This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Madison Looking into Building Official Complaint

The town is conducting an investigation into potential violations of state code related to Building Official Vinny Garafolo following some formal complaints made by a local contractor, according to First Selectman Peggy Lyons.

Though she declined to discuss details as the investigation is also a personnel matter, Lyons confirmed that the town was “looking into it” from both a state compliance and human resources perspective, after local contractor Stephen Carrabba alleged Garafolo failed to meet state-mandated deadlines on a project.

“We’re just trying to mitigate the situation and figure it out,” she said.

Carraba, among other things, claimed that Garafolo failed to approve or deny a building permit within the state-mandated deadline period. He further alleged that Garafolo did not provide a materials estimate on time in accordance with building code on the project and that other contractors have been scared off by how Garafolo handles the processes in town

“I’ve had contractors who declined to do the job because I lived in Madison,” Carrabba said.

Lyons admitted that when she was campaigning for office a little over two years ago, she had heard a number of comments from people along these lines and acknowledged that some might be afraid of putting complaints in writing for “fear of retribution.”

But Lyons emphasized she had not received or encountered this sentiment while in office, until now. She also cautioned that in his role as a “regulator,” there would likely be people upset with a building official simply because the job is to deny certain things.

“I know [Carrabba] has concerns about timeliness,” Lyons said.

Carrabba also shared correspondence where he questioned how the town handled independent estimates for building materials and alleged “conflicts of interest” in how the town handles them.

Lyons added that apart from any qualitative or personnel issues, it was important for the town to create “a better path” for people to get transparency on why a project was denied.

“Our building inspectors are trained professionals and they have a lot of experience,” Lyons said.