The City of Fruita moves Building Inspection Services in-house with a new, highly experienced staff of over 60+ years leading the way.

Starting in 2023, the City of Fruita will bring building services in-house to create a one-stop process for all development in the City limits of Fruita rather than contracting these services with Mesa County. This transition of services will concentrate Fruita’s efforts while bringing services closer to the individuals and businesses the City of Fruita serves.

“We are grateful for the many years of support Mesa County has provided to the Fruita community. We look forward to this next step in creating a one-stop process for our partners and will strive to provide the highest quality service for the Fruita community.” – Dan Caris, Planning and Development Director.

This localized approach to customer service will help ensure the City of Fruita provides exceptional service delivery. The City of Fruita’s Planning and Development Department is expanding to house the new Building Inspection Division with three new full-time employees – a Chief Building Official, Senior Combination Building Inspector/Plan Examiner, & Electrical Inspector. Interviews were held for the Chief Building Official and Senior Combination Building Inspector in the fall of 2022. Candidates for the Chief Building Official participated in an extensive interview process with two-panel interviews with members from the Home Builders Association, Western Colorado Contractors Association, the Lower Valley Fire Department, the Fruita Area Chamber of Commerce, and internal City staff. These organizations will work closely with the new Building Inspection Division, so connecting these partners early in the transition is a top priority for the City of Fruita. After close consideration of each candidate, the City of Fruita is excited to bring on three highly experienced and well-connected individuals to the Fruita team.

John Anderson, Fruita’s New Chief Building Official provides over 30 years of experience in the industry and is the current Building Official for the City of Delta. He has extensive experience working in larger jurisdictions and holds 13 ICC certifications including the Certified Building Official (CBO) certification. ICC certifications are an endorsement from the International Code Council showing an individual is qualified to inspect construction and buildings.

“I am excited for the unique opportunity to build a new building division and work with the development community to provide exceptional customer service. We are going to focus on outreach and communication as we transition early next year.” – John Anderson

Mike Mossburg, Fruita’s new Senior Combination Building Inspector/Plans Examiner, is a customer service-oriented code professional with over 30 years of experience in construction and building department services. He also is ICC certified in several trade disciplines including combination building inspector and commercial plans examiner.

John Anderson and Mike Mossburg will start with the City of Fruita in January 2023 and the City is presently soliciting job applications for an electrical inspector. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Interested applicants can visit fruita.org/jobs for the full job description and to apply.

Matt Carson, Fruita’s Neighborhood Services Coordinator, will also be helping with the Building Inspection Division. Matt started with the City of Fruita in the fall of 2022 and brings over 30 years of municipal experience. Matt retired from the City of Grand Junction as the former Administrative Battalion Chief for the Grand Junction Fire Department.

In addition to bringing on new staff, the City of Fruita has invested in a new software application, Cloud Permit, which is a complete digital submittal process for plan review, permitting, and inspections. This software paired with the many years of expertise from staff will help create an efficient and seamless process for Fruita development.

The City of Fruita plans to have the new Building Inspection Program up and running by April of 2023. As this transition occurs and thereafter, the City of Fruita will continue to reach out to partners for feedback and act as a resource for networking opportunities with other building development professionals in the Grand Valley.

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Media Contact: Ciara DePinto, Communications and Engagement Specialist, cdepinto@fruita.org, 970-858-3663