Code Enforcement streamlined
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
7/15/2009

In an effort to save money and streamline government in the township, Cherry Hill representatives are reporting that the code enforcement office has completely been reengineered.

Several reforms in code enforcement will be present in the future, representatives said.

The process to secure a building application or construction permit will be less complicated, Communications Director Dan Keashen said.

“Basically, we’ve come out of this as a much stronger, streamlined entity. Anytime you can talk about streamlining governmental services and making them more efficient, it’s a great thing,” Keashen said.

Changes to the code enforcement office had to be made after the township severed ties with Building Inspectors Underwriters Inc. in March.

The Pennsylvania firm handled the township’s electrical, plumbing, and elevator inspections, but its president was recently found guilty of corruption.

The charges claim BIU President Russell B. Mclaughlin, 56, authorized a cooperating witness to make a corrupt payment to Anthony Saccomanno, former director of the Cherry Hill Department of Code Enforcement and inspections.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also said Mclaughlin personally bribed Saccomanno sometime from July 2007 to December 2007.

Also, according to the charges, from July 2007 to September 2007 Saccomanno, 66, solicited and took cash payments from BIU.

These payments allegedly covered Saccomanno’s personal expenses when attending conferences in Atlantic City and Reno.

In 2008, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said BIU collected approximately $240,000 in fees from Cherry Hill for the inspection services it performed.

Currently, Al Hallworth – on loan from the Borough of Lindenwold – is the interim code enforcement officer for the township, Keashen said.

Also, two-full time employees were hired for the office, Keashen said, both of whom are qualified to inspect buildings, plumbing, and electrical standards within the township.

Two-part time employees – who don’t receive health benefits or pension benefits – were also hired to round out the office.

The full-time employees could be loaned out in the future for neighboring municipalities who need inspections, he said.

“This new restructuring also makes the code enforcement office more flexible. It gives them the ability to handle more responsibility in house and gives us flexibility in cost savings,” Keashen said. “We are now looking at a 2009-2010 fiscal year savings of about $120,000 from this new restructuring.”

The code enforcement office will now be a “one-stop shopping” office to process zoning applications and property maintenance requests.

The departments have basically been consolidated, Keashen said, so residents no longer need to go to another department to get a zoning application filled out.

It will make things much easier for residents looking to approve improvements to their home or zoning changes.

“They can now go to the code enforcement department, which is where that application would end up. There’s a sense of a one-stop shop now,” he said. “They no longer need to cross the departments, we’ve consolidated the departments.”

Since Saccomanno and Mclaughlin’s arrests the township has had a complete audit of the code enforcement department by the state Department of Community Affairs, Keashen said.