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Select Board reviews plumbing and mechanical permit forms and debates fee thresholds
Summary
The town’s building inspector presented draft plumbing and mechanical permit applications and proposed posting them online; board members discussed a likely cost threshold (about $3,000) to trigger separate permits, deposit amounts, and the need for a public hearing to set fees.
Kensington’s building inspector told the Select Board the town lacks separate plumbing and mechanical permit forms and has drafted applications to address that gap. He said he can perform plumbing and mechanical inspections now but needs formal applications and fee policy in place to consistently issue permits.
The inspector described typical triggers for separate permits — whole‑bathroom or full‑kitchen renovations that move drainage or venting versus single‑fixture replacements — and suggested the board consider a dollar threshold to require a plumbing/mechanical permit. A board member referenced $3,000 as a likely threshold under consideration. Officers noted that any fee change would require a public hearing before adoption.
Board members discussed making the new applications available on the town website to streamline the process; one member moved to post the draft plumbing and mechanical application forms online for staff and board review, with formal review and a public hearing on fees to follow. The transcript indicates consensus to review and bring back edits, but a formal adopted fee schedule did not appear in the provided segments.
Separately, members discussed event deposits and enforcement for road or park uses; there was reference to a typical $50 deposit used in some applications and discussion that deposit levels could be raised to better cover cleanup or reclamation costs if applicants do not follow conditions.
The board asked staff to circulate the draft permit forms and return with any suggested edits and a proposed public‑hearing schedule for fee adoption.
