The Richland County Natural Resources Committee voted to contract residential building inspections to an outside firm after a months-long search produced one responsive bid.

Staff presented a proposal from General Engineering Company (GEC) of Portage to provide Unified Dwelling Code inspections for residential work referred from the county's land-use permitting process. Under the recommended arrangement, the county will forward inspection requests to the contractor and landowners will pay the contractor directly for inspection services.

"It goes directly to them," staff said when members asked who would receive the inspection fees. "We're sending basically, we're contracting them to do the unified dwelling code inspections." Committee members raised questions about the fee schedule and past providers; staff said the prior inspector (who worked through Mike Reeder of Platteville) is retiring Dec. 31.

Committee members moved and seconded a motion to approve contracting with GEC; the committee approved the motion by voice vote with no recorded opposition. Staff said they will include the contractor's RFQ and contract in an administrative folder for member review and will coordinate municipality notification so townships and municipalities that use the county's zoning/permitting process are aware of the change.

The committee discussed contingency options if municipalities or townships prefer different providers, and noted MSA could provide temporary surveyor and CSM review services where needed. The contract was approved for an initial term, with staff noting prior arrangements had been renewed annually in practice.