To: Board of Supervisors
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Consent
SUBJECT:
title
Cease Planning and Building Department Satellite Office Hours in Southern Humboldt
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the Planning and Building Department’s request to cease satellite office hours in southern Humboldt effective Oct. 1, 2022.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
General Fund (1100)
DISCUSSION:
On April 2, 2019, the Board approved a lease for office space at 3156 Redwood Drive, Redway that allowed the Planning and Building Department to operate a satellite office to serve the community of southern Humboldt County. At that time residents of southern Humboldt County expressed a desire for local services from the Planning and Building Department. Through this lease Planning and Building opened office hours in southern Humboldt with staff rotating from building inspection, plan check, permitting, code enforcement, current planning, cannabis planning and advance planning for local consultation and permit issuance.
Due to the limited volume of customer visits to the Redway office, it was determined that the Planning and Building Department would not extend the lease at the Redway location. Planning and Building Department moved its satellite office hours for southern Humboldt to the Garberville Campus at 715 Cedar Street, Garberville, in Jan. 2022 and reduced office hours to the first and third Wednesday of each month.
The volume of customer traffic in the Garberville location has continued to decline. Customer visits average only two or three on each of the days the Planning and Building Department has a representative on site. Customer service at the Garberville site consists primarily of providing information rather than productively processing permits due to the limited resources available from the remote location. Additionally, the Planning and Building Department employees who cover the Garberville site spend approximately six hours monthly in commute time to cover the Garberville satellite office. This commute time does not result in productive hours and requires dedication of a county vehicle.
The Garberville satellite office has principally been staffed with building inspectors since January 2022. Using the average salary and benefit wage for building inspectors and mileage, the estimated cost to provide onsite personnel in Garberville is estimated at $979.60 monthly or $11,755.20 annually. Using the monthly average of four to six customer encounters per month, the cost for each customer encounter ranges from $163.27 to $244.90.
Based on the cost and limited customer visits to the Garberville site, the Planning and Building Department requests authorization to cease operations at the Garberville campus. Bringing all operations back to the Eureka office will reduce financial costs and increase productivity.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The estimated cost savings to cease operations at the Garberville campus is $11,755.20 annually. This estimate is based on an average hourly salary and benefit cost of $51.15 using the Building Inspector salary and benefit wage. This estimate also includes costs for mileage calculated from 130 round trip miles and vehicle costs of approximately $.62 per mile. There is no impact to the General Fund with this request.
STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK:
This action supports your Board’s Strategic Framework by managing our resources to ensure sustainability of services.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
N/A
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Board could choose to deny this request and maintain Planning and Building Department operations from the Garberville campus. This is not recommended due to the cost of maintaining those operations.
ATTACHMENTS:
N/A
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Board Order No.: N/A
Meeting of: 4/2/19, 12/14/21
File No.: 19-384, 21-1773