Former county Inspections head Robert VanDyke served 16 years as head of the county’s Building Inspections department, making his share of admirers and detractors along the way.

Many of those who didn't care for VanDyke were contractors who complained to county officials about inconsistencies in his department.
County Commission Will Bunek, who chairs an Inspections Department subcommittee of the County Board, said the problems went deeper.

Bunek said VanDyke "lost control of the department, and it didn't get better." As part of the subcommittee's work, meetings were set up with contractors to hear complaints, but few actually showed.

One reason, said a contractor who was a frequent critic of VanDyke's, was a fear of reprisal. He said the county Inspections Department would frequently elevate minor or questionable code violations into project-threatening problems.

However, not all contractors disagreed with how VanDyke performed his job.

"In a nutshell, he was always professional and fair, and tried to follow the rules," said Robert Evatt, a partner with Seeco Contracting in Suttons Bay.

"He never tried to use the weight of his profession to sway anyone. He always tried to work with us to find answers," said Evatt, who had not heard of VanDyke's firing until informed Wednesday.

But when told that VanDyke was fired while expressing safety concerns, Evatt was not surprised. "He was always safety minded. It was the taxpayers who he tried to serve."

As to whether fellow contractors got along with VanDyke, Evatt said he had heard "grumblings" within the construction industry. "But it was mostly from the guys who wanted to get by with things," he said.

VanDyke, a resident of Interlochen, also served on the board of directors for the Leelanau County Chapter of the American Red Cross in the late 1990s.

"Bob was excellent in his service to the Leelanau Chapter," said Judy Egeler, who served on the board at the same time. "He did some of our single-family disaster work, and was an active and contributing member."

VanDyke served on the personnel committee when the regional chapter was searching for a new executive director. "I have high regard for him," she said.

On Tuesday, Gill denied that VanDyke was fired primarily because of issues surrounding BayView. However, Gill did not specify what other reasons led to VanDyke's firing.

VanDyke received a salary of $54,992 to run the county Inspection Department.

By Tuesday afternoon, VanDyke's name had been removed from the official web site for Leelanau County. It listed the position of "building official" formerly held by VanDyke as "vacant."

The site lists two electrical, two plumbing and mechanical, and one building inspector on staff.

Gill, in a written statement released Tuesday, said afternoon he had met “with our mechanical and building inspectors and the involved contractors at the Suttons Pointe Development” before a decision was made to overturn VanDyke’s earlier decision to suspend certificates of occupancy at BayView. Gill said he has taken over administration of the department after firing VanDyke..

Mechanical inspectors Steve Schwarz and Scott Earl were involved in inspecting BayView units and approving the installation of furnaces and water heaters there, according to VanDyke.

Both Schwarz and Earl were also named in a lawsuit filed in 2004 by owners of The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor Township. The suit alleges that Earl and Schwarz were “grossly negligent” in approving the installation of 17 improperly vented gas fireplaces at The Homestead’s Fiddler’s Pond Hotel in 2003.

The two inspectors are members of the Teamsters Union. Earlier this year, VanDyke expressed frustration with his inability to fire the two inspectors because of their status as union members.

However, VanDyke had fired an inspector previously — and his action cost Leelanau County in 1998. The fired electrical inspector filed a civil lawsuit, eventually leading to an $18,750 settlement following court-ordered arbitration.

In a twist, however, the inspector claimed he was fired after citing county contractors for violating state building codes.