Brooksville, Florida (May 7, 2021) – On May 3, 2021, during a regular Council Meeting, Community Development Director, Chris Anderson, provided a summary report on the building permit activity in the City of Brooksville for the past five months.
Since November, 2020, 491 building permits were issued; these included building, mechanical, electrical, gas, business use and signs. The period began with a turnaround time of approximately 4.16 days and ended the period with a record turnaround time of 1.92 days. On average this equates to 2.6 days turnaround time from submittal to issuance. Recently it was reported that Hernando County had a 30-day turnaround period.
Permit applications stayed relatively steady throughout the pandemic,” stated Mark Kutney, City Manager. “However, the last few months the application submissions have progressively increased.”
In February, Mr. Anderson, submitted a proposal to Council to create an in-house Building Department which would include the creation of three new full-time positions. The new division proposal included a Building Official, Building Inspector and Permit Technician. This plan evolved in part due to the exodus of PDCS, LLC., a permitting and inspection service contractor who ended their contract with the City. All alternatives were thoroughly vetted and it was determined that an internal Building Department would be the best option to serve the citizens of Brooksville. The plan was approved by a unanimous vote.
The three vacancies were advertised and with the start of the new Building Official, Robert Huard, on May 12, all positions will successfully be filled. Mr. Huard is a certified Building Official and comes from Citrus County where he served as a plan’s examiner for many years.