Town May Waive Building Permit Fee For Seawall Repairs Following Irene

The Board of Selectmen will discuss whether the town should waive building permit fees for residents undertaking repairs of their sea walls following Tropical Storm Irene.

The board also is going to discuss and take action on a special appropriation request of $250,000 for operational expenses related to Irene.

The measures are on the agenda of the Board of Selectmen meeting scheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m. at town campus. Building permit fees are currently $12 per $1,000.00 of construction value, in most cases, according to the town website.

Town officials have been working with state officials to do what they can to make the process of rebuilding the sea walls as easy as possible. Seawalls all along the Madison shoreline sustained significant damage from Irene. The walls are being rebuilt in most cases, but, during the process of rebuilding, the houses are susceptible to additional damage if another storm should hit. The areas that were hit hardest include the streets off of Neck Road, along Holly Park Road, Parker Avenue and Surf Club Road, along Middle Beach and Middle Beach West.

Town officials estimate that between 25 and 50 seawalls will need to be partially or fully rebuilt. First Selectman Fillmore McPherson said  homeowners who are doing repairs or who are replacing an existing authorized seawall do not have to go through the entire Coastal Site Plan Review process if the seawall is the same size and if it is in the same location. "It cannot be higher or further seaward," McPherson said. "But as long as it is the same size and in the same place, we can deal with it administratively here at the town's building office."

If not for this special exception, homeowners would have to submit the Coastal Site Plan Review to the town's Planning and Zoning Commission, which then submits it to OLISP, a process that can take five weeks or longer. Instead, the application can be handled at town hall and McPherson said it is the intention of those at town hall to handle applications quickly. For additional information about expedited measures being offered,

Also at the Board of Selectmen meeting Monday night:

• the board will discuss and take action on a request from the Police Department to apply for a DUI enforcement grant. This measure was approved by the Board of Finance last week.
• the board will discuss and take action on a proposal to put residual funding from several projects back into the town's Long Term Capital Maintenance Proejects (LOCAP) fund, because the projects are complete. The undesignated fund balances include about $42,000 from the Surf Club furnace project, about $23,000 from the Polson School roof project, and about $15,00 from the Brown School exterior siding project, for a total of about $80,000.
• the board will discuss and take action on accepting a donation of $5,000 from Michael J. Maloney and Macdara MacColl to support a cafe in the new senior center.
• the board will discuss and take action on a line item transfer request of about $44,000 for salary reconciliation for all unaffiliated town employees effective 7/1/2011.
• the board will discuss and take action on a special appropriation request of $43,775 from facilities for a generator for the town garage. 
• the board also will discuss and take action on approval to hire Florence Farrelly as a part-time records clerk at the Police Department for 20 hours a week at $15.73 an hour starting on Oct. 3, 2011.