I will be requesting that the Town Board add a new position in the Building Department next year – in response to numerous quality of life concerns forwarded to my office by civic associations and neighbors. The position is Code Enforcement Officer. The position will be responsible for quality of life issues ranging from overcrowding in housing to unregistered vehicles and general violations of the Zoning Ordinance. This position will be dedicated solely to zoning issues and will not perform construction inspections.  The Code Enforcement Officer will respond to all written complaints, visit with neighbors to assess whether a complaint exists, follow up to investigate the allegations and provide court testimony when an appearance ticket is issued and challenged in court.

During the past 2 years the town has experienced more complaints regarding overcrowded houses and homes being transformed into multiple housing and our current staff has become strained. The new person will be required to do some evening and weekend work to gather necessary evidence to provide to the court. The salary range is between $34,432 and $56,333. We expect that additional fines that will be issued will cover some or all of the costs.

PAUL FEINER