New Fees for Permits, Inspections

An ordinance accepted Monday night by the Montville Town Council means that owners of businesses and multifamily properties will now pay for permits and inspections by the fire marshal's office.

No citizens attended a public hearing on the proposed ordinance.

Here are some of the new charges:

• Fees for fire plan reviews, mechanical plan reviews and electrical plan reviews for commercial and multifamily buildings will be based on building permit fees, and will range from 35 percent of the fee to 100 percent of the fee.
• "Fast-track" reviews, which will be accomplished in a week or less, are more expensive.
• Fees will be charged now for inspections, approval and acceptance of new buildings, on a schedule based on the estimated construction costs. For a building costing $100,001 to $500,000, the fees will be $83.80 for the first $100,000, plus $0.46 for each additional $1,000 up to and including $500,000.
• Fees will be charged for permits for a variety of operations and/or occupancies, either for a one-time event or an ongoing event. Fees range from $150 per year for the sale, on-site handling, manufacture and storage of consumer fireworks, to $180 per year for drycleaning plants, to $250 per year for storage of lumber, and more.

To see the entire fee schedule, please click on the pdf in the photo box.

Fire Marshal Ray Occhialini said the fees will recoup much of the cost of operating the fire marshal's office. He estimates that the fees will bring in "a little over $80,000 in the first year – that’s almost my fire marshal’s office budget itself, without benefits."

The council had questions about issues ranging from permits for tents (any tent larger than 200 square feet requires a permit) to "Candles, Open Flames and Portable Cooking."

Occhialini explained that the permit was not for a single candle on a table, but primarily for candles in restaurants or bars, and for open flames and portable cooking equipment.

Occhialini said he would not spend his weekends driving around, looking for violations.

"I'm not going to be the candle police," he said.