Committee approves outside contractor for residential building inspections after county inspector's retirement

The committee approved contracting with an outside company to provide residential building inspections after the county’s current inspector retires Dec. 31.

Staff explained the county issued an RFQ and received limited responses; General Engineering Company (which already provides inspections for Ithaca Township) was the only responsive vendor in the local outreach. Under the proposed arrangement, the inspector firm would perform unified dwelling code inspections and bill landowners directly for services rather than the county paying a recurring fee.

Committee members asked about the fee schedule. One member said, "I looked at the fee schedule. Looks pretty substantial." Staff replied that the fees go directly to the contractor and that prior arrangements ran through a now-retired inspector in Platteville. The committee moved, seconded and approved the staff recommendation by voice vote.

Staff also reported there are currently no applicants for the county surveyor role and that interim options — including assistance from a neighboring county or temporary contract help to review CSMs — are being explored.