“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” – Edward R. Murrow.

Lane/Tommy: Many have heard about the governor’s plans to consolidate county jails with state prisons as well as consolidating school districts. Well, here is another tidbit for you – Maine is looking at adopting and enforcing a state building code.

Believe it or not this came out of the Maine Legislature directing the State Planning Office to come up with a draft proposal that will take even more local control from our towns.

As many of you readers already know we are for consolidation to save money but it appears more than likely that this proposal is another scheme from Augusta to consolidate power that they will take from us, the taxpayers.

Lane: The following are from the text of the Building Codes Resolve 46, Draft Recommendations Proposal, dated Dec. 7, 2007 (amazing since that’s the anniversary of Pearl Harbor which should be a warning once again):

1. To reduce the cost of designing and permitting for new construction and rehab of historic buildings.

2. To improve public safety (haven’t we heard this one before?), accessibility, quality of construction and energy efficiency (energy efficiency doesn’t come cheap) while reducing risk for lenders, consumers and insurers.

3. To identify a process of building related codes administration.

As there is not enough room in this column for the complete report, we will give you our comments about this draft report and how, if adopted, it might impact on you and businesses alike.

Tommy: This report clearly states that Maine has few or no resources to administer and enforce building and energy codes. It also states that Maine and towns lack the resources to adequately update, train, inspect and enforce these codes.

There would also be a cost to training and certification programs. This draft report also states that plan reviews would be funded by permit applicants (is the state taking our money?). The Building Code Board funding for staff and expenses would likely come from a “small” surcharge on building permits and either a fee for the training or a surcharge on building permits might fund training. This certainly looks like the cost of building permits would increase significantly because we all know that the state of Maine does not operate as efficiently as we would like.

Roger Timmons, Windham’s Code Enforcement Officer provided the following information for our use in this column. Quote: “There is nothing voluntary about this draft report; it is a total mandate from the state. This draft report indicates to us that you are hell-bent on creating a more and larger state government stripping towns of home rule authority and taking monies from the towns which will cost us money that we do not have. Recommendations don’t coincide with the objectives. Who will pay for the extra costs, the taxpayers?”

Lane/Tommy: Because we do not know the final outcome of this proposal, what will the consequences be if the Maine Legislature enacts it? Will our Windham Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals be gone? Will our Code Enforcement Office personnel become state workers paid for by our property taxes? We believe this is just another pointless study wasting tax dollars doing nothing more than proving that the Maine Legislature deserves the reputation of attempting to reinvent the wheel.

Vermont is known as the Socialist State of Vermont. Will Maine soon be called the Communist State of Maine? What you need to ask is what these building codes contain besides the buildings. If passed, don’t forget we told you that the Lawn Police would be looking at your grass and weeds. What if you have an unregistered vehicle in your yard? You won’t be happy with a fine. You want your home painted red? Good luck, earth tones are the new thing.

Do you want the state of Maine deciding what your home will look like inside and out? What will be the cost of traveling to Augusta for hearings on a building permit and if necessary, an appeal? Please use the following instructions: Lane and Tommy of Windham would love for you to call your local legislators to see how they voted on this resolve.

For Windham residents call Sen. Bill Diamond at 892-8941, Rep. Gary Plummer at 892-6088 and Rep. Mark Bryant at 650-4086. At the same time, ask them why it wasn’t a recorded vote so we know the truth as to how they voted. Heck, if you are not from Windham, call them anyways.