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Moundsville Council Not Sold On Code Enforcer

After ongoing debate on whether to hire a full-time building code enforcement officer, Moundsville City Council will leave the decision in the hands City Manager Deanna Hess.

At a finance subcommittee meeting, council member David Haynes questioned whether council should even consider the employment of such an officer, saying the matter should be at Hess’ discretion.

“I don’t think council has any business, if the city manager wants a code enforcement officer, I think it’s up to her,” Haynes said. “Council doesn’t have the right to say what the officer does. … If the city manager thinks she can handle it, let her. It’s always been dropped on our laps — grass here, this roof ripped up, and we had to keep track. I think she can do a good job.”

For several weeks, council has debated the necessity of the position, which some members say would free up police from having to issue citations. However, the city’s police and fire chiefs have opposed the idea.

Fire chief Noel Clarke, at the previous meeting, said the the fire department and building inspector’s office were both trained and qualified to identify problems, and only needed to be allowed to issue citations.

Councilman David Wood echoed Clarke’s sentiments, saying existing personnel can handle the matter, potentially with some extra pay to compensate for the additional work.

“The fact is, we sit around this table and complain about this and that not getting done,” Wood said. “If we do want a code enforcement officer, we could look at the fire department, which (Clarke) was in favor of, and compensate those ladies and gentlemen. I’ve been in favor of that. If they can designate who the code enforcement officer is, and then designate days they’d be out on the street. … We’d just compensate the ones that are designated. But that’s cheaper than the $19,000 or so it would be to hire a full-time person, and that’s before benefits.”

Councilwoman Ginger DeWitt, who chairs the finance committee, agreed that assigning the task to existing personnel was a good idea, as long as it was a consistent role, and not something simply done during downtime.

“If we wanted to designate a certain day, or a couple hours on Tuesday and then a few hours another day, I’d be fine with that,” DeWitt said.

Building Inspector Joe Richmond told the committee those in his office already do routine inspections of properties in the city.

“We try to get out every day. We’re always out looking. If we’re going to an inspection, we’re also out driving by complaints, trying to follow up with as much as we can,” Richmond said. “I think we do a good job. We get a little backed up through the summer, when everyone’s outside looking at their neighbors’ properties, but it’s dropped off drastically in the last month, with the weather getting cooler. We do stay very busy through the summer months.”

Haynes, following the discussion, reiterated that he was happy to let Hess move forward in the direction she feels appropriate. Committee members agreed.

Hess said she would begin looking into the matter.

“If it gets (to be) too much, I’ll say hey, I need your help,” Hess said.

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