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Pipestone council accepts building official's resignation and approves SafeBuild contract
Summary
The Pipestone City Council accepted the resignation of building and zoning administrator Solomon Derby and approved a contract with SafeBuild for virtual building-official services, with the council citing potential cost savings and a $2,000,000 insurance-backed liability cap in the contract.
The Pipestone City Council on Monday accepted the resignation of the city's building and zoning administrator, Solomon Derby, and voted to contract with SafeBuild to provide virtual building-official services.
Mayor Delaney announced Derby's resignation, stating Derby's last day was Aug. 29, 2025; the council moved to accept the resignation and approved the motion by voice vote. The mayor also said the City of New Ulm, which had been providing interim building-official services, notified the city it would end that temporary agreement after Derby's resignation; the council approved terminating that intergovernmental arrangement.
Council members then considered a proposal from SafeBuild, a private vendor that offers cloud-based plan review and virtual inspections. Mayor Delaney described the service as "paperless" and said it can speed plan reviews and allow contractors to upload plans and inspection photos online. A resident who had used similar services described the process as like "FaceTiming" an inspector.
City Attorney Jason said he had reviewed and revised the contract language and that SafeBuild accepted most changes. He noted an important provision in the agreement that ties the vendor's liability cap to its insurance coverage: "This one, though, is a little bit different in that the cap is much higher. It's up to the $2,000,000 of insurance coverage they have," Jason said, adding he had no concerns with that provision.
Council members discussed fee mechanics: the SafeBuild proposal would take 80% of permit fees and 100% of plan-review fees, and the vendor had waived an initial community onboarding fee of $49,000 and a $1,500-per-user licensing fee. Council members said the city may need to amend its local fee schedule to align with SafeBuild's minimum fee (discussed as $50) and hourly rates.
After discussion, a council member moved to approve the SafeBuild agreement; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.
The contract as presented includes the liability limit described by the attorney and the fee structure outlined in council discussion. Council members said the arrangement will be monitored; the proposal references an initial service period and the council noted they could revisit the approach if it did not work for the community.
The council's actions complete the immediate personnel transition and establish SafeBuild as the vendor to perform building-department services while the city evaluates longer-term staffing and fee impacts.
