Town hires new building inspector

The Town of Belgium has a new building inspector who is well known in the area.

Roger Kison, the building inspector for the Village of Belgium, will serve on an as-needed basis, replacing SAFEbuilt, a Waukesha-based company that worked for the town for years. 

SAFEbuilt, Zoning Administrator Charlie Parks said, “made the corporate decision to move away from some of the smaller towns, and we did not make the cut.”

Building inspector Paul Mortimer of SAFEbuilt apologized for the move, Parks said.

“He was a good man. He did a nice service for the town for a number of years,” he said.

The town had a few months to hire its next building inspector.

Town Chairman Tom Winker said one option was to go back to the state, which had serviced the town years ago, but said that would be “another level of bureaucracy. In my mind, we’d be going backwards. We want to look efficient and be efficient.”

Parks has expressed interest in the job after he retires, but that may not happen for a couple of years, Winker said.

“The huge advantage to that is we’d be a one-stop shop,” Winker said. “With Charlie’s expertise and his integrity, I think it would just work out phenomenal.”

In the meantime, Winker suggested hiring Kison. Winker worked with him on an addition and remodeling project at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Belgium in 2015.

“He’s just a phenomenal person to work with,” Winker said.

Kison came to Monday’s meeting to meet the other two supervisors.

He grew up in Cedarburg and worked for the city and town of Cedarburg as a building inspector for years. Besides being the Village of Belgium’s building inspector, he said, he does some commercial work in Fredonia, Saukville and Grafton.

Of the last 40 years, Kison spent 20 in the construction industry and the latter half in building inspection. He does electrical, plumbing and heating inspections.

“I’ve been around a long time and know a lot of the contractors in the area,” he said.

Kison said he isn’t looking for a 10-year contract and may be ready to retire when Parks is ready to take over the job.

“It’s sounds like a good idea,” Supr. Bill Janeshek said.

Parks said building inspection fees would be similar to those charged by SAFEbuilt. The builders — not the town — will pay the fees.

The board approved hiring Kison, 3-0, on Monday.