Sunbury council approves one-year contract for outside residential rental inspections amid cost concerns

Sunbury City Council approved a one-year contract to hire an outside inspector to perform residential rental-unit inspections after members debated inspection frequency and cost.

The presiding speaker moved to contract with an outside inspection company (referred to in the meeting as "any IC"/NAIC) to handle residential unit inspections. The motion was seconded. During the recorded roll call, members answered: Eister, "Yes"; Savage, "Yes"; Roche's, "No"; Ramos, "Yes"; True, "Yes." The transcript captures concerns from council members about the relationship between inspection fees and permit revenue.

Before the vote, one council member noted the city charges $50 for a rental permit while the contracted inspection cost would be $60 per inspection, and questioned whether the per-inspection fee and inspection frequency would leave the city bearing net costs. That member said, "we're paying $60 per rental unit at $800, that's $48,000 a year," and asked staff to confirm typical inspection duration; staff estimated about two hours per unit.

Council discussion also noted that the contract was for one year with the possibility of renewal and that outsourcing would provide technical expertise the city lacks in-house. The presiding speaker framed the contract as necessary to manage inspection workload and ensure inspections occur at appropriate intervals.

The council's motion passed on the recorded roll call with four votes in favor and one opposed. The contract documentation and specific vendor name were referenced in discussion but the transcript does not record a written contract number or the full vendor legal name.

The council instructed staff to proceed with executing the contract and to provide follow-up information about inspection scheduling and the anticipated fiscal impact in future materials.