Marshall City Council approves IBTS building-inspection contract after heated public debate over fees

The Marshall City Council on a 6‑to‑2 vote approved a two‑year service agreement with the Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) to provide plan review, building inspections and related technical services for the city.

The vote followed more than an hour of public comment from local contractors, developers and residents who said they learned of IBTS’s proposed fee structure shortly before the meeting and worried the new charges would raise construction costs. Several speakers asked for a delay and a community meeting with city staff and IBTS to review how permits, inspections and code enforcement will be handled.

IBTS representative Mark Mandel, identified in the meeting as the Kansas City regional building official for IBTS, told the council that IBTS’s flat fees for a typical single‑family house in the contract are a $300 plan review fee and $1,200 for inspections, and that some other hourly rates in the contract apply only when IBTS is augmenting a jurisdiction’s existing staff. “House, our plan review fee is $300. Inspections are $1,200,” Mandel said. He added that the $175‑per‑hour augmentation rate referenced by several speakers generally applies when IBTS works side‑by‑side with an already staffed department.

Contractors and residents expressed particular concern about apparent hourly rates listed in parts of the contract and about how routine items — for example, roof permits, fence permits and street cuts — would be inspected and charged. Sandy Heisel, a local real estate owner, said she learned about the contract “about 30 minutes before I came to this meeting” and called the draft rate schedule “exorbitant,” citing examples she had seen in the materials. Builder Mark Roudin, who said he is proposing a 102‑home subdivision, asked the council for clear direction on whether the city wants more housing and, if so, how to speed project approvals.

City staff and council members said fees set by the contract are billed to the city; the city’s official permit fee schedule remains in ordinance and would require separate council action to change. City staff noted April permit activity totaled about $216,420 in reported work and roughly $795 in building‑permit fees, a shortfall the council was told has been subsidized from the general fund. City staff and IBTS both said the contract is pay‑as‑used: if IBTS is not called, the city is not billed.

The council and staff agreed to hold public meetings with contractors and tradespeople, to review how inspections and routine permits will be handled and to evaluate fee adjustments. The council first voted to table the resolution; that motion failed 3‑5. Later in the meeting a motion to approve the IBTS service agreement passed 6‑2 with council members Thompson, Allen, Swisher, Brandt, Green and Pappert voting yes and Simmons and Gibson voting no.

The contract authorizes technical plan review and inspections, and IBTS representatives said they can also provide access to specialty expertise (engineers and disaster‑recovery inspectors) on an as‑needed, billed basis. City staff told the council they will track costs and fee recovery and return regularly with finance reports so the council can decide whether to adjust permit fees by ordinance or continue to subsidize some work from the general fund.

Council members and the mayor said they wanted an immediate contractor briefing and a series of public meetings so local builders and tradespeople can raise specific process questions. The council did not change the city’s ordinance fee schedule during the meeting; staff said any fee changes would require a separate ordinance action and public notice.

The council directed staff to schedule informational meetings for contractors and to provide monthly cost‑recovery reports comparing what the city pays IBTS for work done and what the city collects in permit fees.