Amesbury hires new building inspector

Jim Sullivan, The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.
·2 min read

Jul. 10—AMESBURY — The city has a new local building inspector, in resident, contractor and coach Jim Wilson.

Mayor Kassandra Gove appointed Ernest Creveling as the city's director of Inspectional Services in April, soon after long-time building inspector Denis Nadeau retired.

Creveling currently oversees building, plumbing, gas and electrical inspections but is not a licensed building inspector in Massachusetts.

Former Amesbury building commissioner Ed Mullen has been serving in the same role on a temporary, part-time basis. Mullen has also been working with Merrimac Director of Public Works Bob Sinibaldi who has been filling in for the city as an on-call local building inspector.

Wilson was brought on permanently last week. The 60-year-old has been a city resident since 1989 and founded Wilson Fuller Contractors LLC., in 1999.

"We have done houses and some commercial work," Wilson said. "And we really have done a little bit of everything."

According to Paul Fahey, the mayor's chief of staff, Mullen has been working as a part-time building commissioner at $75 an hour and Sinibaldi was making $55 an hour as an on-call local building inspector. But Wilson's annual salary information was unavailable from City Hall on Friday.

Wilson also said he has more than 30 years of work as a general contractor. He will have roughly a year to complete his state building inspector certification.

"This is my first foray into this," he said. "But I think I will be good. I'm 60 years old and I don't need to be jumping around on roofs anymore for framing giant pool houses."

According to Wilson, Creveling had suggested he think about becoming a building inspector a few years ago and he recently reached out to his old friend once again.

"I know all of the local inspectors pretty well and they were all telling me that this would be my next step. So I finally listened to them," Wilson said. "I know everybody and I've been here a long time. My kids went to school here, I coached football and baseball here. That could be either good or bad but I don't think it will be bad. We all get along, mostly."

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.