the Association of Building and Zoning Code Enforcement Officers in and near Chautauqua County, New York
Training Report and Next Meeting: WSTBO WESTERN SOUTHERN TIER BUILDING OFFICIALS ACCREDITED TRAINING OPPORTUNITY-5 HOURS DECEMBER 11, 2008-8:30-11:30 & 1:00-3:00 CLASSES OFFERED-TIM KING & OR BILL SHERMAN 3 HOURS-CODE UPDATES FOR MANUFACTURED HOMES/INCLUDING AN OPEN FORUM FOR QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS JIM BURTON-2 HOURS-MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ISSUING A CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY TRAINING FEE-$40 MEMBERS $50 NON-MEMBERS THIS INCLUDES LUNCH CONTRACTORS, DESIGN PROFESSIONALS, MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS NAME_________________________________________________ PHONE________________________________________________ MUNICIPALITY________________________________________ AMOUNT ENCLOSED__________________________________ PLEASE RETURN APPLICATION ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Melanie Eddy M&W-763-8561 T&TH-736-4050 SEATING IS LIMITED. APPICATIONS TAKEN ON A FIRST COME BASIS. THE MONTHLY BUSINESS MEETING AND ANNUAL OFFICER ELECTION WILL TAKE PLACE DURING LUNCH. IF YOU ARE NOT COMING FOR THE TRAINING, PLEASE RESERVE FOR JUST THE LUNCH MEETING BY CALLING AL ZURAWSKI AT 366-9858. -------------------------------------------------- t's-$7 crew sweatshirts-$12 hoodies-$20 long sleeve ts-$9 golf shirts- vary according to brand-$17-$25 your choice jerzee, hanes, ultra club, outer banks, etc., many choices WSTBO Minutes for Meeting of Attending: Melanie Eddy, T Ripley, T Busti, WSTBO education chair; Tom Kawski, Director Julius Leone of
Prior minutes were approved. Authorization was given the secretary and treasurer to renew the web site hosting for three more years. Treasurer Zurawski noted the July balance was $3,966.70. Melanie and John thanked the speakers for the training today, and John thanked Sam Ricotta for his presentation to 23 WSTBO members last month at
WSTBO vice president Chuck LaBarbera mailed letters from John to all regional municipalities informing them of the benefits of WSTBO and asking that all code officials join and be active in our professional association. Chuck and Melanie will work on designs for WSTBO apparel. Less than half of the jurisdictions in
Southern Tier West Regional Planning will host a November seminar in Mayville. John was asked for training ideas, and WSTBO suggested that he pass along the name of Jeffrey Mann in the NYS Attorney General’s office as he is an eloquent expert on the legal aspects of code enforcement. John will represent WSTBO at a luncheon meeting with the county assessors on September 16. John informed us that Paul Bowers has left Gowanda and the village is seeking a full-time code enforcement official. Jim Pacanowski indicated that a vehicle repair shop that had troubled Perrysburg had moved to Gowanda and was an item of disagreement. Andy Hvisdak talked about the Gowanda, Cherry Creek, and Cattaraugus issues with code enforcement. Deb Babbit will be doing Cattaraugus enforcement at some future time on behalf of the state and the state will charge and collect fees, etc. Standards for electrical inspections were discussed. We will check on local laws from municipalities that have good laws on this. Jim Pacanowski and John Garven participated in this discussion and we now have some good points to consider. This will be an on-going topic. John declined to discuss blue pools at this meeting but it is hoped that the press release prepared for the 2008 pool season will actually see publication for the 2009 pool season. Carol Fuller introduced our new ISO regional person. We will all get to meet him as he visits to update code enforcement ratings for each jurisdiction. Our training today was by Carl Hogan, Keith Lashway, and Christopher Roth. A pdf of the fire inspection checklist from the Fire Code was provided to John from Chris, and this will be posted on the web site. Melanie said our upcoming training will be on certificates of occupancy and on building green without spending too much green. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Attending: Paul Ryerse, Evans; Lon Robinson, NYBFU; J. Michael Braun, V Mayville; Bob Reed, NYS OCFS; John Monaco, V Fredonia; Sam Ricotta, DOS; Charlie Smith, V Lakewood; Richard L. Peebles, Jr., RA; James Crowell, T Sheridan; Warren Kelly, T Pomfret, C Chautauqua; Signe Rominger, T Portland, T Arkwright; Andy Hvisdak, DOS; James E. Pacanowski, V & T Westfield; Larry Barter, V Fredonia; Dennis Stornes, T Poland; Linda DeFries, T Hanover; Cort Wilkins, NYBFU; John Garvin, NYBFU; Al Zurawski, C Dunkirk; Chuck LaBarbera, T Evans, Randy Woodbury, T Ellicott. Prior minutes and treasurer’s report were approved. The bank balance in July was $3,965.90. We learned that We learned that Scott Copp, one of our honorary members, has been requested to be close to home turf and less active in ICC. We learned that 54-g monies stalled in the legislature. It was approved to send two delegates to the Sept. 3, 4, 5 NYSBOC meeting at
John’s letters to municipalities went out with Chuck’s help and with Charlie Smith making the labels. We discussed standards for electrical inspectors and will follow up with some proposals. County requirements to have tax-delinquent properties inspected was discussed by Signe. It was reported that Melanie has 6 credit-hours of training ready for September 11. Jim Pacanowski reminded us that there are 17 to 20 hours of training available at the
Above: August training by Sam Ricotta, NYS DOS WSTBO Minutes,
Attending: President John Monaco, Village of Fredonia; Terri LaRose, Fredonia; Jan Potter, CHRIC; Robert C. Ostolanv, CHRIC; Richard Rose, RA, Lakewood; Larry Barter, Fredonia; Randy Woodbury, Town of Ellicott; Jeff Messenger, French Creek; Greg Osman, Town of Sherman; Dennis Stornes, Town of Poland; Frank Fonti, Town of Ellignton and Village of Falconer; Melanie Eddy, Towns of Busti, Kiantone, Harmony, Ripley; David F. Crandall, Town of Chautauqua; James E. Pacanowski, Villages and Towns of Westfield and Perrysburg; John Garven, NYBFU; James Crowell, Town of Sheridan; Cork Wikins, NYBFU; Ronald Meeks, Town of Evans; Paul Ryert, Evans; Richard L. Peebles, Jr., RA, Fredonia; Len Ensalaco, Village of Cassadaga; Warren Kelly, Town of Pomfret; Linda DeFries, Town of Hanover; Lon Robinson, NYBFU; Brad Lawson, Town of North Harmony; Al Zurawski, City of Dunkirk; Charles Smith, Village of Lakewood; Signe Rominger, Towns of Portland and Arkwright; Bob Reed, NYSOCFS; 5 members of the manufactured homes industry were also present as were two instructors from NYS DOS including Tim King. Previous minutes and treasury report were approved. Before paying NYSBOC dues of $675, the balance was $4,711.95. Larry Barter was given an ovation from the group for having WSTBO represented at the Rotary Home and Garden Show at the fairgrounds for three days, with Fredonia thanked for supplying handouts. 10 WSTBO members participated. Chuck Labarbera was thanked for donating door prizes including a smoke detector. Press releases went into the Observer and Post Journal on Building Safety Week, on the training at this meeting, on the home show, and on the scheduled visit of Codes Division Director Ron Piester on May 29 with the county’s mayors and supervisors. John wrote a press release on pools and sent it to Al Gustafson for tweaking and submittal to the media. Brad Lawson spoke on new pool requirements for atmospheric vacuum relief systems that will add $500 to $1,000 to new pool installations if they use bottom drains for the filter system. This is in the new version of Appendix K. President Monaco reported on
John reminded us that Ron Piester, Director of the DOS Codes Division, will appear with county town supervisors and village mayors on May 29. John, Randy, and Charlie Smith plan to be at the meeting as well. John asked Ron to address “the role of the code enforcement officer” and the process and requirements for building permits with the group.
Tim P. sent John a pool fence article from Randy moved for a second Honorary Member to WSTBO (Bill Pippine is the first) and Scott Copp of FLBOA was unanimously approved. Scott had been contacted ahead of time and was honored for the consideration; he was instrumental in getting WSTBO in effect as a satellite of NYSBOC. Everyone introduced themselves and we proceeded to 6 credit-hours of training on manufactured homes by Tim King of NYS DOS. We finished with tours through Owl Homes near Fredonia where we saw modular homes from $95,000 up and manufactured homes from $65,000 up. Tim provided a lot of handouts and reminded us to get manufacturer’s installation instructions for all such homes. Of course, zoning regulations on manufactured homes vary from town to town. Please call Tim King to mediate any issues you have with manufactured home sellers and make sure foundations are adequately designed (most of us require design professional designs specific to sites and require or encourage permanent concrete foundations). - Randy J. Woodbury, WSTBO Secretary and Web Administrator
------------------------------------------------------ WSTBO minutes, President Monaco announced that Codes Division Director Ron Piester will meet with
John did a press release on Building Safety Week and Larry Barter arranged for WSTBO to be at the Rotary Home and Garden Show at the
Andy from DOS said Connewango is opting out of code enforcement because of building codes issues with the Amish. There has been a lot of press on this and other issues that will be added to the website. - Randy Woodbury, Secretary and Web Administrator Attending (see website members area for full information for each person): D. Babbitt, A. Hvisdak, C. Bliss, S. Ricotta, D. Harris, J. Paddock, M. Eddy, B. Lawson, J. M. Braun, L. Barter, B. Reed, S. Mancuso, T. LaRose, J. Monaco, D. C. Kayner, G. Osman, W. M. Kelly, L. DeFries, L. Robinson, C. Smith, D. Stornes, A. Gustafson, C. LaBarbera, R. Milks, P. Ryerse, J. Pacanowski, F. Fonti, D. Allen, A. Zurawski, R. Woodbury President Monaco opened the meeting at 12:08. Previous minutes were approved with a modification and are now published on the website. Treasurer Zurawski reported a balance of $2,422.77, and motion to make payment for each member for NYSBOC dues at $25 each was passed after noting this is up $10 from previous year. In old business, President Monaco reported on his FOIL requests to the Town of Melanie Eddy discussed the training scheduled for February 14, and fees were set at $35 for members and $45 for non-members, to include a bag lunch. Charlie Smith, Al, and Melanie will arrange details. Motion made and passed to cover hotel expenses for the DOS trainer. Jim Pacanowski reported on propane tanks being used indoors. He will work with Larry Barter and Charlie Bliss to address sections of code on this. We were reminded that smoke detectors in existing homes must now meet the standard for new homes. Electrical permit policies were discussed, comparing jurisdictions; this will require follow-up information and reports aimed toward best policy and consistency. Dottie Harris, ICC vice president and former assistant secretary of state, presented a tribute plaque to the association as a new chapter. Pictures were taken and a press release followed (and was picked up by the Observer and Post-Journal). Dottie lobbies the legislature for us and hopes that 54-g legislation will progress to adoption. Sam Mancuso will work to represent the association at the garden show at Floral Hall. Motion to authorize John to buy ICC videos, etc., for small amounts was passed. Sam Ricotta of the Department of State Codes Division gave a training session on annual reports we all had to do by January 30, and will need to complete annually. The report forms are pdf fillable and available to fill out and submit online at the DOS codes division website. It is expected that 54-g monies will be available based on these reports in future years. Sam discussed that we all have new training ID numbers and should have ID cards with such. Call Mark at DOS if you have card or ID questions,
Meeting adjourned. Next meeting will be during lunch at the February training. Minutes prepared by Randy Woodbury, association secretary and web administrator. Present: Randy Woodbury, Tim Piotrowski, Richard Rose, Al Zurawski, J. Michael Braun, James Pacanowski, Charlie Smith, Ronald Niult, James Storms, Donald Kayner, Chuck LaBarbera, Paul Ryerse, John Monaco, Terri LaRose, Larry Barter The December meeting was called to order by President John Monaco. A Motion to approve the November Minutes was passed. Al Zurawski reported there was $1,893.32 in the checking account. Don Kayner Made a motion seconded by Al Zurawski to reimburse Randy Woodbury for the start up costs for our web site. Carried. Randy reported on the website. He is looking for names, Municipalities, phone numbers, and addresses of zoning and code officers. John thanked Randy and Tim for their work on the web site. John reported there would be a six-hour training session on We held a brief discussion on the up coming Seminars put on by the Niagara Frontier and Finger Lakes Associations. John reported the delegates to NYSBOC were unable to make the Some discussion ensued on how NYSBOC is acknowledging our Chapter. A motion was made by Randy Woodbury and seconded by Al Zurawski to send a letter to Nysboc expressing our concerns. Carried. Next month Sam Ricotta will present a 2hr. class on the new reports required by the State. Dottie Harris and Ron Piester will be present to welcome us into the ICC at DeJohn’s restaurant in Fredonia. Our guest speaker for the meeting was concerned about the weather and canceled. A lengthy discussion was opened on Municipalities who do not allow CEOs to do their jobs. During this discussion John was asked to call Andy Hvisdak for an update on the situation in the Town of Jim Pacanowski made a motion seconded by Chuck LaBarbera to have John request the permit for the addition being done by Tom Hawk with all information and a copy of their local law for the enforcement of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. Carried. Randy said he would contact attorney Jeff Manns of the Attorney General’s Office who gives seminars on code enforcement, and John will call Scott Kopp from NYSBOC on this problem. Chuck LaBarbera reported on a problem he had encountered in the Town of The Nominating Committee reported on the following slate of officers:
President John Monaco John called for any other nominations three times. No further business the meeting was adjourned. - Minutes by Larry Barter --------------------------------------------------------------------------- WSTBOA Minutes President Monaco reported on several items: Scheduled appearance of Ron and Dottie in January, education programs being set up by Melanie Eddy for early 2008, meetings will start from now on at noon rather than 11:30 a.m., association elections will be in December, Village of Fredonia is being stricter with building permits on electrical work, and John urges equal firm enforcement throughout our region. A website committee was formed for the association. Randy Woodbury and Tim Piotrowski will head this effort. (We progressed and now have www.wstbo.com.) DOS PE Charlie Bliss reported on his website, www.charliebliss.com having WSTBO information and other code enforcement information. Charlie reminded all communities to have their local laws passed. Charlie said he and Andy would act in detail to solve issues in the Town of – R. J. Woodbury, vice president and recorder for this meeting --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present: Lon Robinson, NYBFU; Larry Scalise, Jamestown; Bruce Anderson, Jamestown; Warren Kelly, Pomfret, CCDPF; Al Zurawski, Dunkirk; Richard Rose, LRK Design Group; Rebecca Anderson, NYSDEC; Randy Woodbury, Ellicott; Andy Hvisdak, DOS; Tim Piotrowski, Habiterra; Deb Babbitt, DOS; Don Christner, Resource Center; Mike Braun, Mayville; Cort Wilkins, NYBFU; Ron Milks, Evans; Paul Ryerse, Evans; Larry Barter, Fredonia; Kevin Cole, Southerntier Electrical Inspections The next meeting will be at DeJohn’s Restaurant in Fredonia on Adjourned 13:35. -- minutes by Secretary Barter Attending: John Monaco, Fredonia (president); Mike Braun, Mayville; Charles Bliss, DOS; Linda DeFrees, Hanover; Al Zurawski, C/Dunkirk (treasurer); Warren Kelly, Pomfret; Randy Woodbury, Ellicott (vice president); Paul Bowers, Gowanda; Paul Ryerse, Chuck LaBarbera, Dennis Allen, Ron Molles, Evans; Cort Wilkins, Electrical Inspector and New Albion CEO; Bob Reed, NYS OCFS; Dennis Stornes, Poland; Sam Ricotta, DOS; Andy, DOS; Lon, NYBFU. Discussion began about 54-g monies perhaps being available soon. Letters to legislators was recommended to help revive the reimbursement program for code enforcement. Discussion about blow-up pools, with Charles Bliss reminding of the DOS web page about pools and pool safety. Officers compared procedures on permit fees each year. $2,463.34 reported by Treasurer Zurawski. Approval passed to send two delegates ( It was reported that Melanie Eddy is working on additional training such as Res Check and required paperwork tentatively scheduled for President Monaco passed around some of the documents he uses to enforce pool regulations and again stressed uniform enforcement to make the blue inflatable pools compliant as to barriers and alarms, or to have them removed. Motion approved to have President Monaco endorse the minimum size lot, with the County Health Sanitary Code, to be 40,000 SF up from 20,000, as is now proposed. New code books should arrive soon, and the electronic form of the code is being worked on for both web viewing and for purchase like the former AutoBook. Al Z. and Sam R. discussed setback requirements and waivers for 1-family dwellings. Meeting was adjourned. ----------------------------------------------------------
Pictures and minutes below are from our September 11, 2008, six credit-hours of training at the fire training center in Mayville. Our October meeting was at DeJohns in Fredonia, minutes to be posted later. The November meeting was cancelled so that members could attend the Southern Tier West seminar on November 13 in Jamestown.
WSTBO logo shirts will be available to order from Melanie at these rates:
WSTBO meeting minutes, 
Below: May training by Tim King, NYS DOS
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WSTBO Minutes (DRAFT),
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WSTBOA Minutes
Vice President Chuck LaBarbera
Secretary & Web Administrator Randy Woodbury
Treasurer Al Zurawski
Delegates to NYSBOC Randy Woodbury & John Monaco
A motion was made to close nominations and have the Secretary Cast one unanimous ballot for the slate of officers. Carried.
Attending: Tim Piotrowski, Habiterra; Paul Ryerse, Town of
Prior minutes were approved. Treasurer Zurawski reported a balance of $1,893.11.
WSTBOA Minutes
The meeting was called to order by Vice President Randy Woodbury at 12:00 hrs.
The minutes were approved on a motion by Mike Braun seconded by Tim Piotrowski.
Al Zurawski reported there was $1990.92 in the checking account.
Education committee: the seminar scheduled for next month was pushed back to next year. Randy said this should be okay since Ron Piester and Dottie Harris are coming next month.
Randy asked we get together and put the regulations on the installation of pools out early enough for next year. Al Zurawski reported he had a case in court on an inflatable ring pool. Dunkirk Judge makes defendant post bail for code violations.
Randy thanked everyone for coming.
Deb Babbitt asked about full time and part time Officials. And are there municipal agreements to share officers. There is grant monies available for shared code services.
A motion was made and seconded to add the names of those present to the minutes. Carried.
Randy would like us to get a web site to help Charlie’s efforts.
Discussed part time officers and problems with their boards. It was suggested an attorney talk about the legal issues.
Al Zurawski said all modular buildings including commercial need
Kevin Cole brought up the requirement for a twist receptacle for pool pump is not in the new Residential code. Andy said he would look into this.
The meeting was turned over to Becky Anderson for a discussion on flood management.
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Western Southern
meeting at
Motion passed to approve previous minutes with correction of a typo.
-- minutes by VP Woodbury
P.S. Woodbury suggests that our organization have a web site and web master dedicated to our organization alone. We should post public notices and sample forms, etc.
