[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of the City of Fulton
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 6-7-2022 by L.L. No. 9-2022]
A.
The City
of Fulton Common Council, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals,
and Code Enforcement Officer, in the review of any pending application,
may refer such application to such engineering, legal, and/or environmental
consultant or professional(s) retained by the City, as shall be deemed
reasonably necessary to enable it to review such application as required
by law.
B.
The applicant
shall reimburse the City for the cost of professional consultant services
reasonably necessary to enable it to review such application. In no
event shall the applicant’s responsibility be greater than the
actual cost to the City of such professional consultant services.
C.
Charges
made by such consultants shall be in accord with charges usually made
for such services in the Oswego County, New York region.
D.
In the event
that an application is required to be reviewed by more than one Board,
to the extent practicable, all such Boards shall use the same consultant.
In all instances, the City shall attempt to avoid duplication of consultant
reports or services wherever practicable in order to minimize the
cost of such consultants to the applicant.
A.
At the time
of submission of an application, or immediately thereafter, an escrow
account shall be established, from which withdrawals shall be made
to reimburse the City for the costs of professional consultants’
services. Upon establishment of an escrow account, the applicant shall
then provide funds to the City for deposit into such account in an
amount to be determined by the City based upon:
B.
Expenditures
from the escrow account shall be made by the City as follows:
(1)
The
professional consultants employed by the City shall provide an itemized
voucher to the City as to the monetary value of their services rendered
on each project.
(2)
The
City shall review and audit all vouchers and shall determine whether
such professional consultant expenses are reasonable in amount and
necessarily incurred by the City in connection with the review and
consideration of applications.
(3)
Upon
receipt of a request by the applicant, the City shall supply copies
of such vouchers to the applicant reasonably in advance of audit and
approval, appropriately redacted where necessary to shield legally
privileged communications between City officials or employees and
the City’s professional consultants.
(4)
In the
event of request, the applicant shall be entitled to be heard by the
City on reasonable advance notice regarding expenditures from the
escrow account.
(5)
After
audit and approval of such vouchers by the City, the City may make
payments from the escrow account.
(6)
The
applicant shall reimburse the City for the cost of professional services
in excess of the amount in escrow prior to final decision on the applicant’s
project, provided that the City determines that such professional
consultant services are reasonable and necessary for the review of
the application and the total costs for professional consultant services
are reasonably similar to such costs for comparable applications in
the Oswego County, New York region.
(7)
A building
permit or other permit being sought by the applicant shall not be
issued unless all professional review fees charged in connection with
the applicant’s project have been reimbursed to the City.
(8)
Any
unexpended funds in an applicant’s escrow account after the
payment of all professional consultants’ fees shall be returned
to the applicant upon application to the City for the same.
