Permit Fee Waiver Allows Brick Scout's Project To Move Forward

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask the right people.

That’s what Brick Township Boy Scout Thomas Kaunzinger has learned, after he was notified Wednesday that the township will waive permit fees so his planned Eagle Scout project can move forward.

Kaunzinger, of Troop 16/17, was among a group of Scouts who led the Pledge of Allegiance at the Brick Township Council meeting Tuesday night. But Kaunzinger was there for a dual purpose: to ask for help.

The 17-year-old, who is an Eagle Scout candidate, is planning to replace a stepped entrance to St. Thomas Lutheran Church with a ramp that will be wheelchair-accessible, to make it easier for churchgoers who use wheelchairs or who have other disabilities to get into the church.

But his project had hit a snag: permits needed from the township for the project -- to ensure it complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and safety requirements -- had fees attached to them that would have cost a minimum of $826.

And, Kaunzinger said, requests to get the fees waived had gone nowhere -- which is why the Scout and his adviser, Lois Latchford, had come before the council, he said.

“I’m running out of time,” he said. “I need to get this done before school starts.” Kaunzinger is a student at the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, which is an elite program in the Ocean County vocational schools.

Kaunzinger said the project at the church, on Salmon Street, would take probably three weekends to complete. The first weekend would be dedicated to demolishing the current walkway, and the rest to leveling the ground and then construction of the new ramp -- along with the required inspections along the way, he said. Latchford said he has been careful to design the ramp to meet federal ADA requirements.

There is an existing wheelchair ramp at the , but it requires people to go to the far end of the building to use it, Kaunzinger said. Replacing the step at the front of the building will make it more easily accessible because the distance to walk will be shorter. Some of the congregants who attend St. Thomas use oxygen tanks that they pull behind them, Latchford said after the meeting. Pulling the tank up the step can be challenging, she said.

During the meeting, Township Attorney Kevin Starkey said the town does have the ability to waive the permit fee in certain circumstances, which Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin confirmed Wednesday afternoon.

“We have an ordinance in place now that allows us to waive fees for projects that address handicapped-accessibility and it’s on the basis that we are waiving the fee,” Bergin said. At the meeting she said she needed to look into the matter because she hadn’t been aware of it before Kaunzinger stepped to the microphone.

“Eagle Scout status is highly commendable and we are happy to be cooperative and supportive in every way possible for projects that will have a long-term benefit to so many people,” Bergin said Wednesday.

Township officials said the minimum fees would have included not only construction permit fees of $326, but an additional $500 for inspection fund fees. The fees could have been higher depending on the estimated cost of the work, they said.

Bergin said Kaunzinger’s request also has prompted the town to take a closer look at the ordinance.

“Township code provides for the waiver of fees for such improvements on public property, and on private ‘residential’ properties. The ordinance is based upon a statute which authorizes such an ordinance, however, the statute does not require the limitation to ’residential’ properties and permits the waiver on all public or private properties,” she said. ”Our attorney has suggested that that ordinance be amended to remove the word ’residential,’ ” she said.

A draft ordinance to address the removal of the word has been prepared, she said, and after it is discussed by the Land Use Committee will go on a council agenda.

(A Google maps view of the front of St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Brick shows the step that Thomas Kaunzinger’s Eagle Scout project will replace.)