Nazareth council close to creating position for code enforcement officer

Nazareth will likely soon employ a code enforcement officer to conduct inspections and cope with issues related to yard waste, snow removal and overall property maintenance.Borough council formed a study group in April to explore citizen complaints about violations of the borough’s ordinances, which resulted in the proposal to hire a part-time officer to investigate infractions and enforce its codes.“It would be [someone] in-house that we could control,” Councilman Carl Strye Jr. said during the borough council workshop Thursday.Council will vote on approving the position and job description at its regular business meeting Monday before advertising for applicants, he said.The deadline for applications will be June 27, after which the study group will select the best 3-4 candidates for interviews before narrowing down its final selection to recommend to council.Council will then approve that person for hire at its Aug. 5 meeting, with a start date of Aug. 19.The code enforcement officer will be paid an hourly wage at an amount yet to be determined.Also to be decided is where the code enforcement officer will work.The office will have to be one that allows public access, Councilman Larry Stoudt said, with the mayor’s office one possibility.Strye, who serves with council members Jessica Teel and Christopher Crook on the study group, said creating the position is necessary in order to deal with the many miscellaneous complaints the borough receives from residents, including unkempt, weedy lawns, water runoff and abandoned cars.“We need to be proactive and not reactive,” he said.The new hire will be responsible for issuing warnings and citations, compiling monthly activity and violations reports, and providing occasional testimony before the borough magistrate in conjunction with the police department and solicitor’s office.The code enforcement officer will also be expected to submit proposals for potential additions to the borough’s codes.Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer for The Morning Call.
Source: Morningcall