County Exec Submits Plan For Office of Buildings and Codes

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — County Executive Ed Day has submitted a proposed $1.5 million budget for a controversial countywide Office of Buildings and Codes to the Rockland County Legislature and recommended the appointment of Former NYPD Police Officer and Suffern Mayor Ed Markunas as its director.

The Legislature opened a public hearing two weeks ago on a proposed new law that would create the Office of Buildings and Codes and grant the authority for the office to operate — a process made necessary when state officials ordered Rockland on Nov. 16 to assume administration and enforcement of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and the State Energy Conservation Construction Code within the village of Spring Valley.

County officials have identified a need for at least 12 full and part-time building and fire inspectors and five support staff to clear Spring Valley’s backlog of outstanding inspections.

The state's move and the county's response have met with opposition.

The hearing remained open and will continue at the next full Legislature meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, after which a vote is expected. SEE: No Vote On Spring Valley Code Enforcement Takeover

On Saturday, seven county lawmakers issued a statement saying "saving lives is all that matters." (See full text below.) Lon Hofstein, Vince Tyer, Christopher Carey, Doug Jobson, Laurie Santulli, John McGowan and James Foley described years of pleading from officials and community groups about a dangerous disregard of fire and building codes.

The question that many of these advocates, including members of the current legislative minority, asked over and over was, ‘Do we need to wait for someone to die before anything is done?’ Tragically, the answer to that question was ‘Yes.’ We had to wait until a horrific fire took the lives of volunteer Firefighter Jared Lloyd and a resident at the Evergreen Court Home in March of 2021 before the State finally decided enough was enough in a village with an already troubled past. As a reminder, multiple officials working for the village have been arrested on corruption and bribery charges in addition to the two village officials arrested for allegedly falsifying records in connection with the Evergreen Court Home fire.

The budget plan for the Office of Buildings and Codes includes funding for staff, contractors, equipment, computer software and printed materials. Projected revenue for the budget comes from the fees associated with code enforcement inspections. The budget is intended to be revenue-neutral and could be amended in the future to include possible New York State aid funding.

"While we have been Ordered by the New York State Department of State to undertake this unprecedented task, it would not be right to ask county taxpayers to foot the bill," Day said in an announcement about the proposal. "This budget prepares for all eventualities, and we have already had discussions with our State Senators and Assembly Members about securing New York State aid to ensure that no county tax dollars go towards fixing Spring Valley’s issues."

The Office of Buildings and Codes main office would be on the 2nd Floor of Building A in the Robert Yeager Health Complex in Pomona. This space had been vacant and is currently being remodeled and upgraded.

During his time as mayor, Markunas oversaw the Village’s Building Department and developed and implemented the Village of Suffern Code Initiative (modeled after the incredibly successful Rockland Code Initiative) which combatted code, housing, and fire safety issues.

“Ed Markunas is incredibly qualified to oversee this new Office and serve as its Director; he is a man of impeccable character. He has served in the NYPD, the US Coast Guard and directly managed Suffern’s Building Department while he was Mayor," Day said. "Ed Markunas has been involved in our update calls with NYS and Spring Valley for weeks, helped to develop the budget and determine staffing needs and has already provided significant insight. I have full faith in his ability to manage this situation and resolve many of the issues facing the residents and businesses of Spring Valley."

He would report directly to the County Executive’s Chief of Staff and would be closely supported by the Office of Fire and Emergency Services and the Law Department.

Also submitted to the Rockland County Legislature was an Intermunicipal Agreement between the County and the Village of Spring Valley. The proposed IMA lays the groundwork for the transfer of control of the Building Department back to the Village without delay after the issues within Spring Valley have been corrected as Ordered by the New York State Department of State.

However, NYS DOS has not yet detailed under what specific circumstances control of the Building Department will be returned to Spring Valley, county officials said.

The IMA focuses on four main areas which will reduce County costs; allow staff and code enforcement personnel of the Village to work under County oversight while remaining employed by the Village; borrow equipment and vehicles from the Village; allow the County access to the Village’s recordkeeping software (Municity); any revenue (fees or possible fines) collected that surpasses the operating costs incurred by the County will be returned to the Village.

“All staff performing inspections will be operating under the direct oversight of my Administration and Director Markunas with a strict zero-tolerance policy," Day said.

"Any Village employee who does not comport entirely with the rules and regulations of New York State will be removed from participating in our effort," he said. "The true bad apples of the Village Building Department which are under indictment, have not and will not be part of this process."

The seven lawmakers said in their statement:

“On Nov. 16, 2021, the State of New York took the unprecedented step of ordering Rockland County to assume administration and enforcement of the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Codes in the Village of Spring Valley. This decision came after years of pleading from government officials, fire department leaders, community groups, and many others who had long witnessed the disregard for safety that prevailed in the village’s enforcement of fire and building codes.

The question that many of these advocates, including members of the current legislative minority, asked over and over was, ‘Do we need to wait for someone to die before anything is done?’ Tragically, the answer to that question was ‘Yes.’ We had to wait until a horrific fire took the lives of volunteer Firefighter Jared Lloyd and a resident at the Evergreen Court Home in March of 2021 before the State finally decided enough was enough in a village with an already troubled past. As a reminder, multiple officials working for the village have been arrested on corruption and bribery charges in addition to the two village officials arrested for allegedly falsifying records in connection with the Evergreen Court Home fire.

We could go on and on with finger pointing and ‘we told you so’ admonishments, but that will neither bring back the dead nor prevent future lives from being lost due to recklessness and dereliction of duty. What matters now is ensuring that the one opportunity to actually make impactful and lifesaving changes that has been placed in front of us now does not get squandered. Lives have already been lost and thousands of others are at stake. We must seize this opportunity and make sure that things are done right.

We were all advocates for the 2015 adopting of the Rockland County Codes Initiative created by our County Executive Ed Day. This was one of the first real steps taken in the fight to protect our most vulnerable citizens from the potentially deadly consequences of ignoring fire and building code enforcement. The program was designed to use the broad powers under the County Sanitary Code to step in when local municipalities failed to act.

Some of us were sitting legislators at the time the Codes Initiative was announced and stood proudly by our County Executive when he announced that, ‘The health and safety of all residents in Rockland County is the highest priority of my administration. Code enforcement is essential for creating an environment that preserves the quality of life for our people, while attracting private investment in our towns and villages.’

That program has had many successes, but the main challenge has remained a lack of final authority over local municipalities. New York State has set the groundwork to remove that barrier in Spring Valley. Rockland County, under the leadership of the County Executive, and with the support of the Rockland County Legislature, needs to take the remaining necessary steps to assume the responsibility to effectively protect the lives of the residents of Spring Valley.

We are encouraged by the administration’s request to create the Rockland County Office of Building and Codes. We fully expect that the community advocates who have spent years leading the fight for code enforcement and fire safety will be given a seat at the table to act as advisors during the decision-making process. The Rockland County Illegal Housing Task Force and CUPON organizations are led and staffed by well-respected individuals, including current and former fire officials with intimate knowledge of the existing problems in Spring Valley at an address-by-address level of detail. To not take full advantage of their expertise would be foolish and irresponsible given what is at stake here. Further, any endeavor that fails to properly utilize the experience of these organizations simply cannot be viewed as a credible effort towards a real solution. Politics and personalities must take a back seat to making sure the most qualified people are in place to truly get this right.

So, we finally find the Day administration on the brink of having full power in Spring Valley to do the job we have always said needed to be done. If this takeover becomes reality on Feb. 14, we are fully committed to assisting the County Executive in delivering on the promises that he made to the people of Rockland in 2015 and we stand ready to do whatever it takes to support the effort to make real and positive changes in the Village of Spring Valley.”

SEE ALSO:

• Grand Jury Indicts 2 Village Employees Over Fatal Adult Home Fire
• Former Fire Chief Arraigned Over Building Code Fraud
• Village Re-Hires Felon With $50,000 6-Month Contract
• Spring Valley Mayor, County Fighting Over $125,000 Aide
• Rockland Firefighters, Officials Call for State to Intervene In Ramapo, Spring Valley
• Collapse At Old Spring Valley H.S. Traps Worker
• Spring Valley Trustee Charged in Camp Transportation Scheme
• Spring Valley Fire Department Treasurer Faces Grand Larceny Charges
• Former Spring Valley Mayor Sentenced to 4 Years for Fraud, Extortion