Leslie council amends building-code late-filing fee language, continues public hearing to next week's special meeting

The Leslie Town Council debated revisions to its building-code fee schedule and voted to amend language governing late-filing penalties, then continued the public hearing to a special meeting to allow the town manager to explain the proposal in person.

At issue was a late-filing fee clause that would set a $100 fee for small projects (up to $10,000) while capping larger late-filing penalties so they would be either $500 or half the permit fee depending on the final wording. Council discussion centered on whether the ordinance should use the phrase "whichever is more" (which preserves higher penalties for big projects) or "whichever is less" (which caps penalties and reduces the maximum charge).

Councilor Pietro reviewed earlier drafts and argued the original language—$500 or half the permit fee, whichever is more—gave the town more enforcement "teeth" for large projects. The assistant town manager said the town manager's intent was to avoid excessive fines and recommended a maximum of $500 in some cases, citing concerns about very large permit valuations. The town solicitor advised that a single-word change could be made by motion that night without re-advertising.

After discussion, a motion to adopt the town manager’s proposed amendments but to change the word 'less' to 'more' in the late-filing provision passed on a recorded vote (6-0). The council then voted 5-1 to continue the public hearing to next week's special meeting so the town manager could be present to explain the reasoning behind the fee matrix and confirm whether the late-filing fee applies to building permits only or to trades permits as well.

The council asked staff to enter the packet materials into the record and to clarify by the next meeting whether the new ordinance would apply to all permits and how the late-filing fee matrix would be applied across permit types.