KNOX — Many building permits over the last four years in Knox have blank spaces where the inspections are meant to be marked.

For example, in 2016, Knox issued 28 building permits but only one of them had any marks on the checklist that accompanied materials submitted by applicants.

A Freedom of Information Law request made by The Enterprise for all records related to inspections reveals that a majority of inspection forms from Jan. 1, 2014, to July 1, 2017, have blank checklists where building inspections are to be marked; several inspection reports and building permits also lack signatures.

On Dec. 2, The Enterprise got the last of two sets of records it had requested in June. “I just received the last of the … records from Dan Sherman,” wrote Knox Town Clerk Tara Murphy in an email on that date.

The inspections carried out over the course of almost four years include signatures from three men employed by town: the former building inspector, Robert F. Delaney, who died in August 2015; his former assistant and the current building inspector, Daniel Sherman; and Sherman’s former assistant, Glenn Hebert.

The FOIL request was made by The Enterprise after a city of Albany auditor was told in a response to his own FOIL request that there were no inspection reports issued by Knox Building inspector Sherman during 2016, despite permits being issued. In addition to his part-time job in Knox, Sherman works full-time as a building inspector for the city of Albany.

The auditor, Leif Engstrom, had told The Enterprise in June that he had submitted the request in regards to the hours Sherman worked for the town, because it did not appear that the hours clocked in by Sherman for the city of Albany would allow him to carry out inspections in Knox.

An audit conducted by city’s Office of Audit Control shows that Sherman earned $65,166 in overtime on a base salary of $48,486 in 2016, and has continued to earn more in overtime than his base salary in 2017.

Sherman told The Enterprise on Tuesday that the printed forms bearing blank slots for inspections may either be for incomplete projects or for projects that do not require the items to be signed off on. The building-permit checklist includes items such the surveyor’s location of the foundation, footing formwork and pier forms made before pouring concrete, rough framing and roofing, and insulation and heating before close-in. The list also includes a slot for a final inspection, which often was blank in the building-permit checklists.

Sherman said he did not believe his work for the city of Albany complicated his ability to conduct work for the town of Knox.

“That’s why we have an assistant,” he said. Sherman’s current assistant building inspector is Richard Loucks, who was appointed after Hebert resigned this spring.

Sherman also said he did not believe Delaney, who was ill for part of the time he served as building inspector, had struggled to complete his work, again noting that the assistant building inspector — himself at that time — was there to help complete tasks.

“Everybody works together,” he said.

Knox town Supervisor Vasilios Lefkaditis told The Enterprise this summer that Engstrom’s FOIL request, which was made during the first quarter of 2017, had alerted him that there were no inspection records.

Lefkaditis, who became supervisor on Jan. 1, 2015, had said last June that the issue was in record-keeping rather than if the inspections were being completed; he later added that he trusted the building inspector and assistant building inspector were doing their jobs.

Lefkaditis also said in June that the town board had gone into executive session twice regarding Sherman’s employment. This led to a discussion of the current policies in place, he said, adding that new policies and procedures for the building department were being drafted.

Lefkaditis told The Enterprise on Tuesday that the policy and procedures had not yet been updated, but that the town board had had informal discussions about them. He said the matter would be addressed following the updates on the policies and procedures for the transfer station, and that the issues may be discussed further next year.