Fife Lake official to replace fired Inspection chief

Leelanau County has hired a new building official to head the county’s Building Inspection Department, replacing Robert VanDyke who was fired on June 4.

County administrator David W. Gill, who fired VanDyke, hired a former police officer and Fife Lake resident on Monday to serve in the position. Gill himself is a former police officer and Fife Lake resident.

The county’s new building official, Robert F. Meyer, served on the Flint police force for 20 years after a four-year stint in the Navy as a military policeman. Meyer has held a builder’s license since 1978 and has been a state certified building official, plan reviewer and inspector since 1992.

His current position is as the building official, zoning administrator and deputy supervisor for Fife Lake Township, according to his resume. He has served in similar capacities in Gaines Township and the City of Flushing.

District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek chairs the county board’s Inspections Department subcommittee. Bunek and county board chairman Robert Hawley joined Gill in conducting closed-door interviews with four finalists for the department head’s position on Thursday, July 12. Ten people had applied for the position.

“We had some good candidates,” said Bunek, “and two of them were really exceptional.”

Bunek said he especially liked the philosophy Meyer expressed during the interview that Meyer “likes to help people make their dreams come true,” when it comes to building homes.

Hawley added: “My read is that he (Meyer) is somebody who will change the culture of how that department works with contractors.”

Some contractors had complained that building codes were sometimes too stringently enforced and that unnecessary delays were imposed throughout the permitting process.

Gill has never detailed specific reasons for his firing of VanDyke other than to state that VanDyke had “lost control” of his department.

When questioned, Gill has steadfastly denied that VanDyke’s firing was related primarily to the fact that, in late May, VanDyke rescinded occupancy permits for every unit at the BayView condominium development in the Village of Suttons Bay because of potential health and safety concerns related to the installation of furnace and water heater exhaust vents.

VanDyke was fired just two working days after making that decision. One day after he was fired, Gill took temporary control of the department and reversed VanDyke’s decision to rescind the occupancy permits at BayView, declaring that no code violations or safety issues existed at the development.

VanDyke had been receiving an annual salary of $54,992. On his Leelanau County application for employment, Meyer indicated his “desired salary range” was $55,000 to $60,000. Exact terms of Meyer’s salary and other compensation were not immediately available.

Gill explained that Meyer was to start working for Leelanau County today, July 19, but would work only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the first couple of weeks because he had not been able to provide sufficient notice to his soon-to-be-former employer, Fife Lake Township.