Code Enforcement Needs Your Help

The City of Marco Island’s Code Enforcement department is in reactive mode these days as they focus on responding to calls to the Marco Island Police Department. Code Enforcement Supervisor, Keith Richter, said it is a challenge for his staff to keep up with the volume of calls code enforcement officers receive daily. He’s not sure how his department will handle the increase in call volume the city’s new My Marco app may bring.

“It's going to increase our caseload tremendously,” Richter said matter of factly. "We’re reactive to people who use the app, use the phone, use the email. Our main focus now is to handle the calls that come in. That’s what we’re doing first.”

Monica Lora is the code enforcement administrator. Every code violation that is reported to the city crosses her desk. It’s a big job. The new app adds a step to Lora’s routine. Previously she monitored phone calls and emails. The app adds another layer.

“With the app there’s now three ways,” Monica Lora said. "If you call, I send it to dispatch, and we can get someone out immediately. Email and the app kind of work the same way. It’s only monitored Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.”

Assistant City Manager, Casey Lucius, doesn’t anticipate a dramatic rise in workload coming code enforcement’s way.

“The way that I look at it,” Casey Lucius said, "if someone’s going to report a code violation, they’re either going to do it via email, via telephone. This just gives them one more mechanism to report the code violation. It’s not that these are going to be additional reports - this is just one more mechanism by which they can report it. So, for our staff, it is one more place they have to check. We check our emails every day, we check our phone messages; now we have to check the workflow every day. It is one more step for us, but for our residents, I think it is important.”

The code enforcement department counts on residents reporting potential violations when they see them. They simply don’t have the numbers to dedicate large chunks of time to monitoring job sites, especially with the building boom on the island. Construction sites are areas where code violations often occur. Sometimes the condition of the site deteriorates as the project moves along. Code enforcement tries to get back to check on the construction sites, but it’s not easy with the volume of homes under construction on the island.

“We do go back to check,” Richter said. "Unfortunately, there’s over 325 new construction sites. That’s a difficult thing for us to check all of those construction sites and in turn take care of everything else that comes in. But that is one of our main functions - to check the constructions sites. You clear the lot, it looks good,” Richter said about the start of a typical home construction job on the island. "You lay the block, it looks good, now you’re starting to get supplies. Don’t forget concrete block is hard to get now. Trusses for the roofs, I hear, are almost a year out. They’re getting their supplies when they can and they’re storing them on the lot. That doesn’t mean that lot shouldn’t be kept up. They should have a spot for the dumpster, a place for the porta potty, a place to dump excess cement. There shouldn’t be any trash and debris on the lot. It should be in the dumpster. Again, that’s something we’re responsible for checking on. We also make sure that they have a silt fence around the property."

Richter suggests calling code enforcement if you observe a vehicle blocking the bicycle pathways.

 “Call it in,” Richter said. "Let us know because they’re blocking the sidewalk. Same way as the street. Anything that’s called in or emailed, it’s important to know that Collier County dispatches our calls. So, if they get a Collier County dispatcher, don’t hang up, because they dispatch for Marco Island.”

The My Marco app was released June 15 and had 600 people sign up the first day. It offers a simple way to report code violations. When you enter the app, a thick blue tab at the top of the page is named START REQUEST (there is a quick and easy registration your first time on the app). A popular topics screen displays most any category you might need at City Hall. Bicycle pathway obstruction is found under Code Enforcement.

Lora deals with all calls made to code enforcement. She answers a lot of questions for citizens who have questions about the bicycle pathways.

"They usually talk to me and I answer their questions,” Lora said. "That’s usually enough. Unless they’re super angry, and I’m not enough, I’ll hand them over to Keith.”

Richter is good at handling tense situations. He is a 26-year law enforcement veteran from New Jersey, where he rose to the rank of Captain. He said code enforcement follows through on violations until they're resolved.

"If we write a notice and if it’s given a time limit,” Richter said, "and it’s not compliant, it’s going to take a while if we have to bring that person to magistrate. That doesn’t happen in a week or so. It’s going to be over a month before we non-comply the property in violation and take it to magistrate. And every notice of violation we write, on that compliance day, we have to go back and check to see if that violation is compliant. Basically, we go to every location at least twice. If it’s non-compliant, we have to keep going back to that property until it’s compliant.”  

Lucius thinks, given time to settle in, the new My Marco app will be a huge asset to code enforcement.

“This may work out a lot better for us,” Lucius reasons, "because we will have the data, and we can run reports. People will be happier because they won’t be getting transferred two or three times or get somebody’s voicemail. Hopefully, once we get used to it, and the public gets used to it, it will be a real asset for us.”