of fighting a fire in a particular building would be.”