Inspectors Complete 50+ Hours Of Training
New City, NY, – The Rockland County inspectors working within the new Office of Buildings and Codes have completed more than 50 hours of extensive training since the effort launched February 14, 2022.
While New York State made the prior issues of the Village of Spring Valley Building Department abundantly clear when they directed the County of Rockland to take over its functions, the order also underlined that control will eventually be restored to the Village.
To prepare for that eventuality, in addition to catching up on overdue inspections and handling new complaints and permits, the Office of Buildings and Codes is working to ensure that Spring Valley has fully trained inspectors and the proper procedures in place to enforce Building and Fire Codes.
“Let me be clear, the true bad apples of the Village Building Department which are under indictment, have not and will not be part of this process. Yes, we want to fix the issues of the past and will do so, but we must prepare for the future as well,” said County Executive Ed Day. “We need to have properly trained inspectors to eventually return the department back to Spring Valley.”
To prepare for that eventuality, Office of Buildings and Codes Director Ed Markunas continues to put all inspectors through extensive training including weekly legal coaching by Principal Assistant County Attorney Kimberly Von Ronn on writing violation notices and orders to remedy, case management and record keeping, investigation tools, compiling discovery, and writing up notices of hearing to enforce unremedied violations.
Multiple classes on the Village’s record-keeping software Municity are also being conducted to ensure inspectors maximize the capabilities of the program, which was not done under former management of the Spring Valley Building Department. In the courses, expert staff of Municity led those trainings with inspectors.
“These trainings are crucial to us building a solid foundation of quality control and operational oversight which will ensure inspections are done right and by the book,” said Director Ed Markunas.
The Office requests that the public submit complaints regarding Building and Code violations within the Village of Spring Valley to 845-364-3700 or by email to BuildingsAndCodes@co.rockland.ny.us.