01/27/11 There was a glimmer of hope as the Marshall County Building Inspector presented his year-end report to the Commissioners last week.
Dennis Elliott said, “As of last week we’ve had more contractors register this year that all of 2008, 2009 or 2010.” Contractors are required to update their information with the County each year in January. He said, “This is a good sign.”
When looking at building permits Elliott said, “The first quarter of 2010 was very slow but December of 2010 was kind of up and gave you the feeling of improvement.”
Last year the Building Inspector issues a total of 371 permits with as estimated construction value of $13,949,000. Looking back over 2008 and 2009 the number of permits issued stayed level with 374 in 2008 and 367 in 2009. The construction valuation is almost identical to 2009 at $13,069,000 but “2008 was our peak at $19,394,000 then things started dropping off.”
In 2010 residential dwellings accounted for only 41 permits, compared to 44 in 2009 and 61 in 2008.
Elliott closed his presentation by saying, “My feeling, based on contractor registrations, numbers for 2010 and 3 new residential dwelling permits already in the early part of January, is that maybe things are on a slight upswing.”
