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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 2009)
Page 14 The INDEPENDENT, September 17, 2009 Remodeling? Don’t forget permits If a contractor asks a home- owner to pull his or her own permits, that should be a red flag for a homeowner to find a different remodeler, according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). Relying on a contractor to navigate the permitting process can save homeowners time, money and stress. “A reputable contractor should object to a homeowner pulling his or her own permits,” says Darius Baker, CKBR, owner of D & J Kitchens & Baths, Inc., and a certified member of NARI. “It’s part of the service that a consumer should expect when they hire a contractor.” Permits are the way cities regulate construction and help ensure that all construction is safe. The safety of the occu- pants of buildings is the pri- mary reason for having con- struction codes, and the per- mits are an agreement that whatever work is being done to a home complies with those codes. Most government bod- ies adopt codes for construc- tion, mechanical, plumbing and electrical, and in addition, there are federal, state and local laws that govern construction, such as those covering energy conservation. Most home projects require a permit, and the permit and in- spection process can be a te- dious process. Although home- owners are allowed to pull their own permits, it is in their best interests to have the remodeler they hired do it instead. The first reason is the process of getting the permit will generate a flurry of questions from the lo- cal building department that the homeowner is most likely not qualified or prepared to an- swer. “The homeowner then has to run back and forth be- tween their designer, contrac- tor or architect to answer the questions, and that’s not an ef- ficient way to spend time,” Bak- er says. Having the remodeler talk to the building department when he or she pulls the permit will help speed up the approval process. Second, if homeowners pull the permits, they – instead of the remodeler – will be respon- sible for the project and have to answer to local building inspec- tors during home inspections. Inspectors are going to look at details that the homeowner might not know how to ad- dress. The homeowner will then need to consult with their remodeler to sort out any prob- lems the inspector finds. “In our experience, the remodeler can often correct those issues on the spot and get approvals,” Baker says. “By not being re- sponsible for the inspection, there could be several days or a week of delays.” Having a remodeler pull per- mits can also help the home- owner save money. A contrac- tor may charge his client for three hours to get permits, but that charge includes all the back and forth discussion with the local building department and inspectors. “A homeowner who takes time off of work to get these permits will have to ask themselves, ‘how valuable is my time?’” Baker said. The contractor can also save money by negotiating fees. Permit fees are usually calculated by the value and scope of a project. If you have a good contractor, the contrac- tor will know how to get the per- mits for the least amount of money. “A homeowner goes down there and says they are doing a $100,000 kitchen proj- ect, but if I go down there, I will tell the building department that they are inspecting only plumb- ing, electrical, structural or me- chanical elements. It’s not their business to know how much the homeowner is spending on See Remodeling, page 21 State Farm ® Providing Insurance and Financial Services Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710 Bunny Girt, Agent 1229 N. Adair PO Box 543 Cornelius, OR 97113-0543 Bus 503-357-3131 Fax 503-357-9667 bunny.girt.b71g@statefarm.com Banks Council told cost of road repair From page 13 sentative, Hough said that they can also use a volunteer. Coun- cil agreed to maintain a council member as representative and will consider who that repre- sentative will be next month, when all council members are present. In the meantime, Hough will attend the meetings as the alternative representa- tive. Council awarded a contract for the Oak Way overlay and improvements to Lakeside In- dustries for $88,815.55. The City Manager’s Report included the following: · PGE franchise negotiations are proceeding well and a final proposal should be presented to council at their October 13 meeting. · A leak detection survey of the Banks Water Utility System has been completed and the city engineer is reviewing the report. Many leaks have al- ready been corrected, and Public Works Supervisor Fred Evers and Hough will develop a plan for correcting the remain- der. · City staff is working on an H1N1 Flu Pandemic Operating Plan. The goal is to have a plan ready in about three weeks. The city has hired a Portland State University graduate stu- dent to create the plan and to seek grant funding for installa- tion of two Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), one in City Hall and one in the Library. · An energy audit will be con- ducted on each City building, including the gazebo, to see if there are ways to accomplish council’s goal for Banks be an environmentally sensitive city, and for city membership in the Partners for a Sustainable Washington County Communi- ty. The city will use an intern from Pacific University who will be working with Adapt Engi- neering of Gladstone. · ODOT has advised the city that the Edwards Tunnel on Highway 26 will be closing for two to eight months, sometime in the near future, to lower the roadway in the tunnel. The next council meeting will be on October 13 at 7:30 at City Hall. Heart disease once again on the rise From page 12 and not using cholesterol-low- ering drugs; • Blood pressure below 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) without using blood pressure-lowering medication; • Not overweight or obese, as reflected in a body mass in- dex (BMI) less than 25 kg/m2; and • Never diagnosed with dia- betes. In numerous studies, people without risk factors have lower healthcare costs and are far less likely to develop cardio- vascular disease. In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES): • 4.4 percent of adults had all five of the low-risk factors in NHANES I, 1971-75; • 5.7 percent had all five in NHANES II, 1976-1980; • 10.5 percent of adults rated low risk on all factors in NHANES III, 1988-94; and • only 7.5 percent of adults rated low risk on all factors in the 1999-2004 survey. “Until the early 90s, we were moving in a positive direction, but then it took a turn and we’re headed in a negative direction,” Ford said. “When you look at the individual factors, tobacco use is still headed in the right direction and so are cholesterol levels, although that has lev- eled off. The problem is that blood pressure, BMI and dia- betes are all headed in the wrong direction.” An imbalance in the amount of energy consumed in food and the amount expended in physical activity is likely a major culprit in the negative risk factor trends, Ford said. “Addressing this imbalance, by people becoming more ac- tive and eating less, would re- duce overweight and obesity which, in turn, would help to lower blood pressure and pre- vent diabetes,” Ford said. The trends over time are similar in men and women, al- though in every survey signifi- cantly more women than men had across-the-board low risk factors. Furthermore, whites had a significantly higher prevalence of low risk factors than African Americans in all but one survey (1976-1980). A larger percent- age of whites had a low risk factor burden compared to Mexican Americans during 1988-1994 and 1999-2004 sur- veys. Results of the study illustrate a great need for prevention, “thus, healthcare providers should have adequate re- sources, time and reimburse- ment to engage in the preven- tion of cardiovascular disease in patients,” researchers said. “Such efforts by clinicians need to be complemented by efforts by state and national agencies that have the responsibility to develop effective public health interventions.” Potential targets for such in- terventions include work sites and schools where large num- bers of people can be targeted and where evidence-based in- terventions can be implement- ed. In an accompanying editori- al, Rob M. van Dam, Ph.D. and Walter C. Willett, M.D., Ph.D. of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital said the findings are disturbing because the trends among younger age groups have oc- curred in the presence of un- precedented availability of evi- dence-based heart disease treatment and even more worri- some because the trends do not yet reflect the effects of the current epidemic of childhood obesity. The findings provide an im- portant signal that the health of Americans is at a crossroad, they noted. “Much potential ex- ists to reverse ominous trends in cardiovascular risk factors and mortality in the United States, but this is unlikely to oc- cur without making prevention of overweight and obesity a clear national priority.” Ford’s co-authors are: Chaoyang Li, M.D., Ph.D.; Guixiang Zhao, M.D., Ph.D.; William S. Pearson, Ph.D.; and Simon Capewell, M.D. Author disclosures are on the manu- script.