1. Background

Staff and Structure: The County Commissioners appoint and supervise this five member, volunteer board in accordance with applicable state laws and regulations. The Board is currently chaired by Stephen D. Barry.

This program is also supported by the Commissioners’ staff. They provide all of the administrative support, including receiving and processing appeals, providing public notice in accordance with state law, scheduling hearings, processing the filing fee, answering phones, drafting letters, sending and receiving mail, acting as liaison between the program, the board, towns, cities, and public, recording minutes of meetings, and providing all bookkeeping services.

Service: Through this program the Berkshire County Commissioners administer and supervise a regional forum and decision making body, the Building Code Appeals Board, to hear and decide appeals of building code violations found by Berkshire towns and cities. In addition to oversight of the Board, the Commissioners’ staff handles the appeal filing fee, processes and disseminates all documents pertaining to the appeal, advertises public notice of the appeal, schedules and arranges for the hearing, which is open to the public, provides a forum for the hearing, and maintains and updates appellate files. It should be noted that according to state laws, an appellant may appeal directly to the state building code board of appeals without first appealing to this regional board.,

2. Actual Service Usage

In recent years, the number of appeals to the Board have been relatively small. Since 1990 the Board has heard the following number of appeals per year:

1999 = 0 1994 = 2

1998 = 0 1993 = 3

1997 = 0 1992 = 1

1996 = 2 1991 = 3

1995 = 2

The reason for the reduction in usage during the last three years is not clear. According to Stephen Barry, the Chairman for about the last nine years, he has received at least the same number of calls from potential appellants inquiring about the process as he did in prior years, but for unknown reasons these inquiring parties have chosen not to appeal.

It should also be noted that state laws do not require a regional building code appeals board. Indeed, such laws provide that whether or not there is a regional building code board of appeals an aggrieved party may appeal directly to the State Building Code Appeals Board. For such direct appeals it is not clear where the actual hearing would occur. Applicable regulations provide only that the chairman of the board shall "fix a convenient time and place for a public hearing."

3. Service Costs and Funding

Aside from the administrative and supervisory support provided by the County, this program is presently self-supporting. The filing fee generally covers costs incurred to provide notice for hearings and to administer the hearing. The cost of the in-kind contribution from the Commissioners’ staff is very difficult to quantify. A reasonable estimate, however, of the time they spend per year performing the services described above equals 30 hours (during a year when there are two appeals).

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