(4/5) The Thurmont Town Commissioners
originally considered hiring a code
enforcement officer to enforce the town’s
trash ordinance, but they are now realizing
many ways a code enforcement officer could
benefit the town.
Mayor Martin Burns told the commissioners
on Mar. 20 that during a Maryland Municipal
League convention he spoke with other
municipalities who had code enforcement
officers about the benefit of such a position.
He was told the biggest benefit was that it
freed up police officers to do police work
rather than code enforcement.
“This type of enforcement may generate some
revenue to offset what we’re paying them,”
Burns said. However, he was quick to point out
that the goal was to get code compliance not
revenue.
Besides writing citations for trash
violations, a code enforcement officer could
also do parking meter enforcement among other
things.
Commissioner Bill Blakeslee said that
having one person do such things is more
efficient because that person would know
whether someone is a repeat offender and a
code enforcement officer would also keep
records of problems areas that needed to be
checked.
Blakeslee recommended that the town hire
for the position and “start part time and see
what it entails to make sure we have enough
work.”
The other commissioners agreed, though the
job description still needs to be fine-tuned
before such a process can begin.
