Homes being rebuilt in the Normandy Beach section of Brick Township. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
Brick Township’s building and code officials were busier in 2015 than the previous year as Superstorm Sandy recovery picked up, data from the Department of Community Development & Land Use showed.
According to a review of data conducted by officials while preparing the department’s 2016 budget, figures showed the department processed about 4,500 permits in 2014, including 1,251 updates to existing permits, an increase of 10 percent over the prior year. The department conducted 22,281 inspections in 2015, an increase of 21 percent over the year before.
Since Superstorm Sandy struck, the state Department of Community Affairs Sandy Code Enforcement Unit has been assisting Brick – as well as other local communities – by lending manpower to the township so inspections and permits could move through the system at a more rapid pace. On April 30, however, the state will change the program where state inspectors will have to be reimbursed at an hourly rate, which would effectively cost Brick money, officials said.
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“We are actively seeking qualified individuals,” to work as inspectors, said Business Administrator Joanne Bergin.
The department currently employs nine full time inspectors, nine clerical staff members and two elevator inspectors. In 2015, the department spent $1,830,666 on salaries and operating expenses, but generated $3,157,835 in fees and fines.
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