BLACK RIVER-MATHESON - There’s been a shift in building services in Matheson following the termination of a contract with the City of Timmins.
At a June 25 meeting, the township has appointed James Lefebvre as its new chief building official (CBO) and Ken Andrus as its deputy chief building official and terminated its contract with Timmins after the city indicated they are phasing out of contracts that they’ve entered into with small municipalities for building and planning services.
“Unfortunately, they're no longer willing to carry out their contract with Matheson. They've indicated they're no longer going to be contracting services out to any of the smaller municipalities,” Lefebvre said.
“So this is sort of us supplementing that essentially at the same or less of the cost with an added convenience that the individuals appointed are going to be able to make sure that they acquire all of the qualifications from the ministry.”
When the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing declared the Matheson council seats vacant, provincial bureaucrat Kathy Horgan was appointed to make decisions until new members are sworn in.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Horgan said the previous council had already approved a combined CBO bylaw enforcement officer position, which “has already been accounted for in the budget, and all approvals were in place for that.”
The previous council also approved the hiring to assist the CBO in the duties, Horgan said.
While the township always intended to eventually provide in-house building services, Lefebvre said this move to a new contract for service will only reduce costs and increase efficiencies in comparison to the previous contract with Timmins.
“The agreement that we have entered into with Mr. Andrus will also allow us to gradually reduce the amount of time that is required by an outside agency, reducing the costs concurrently, until such time as it is no longer needed,” he said.
“Essentially, Mr. Andrus will supplement the services that we are able to provide on our own with his own qualifications and expertise, as well as provide guidance on the more technical side of plans review and inspections.”
In November 2023, Lefebvre completed the legal examination required by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) which is a required qualification in order to be appointed by a municipality as a CBO.
As the new CBO, Lefebvre will be able to enforce the building code act. Eventually, he’ll be able to provide the municipality with building inspections for new construction and renovation under the supervision of a qualified person he can appoint.
According to the township, Andrus will oversee Lefebvre's work on an as-needed basis while he continues to gain additional necessary qualifications through the MMAH.
Andrus has been in the field for 35 years, spending 25 years as a chief building official, Lefebvre said.
"There are few individuals in Ontario who could bring the expertise that he brings - not to mention a reputation of consistency, professionalism and fairness - to assist us in becoming self-sufficient in our delivery of services relating to development,” he said.
