State construction code officials say they’re ready to work with Leelanau County to fix its troubled Building Inspections department, possibly forestalling a state shutdown of the department.

Earlier this month, the Michigan Construction Code Commission ruled that authority for conducting inspections and enforcing state construction codes should be withdrawn from Leelanau County and turned over to state officials. Last week, the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners decided to appeal the state commission’s ruling.

The head of the county’s nine-person Building Inspections department, Robert Meyer, said this week that a county attorney was preparing a formal appeal that will be forwarded to Lansing before a state-mandated 30-day deadline. Upon receipt of an appeal under state law, the Construction Code Commission would be required to appoint an appeals hearing officer who could conduct a hearing and issue a “proposed decision” that could either uphold or modify the commission’s ruling. The issue could then be taken before an administrative law judge in Ingham County for a final decision.

The deputy director of the state Bureau of Construction Codes, Mark Sisco, said this week that a less formal method of resolving issues also exists that could prevent the state from taking over the department.

Sisco said he was aware that Leelanau County intended to appeal the state’s decision although the bureau had yet to receive official notice of the pending appeal. Sisco explained that prior to scheduling an appeals hearing, the Bureau of Construction Codes can also schedule a “compliance conference” with local officials.

During the informal conference, Sisco said, local and state officials work together to identify measures that local officials must take to bring the local construction code office into compliance with state requirements. The conference results in a formalized document and an agreement between the state and the local municipality on how to proceed.

“If we cannot come to a formal agreement and move ahead,” Sisco explained, “the issue is then taken to an administrative law judge for a decision.”

He said that once the state receives Leelanau County’s appeal, an appeals hearing will be scheduled, although the “compliance conference” would be scheduled before the hearing.

The chairman of the Inspections Department subcommittee of the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners, District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek, said he had already been in touch with the offices of state Sen. Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau) and Rep. David Palsrok (R-Manistee), and hoped to discuss the issue with the legislators.

“We need to let our elected representatives in Lansing know that we want to keep our Inspections Department open and, hopefully, they will be able to exert some influence with the Construction Code Commission,” Bunek said. “Everybody – not just the county board but all the contractors and other citizens I’ve heard from so far – want to keep the building inspections process local and not state run.”

Bunek noted that the county had asked the state Bureau of Construction Codes for its help and suggestions on how to improve the Leelanau County Building Inspections department.

“What the state has done so far just doesn’t seem like help to me,” Bunek said. “Frankly, I just don’t understand their reasons for wanting to shut down the department.”

Officials of the state Bureau of Construction Codes conducted an on-scene “performance evaluation” of the Leelanau County Building Inspections department in November 2007 and early this month issued a 150-page report declaring that Leelanau County had “failed to adequately protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public in the built environment.”

The bureau cited numerous errors it uncovered during code inspections conducted by local inspectors. The “performance evaluation” was precipitated by a complaint filed by the former head of the Leelanau County Building Inspections department, Robert VanDyke, who was fired by the county administrator in June. VanDyke has since filed a Whistleblower Protection Act suit against the county.

The day after VanDyke was fired, the county administrator reversed a decision VanDyke had made the week before to rescind occupancy permits at the troubled BayView condominium project in Suttons Bay because of concerns that water heater and furnace exhaust vents had been improperly installed and presented potential “life safety” concerns. County officials continue to insist, however, that VanDyke’s firing was not directly related to issues at BayView – and that water heater and furnace exhaust vents in the condos comply with state mechanical codes.

Following the state Bureau of Construction Codes investigation in November 2007, however, the top mechanical inspector in Michigan issued a report declaring that water heater and furnace exhaust vents at BayView did not comply with the state mechanical code and were not installed according to manufacturers’ instructions.

Despite that determination, Meyer said this week that his department does not intend to take any action regarding BayView without specific direction from the state.