Rockland County’s new Office of Buildings and Codes is now open for business, but they’ll spend the next month focusing just on existing cases in the Village of Spring Valley. They won’t be accepting any new permit applications for the next 30 days. 20 inspectors will first have to take care of a backlog of about 800 buildings that have yet to be inspected for years. The state-authorized move comes in response to the fatal fire last year at the Evergreen Adult Home in which Spring Valley firefighter Jared Lloyd and a resident were both killed. At a press conference yesterday announcing the opening of the main office in Pomona, Rockland County Executive Ed Day said financial repercussions for lawbreakers will be steep, but the goal is not to penalize people, but to make their buildings and homes safe for all…
Day was referring to a note that’s been circulating around Spring Valley discouraging residents from letting inspectors do their jobs. Two former Spring Valley building department employees and four others have been charged in connection with the Evergreen blaze. Heading up the new department is former Suffern mayor and NYPD Officer Ed Markunas, who said the office will have a zero-tolerance policy towards those who break the law…
Rockland County Attorney Thomas Humbach said cases against law-breakers could end up being prosecuted in local courts…
The new office is headquartered at the county’s health complex in Pomona at Building “A”, but a satellite office will be opening in Spring Valley in the near future. Day didn’t give an estimate as to how long the process to fix Spring Valley’s department might take.