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R2011-128 - 2011-10-10BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS: Section 1. That the City Council hereby authorizes the merging of the Engineering and Inspection Services Departments into a single department called the Community Development Department. ATTEST: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS, COMBINING THE ENGINEERING AND INSPECTION SERVICES DEPARTMENTS INTO A SINGLE DEPARTMENT CALLED THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 10 day of October, A.D., 2011. YO I' G Led c, T /MCA CI f SEC TARY APPROVED AS TO FORM: DARRIN M. COKER CITY ATTORNEY RESOLUTION NO. R2011 -128 TOM REID MAYOR grn < < R19 nr TEXAS Memo To: Bill Eisen, City Manager From: Mike Hodge, Assistant City Manager Date: September 21, 2011 Re: Reorganization of Inspection Services Department I think it is time to change our approach to staffing and managing the Inspection Services Department. With that in mind, I am proposing that we take advantage of the vacant Building Official position and reduce the number of department director positions by combining the Engineering and Inspections Services departments into one, the Community Development Department. It has become evident to me that the additional administrative burden placed on the leadership of the Inspection Services Department has kept top supervisors in the department from focusing on streamlining the permitting and inspections process. This proposal would allow for the administrative duties and the day-to-day management of the Code Enforcement sections to be picked up by existing Engineering staff, relieving the leadership in the Inspections and Permitting Sections of those duties so that they can focus on improving their internal processes. I propose that Narciso Lira, City Engineer,head up the new department. He has demonstrated his ability to lead his department and I believe he is ready to step up to this challenge. He has prepared a description of the functions of the new department as well as a proposed organization chart. The net results are: (1) a reduction in expenses of approximately$1,000 dollars, (2) maintaining the same number of employees and (3) creating a second Plans Examiner position to focus commercial permitting. The attached documents describe the proposed plan. With your approval, I would like transition into the new department structure with the new fiscal year. Thank you for meeting with us today to discuss this and please let me know if you have any questions. Community Development (Engineering/Permitting) Department of Community Development's role will be to facilitate the development process and ensure that all codes and ordinances are being enforced. The department will consist of three divisions: (1) Engineering, (2) Permits& Inspections, and (3) Environmental & Health. All three of the divisions will report directly to the Director of Community Development. Engineering and the Permits Divisions will serve as an integral parts of the development process. The Environmental& Health Division will be involved in both the development process and also serve as the enforcement arm for many of the City's adopted codes. Engineering Division: The Engineering Division will continue to function at its current capacity. The primary duties will be to facilitate compliance with the Engineering Design Criteria Manual and enforcement of the City's Development Codes, which includes review of Traffic Impact Analysis and implementation of the City's Storm Water Management Program. In addition to that, the division will function as a support services department in assisting Planning, Permits& Inspections, Projects, and Public Works by providing engineering technical support. Engineering will also provide engineering inspection services for capital projects, public infrastructure projects, and also on commercial development projects. Other duties will consist of administering the City's Flood Plain Management and CRS programs. In addition to that Engineering staff will assist with traffic operations of the City along with administering the City's Traffic Calming Policy. Permits & Inspections Division: The Permits & Inspections Division will continue to function as the main contact for all permitting related activities. The division will primarily focus on two functions: (1) Permitting and (2) Inspections. The Permitting component will consist primarily of coordinating all permit activity with other departments in compliance with the Development Process' RACI diagram. The make-up of the group will include permit clerks responsible for handling all the permits and making sure that review of the permits is performed in a timely manner. Other key staff will consist of two plans examiners, one for commercial and one for residential plan review. Commercial Plans Examiner will ensure that all development meets the City's 2006 Building Codes and also coordinate compliance with the existing Fire Codes. They will also be responsible for making sure that all applicable fees are being assessed (i.e.-impact, pro-rata, etcs). The Building Official is ultimately supervising the group to make sure all work is adequately performed. The Inspections function is responsible for making sure all construction is occurring in compliance with the permitted plans and applicable building codes. All Inspectors will be responsible for documenting all inspections to ensure completion of construction and issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. The Inspections group will be responsible for coordinating any issues that pertain to the construction of the project and ensure that issues during construction are addressed accordingly. The work will be performed at the direction of the Building Official. Environmental & Health Division: The Environmental & Health Division will continue to function as the main arm for assuring continued compliance with the City's Code of Ordinances. The structure of the division will remain the same with the exception that it will report directly to the Director of Community Development. The primary focus of the division will be to handle all citizen concerns regarding environment and health violations of City Ordinances, primarily those that pertain to compliance with the Property Maintenance Code and Development Codes (i.e.- high grass,junk vehicles, work without permit, illegal signage, etc.). The other main focus for the division will be to ensure that all establishments comply with the City and State Health Codes. This will be primarily focused on restaurants, daycares, and any other establishments that prepare and handle food services. In addition to this, the division will focus on providing support to other City departments and assist with enforcement of their codes needed. Community Development Organizational Structure Director of Community Development/ City Engineer Administrative" Assistant (Payroll & — Office Admin) \ J 1 I I Deputy City Building Environmental Engineer Official &Health Supervisor \ _2 \ J \ / C-1-----\ 1-1—\ C-1-----\ C----11—Th CiTh r-1----Th \ Assistant City Building Plans Permits Clerk Environment& Senior Chief Engineer Inspectors Examiners Supervisor Health Engineering Engineering (Development (3.5) (2) Enforcement Technician Inspector Services) Officers \ / \ _2 \ J \ i \ / \ / \ (3) J Permit Clerks �� Staff Engineer Engineering Engineering (3.5) Inspector III Inspector II — (4) (1) \ \ I 2 \ 2 * Reports to Assistant City Manager