BELMONT — Selectmen approved a decrease in building code fees Monday night that also includes a new category for generator permits.
Code Enforcement Officer Steve Paquin created a new category for generators — a category that he said yesterday would allow him to trigger generator installation permits in one place.
Previous to Monday's vote, Paquin said generator installation actually required two separate permits — one for the fire department to check the fuel source going into the house and one for him to check the electrical panel to ensure the parameters and transfer switches are installed properly.
Paquin agreed with Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson and Gilford Code Enforcement Office Dave Andrade with the assessment that many people don't realize they need a permit to install a home generator or, more importantly, why they need to have the inspected.
Erickson said that aside from the carbon monoxide fumes that can seep into a home if a generator is improperly installed, one of the real dangers is that the transfer switch isn't working correctly.
He explained that the transfer switch on a properly installed generator immediately cuts electricity from the house to the lines.
"Our guys are out clearing up what we think are dead power lines and they're live," he said.
In Laconia, he said the when a person installing a propane generator purchases the propane, the prchase triggers a call to his department who go out and inspect the hookup. He said a second inspection of the main electrical panel is performed by the code enforcement department.
Andrade said the procedure in Gilford is very similar to the one followed by Laconia.
All three said the instructions on the generators should be followed to the letter and people installing them must take out a permit and have the proper authorities make sure they are installed properly.
All three said most people don't know they need a permit to install a generator.
Selectmen approved a new building permit fee schedule Monday night that would lower the town's commercial rates making them more compatible with those in neighboring communities.
Paquin said Belmont's commercial rates were almost double that of surrounding communities.

ASHLAND — A few more details about the former Holderness man who allegedly raped two different teenage girls has become available since a Grafton County grand jury issued 21 separate and secret indictments last week.
Gregory Maggi, 32, formerly of 12 Avery Road in Holderness is accused of two counts of counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault for repeatedly engaging in sexual acts with two girls who were older than 13 but younger than 16. He is also accused of having sex with one of the girl without her consent.
In addition, Maggi is charged with various sex acts with the nine counts of felonious sexual assault for allegedly committing various sex acts with the girls and two counts of endangering the welfare of minors for soliciting the two girls to have sex with each other.
Maggi is also charged with two counts of providing cocaine, crack, marijuana and or salvia (sage) to each of the girls. A third count involves him allegedly selling cocaine to a third person.
The grand jury also indicted Maggi for one count of exposing a minor to harmful material for allegedly giving one of the girls pictures of himself having sex with an adult female.
He was indicted for three counts of simple assault — two for putting two girls who were under 13 on his lap and one for touching one the the other girls while telling her he was looking for "wires." A fourth assault charge was brought forth for kissing one of the girls.
Ashland Police Chief Tony Randall declined to comment on any of the specifics of the case and the investigation except to say that he is grateful to the N.H. State Police for taking over the investigation after his officers learned there may be minors involved.
"We're all in law enforcement and I don't care who gets the credit as long as the bad guy gets put away," said Randall.
Indictment paperwork indicates the assaults on the girls occurred from October 2011 through September of 2012. State Police said their investigation lasted about five months.
Maggi is being held on $100,000 cash or corporate surety in the Grafton County House of Corrections. As of 2:30 p.m. Friday, he was still incarcerated.

BELMONT — Selectmen authorized the town administrator to begin the search for a new finance director and in the process confirmed that former Finance Director Brenda Paquette is no longer employed by them.
Although no official reason for Paquette's departure has been given, according to documents made available through a Right-To-Know request to the Office of the Attorney General, Paquette had been reprimanded in October of 2012 for providing former Selectman David Morse with confidential information. She and Morse have a close personal relationship.
When Paquette gave the information to Morse and what the information concerned is not known to The Daily Sun.
Morse and Selectman candidate George Condodemetraky sought the assistance of the Attorney General and asked for his office to conduct a criminal investigation into the decade old actions of Town Administrator Jeanne Beaudin and Administrative Assistant Cary Legasse.
The two alleged that Beaudin and Legacy falsified information that allowed Beaudin ex-husband to stay on the town's insurance policy, under her name, in 1999 without getting his own policy under the provisions of the federal COBRA act.
The A.G. found there was, as a matter of law, no wrong-doing by either woman and closed their investigation, making it public under the provisions of the open documents clause of the Right-To-Know Law.
Don McLelland Sr., who was the town administrator at the time of Beaudin's divorce, said this week that during the time Beaudin and her ex husband divorced, the Local Government Center — the town's insurer — allowed divorced spouses to remain insured through their ex-spouses.
Morse and Condodemtraky's allegations stemmed from a settlement awarded to Selectman Chair Jon Pike because he was not allowed to remain on his ex-wife insurance, as was Beaudin.
In the interim, the town had adopted a policy that requires divorced spouses to get their own policy under to provisions of COBRA.
In addition, Paquette's ex-husband James is suing the town of Belmont in Belknap County Superior Court for the money he paid to get his own policy through COBRA after learning about Pike's settlement. The suit is ongoing and is tentatively scheduled for trial in early 2014.