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By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
The Downbeach towns of Ventnor and Longport plan to end their interlocal agreement providing Construction Code services in both municipalities.
According to Ventnor Administrator Tom Ciccarone, the city reviewed costs associated with sharing Construction Code officials with Longport.
“We are not in a position to continue providing the service and we have agreed to give them three months for a transition period,” Ciccarone said at the Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday, March 28.
The interlocal agreement, which has been in place since 1999, had Longport paying $46,000 a year for the services of Ventnor Construction Code Official Jimmy Agnesino, who retired and served his last day on the job on March 29.
“Ventnor is very busy and has a greater demand,” Longport Administrator A. Scott Porter said. “It was an amicable agreement.”
The agreement provided Longport with sub-code officials twice a week and a construction code official once a week.
“Sometimes, they were here every day,” Porter said. “But there was a disconnect, and it was interfering with services provided to their own residents.”
A new temporary agreement calls for Longport to pay Ventnor $10,000 per month for three months while it decides how it will provide the service to its own citizens.
“It was a mutual agreement with consent to go month-to-month if necessary,” Porter said.
Longport has planned for the switch-over in its annual budget, Porter said, admitting that it will be challenging to find a replacement.
“It’s not a case of dissatisfaction, but rather Ventnor has been a victim of its own success,” Porter said.
Ciccarone said the city wants to ensure the Ventnor City Construction Office is able to keep up with its mission to ensure building codes are properly adhered to.
The Ventnor Board of Commissioners elevated Dino Cavalieri to the position of Construction Official, effective April 1 on a provisional basis until Civil Service requirements have been finalized. His salary will be $115,000 per year.
The board also appointed Roger McLarnon to serve as the city’s Zoning Officer.
In other business, the board approved an ordinance revising street end parking regulations to include no parking within 75 feet of the boardwalk bulkhead. All beach-block street ends will be restriped to provide uniform signage on all blocks. The citywide restriping project will yield one extra parking space when the project is completed.
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