The Southold town board voted unanimously tonight to hire a new part-time code enforcement officer.
Councilman Bill Ruland was not present due to a death in his family; Justice Louisa Evans was also absent.
The board voted to appoint Nicole Buckner, of Riverhead, to the position of part-time code enforcement officer for the town attorney’s office, effective October 19, at a rate of $27.211 per hour, not to exceed 17.5 hours per week.
“The candidate has extensive experience in code enforcement and her willingness to work nights and weekends is exactly what we were looking for,” Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said after the vote, in an email to SoutholdLOCAL.
The hire followed a discussion that came up at Friday’s special town board meeting, during which the town board was presented with Russell’s tentative $42.9 million budget.
During the discussion, board members asked about code enforcement. Russell said his tentative budget proposes the hiring of a new full-time code enforcement officer. Currently, the town has one full-time and had made the decision to hire one part-time officer; the new officer will bring that number to two full-time and one part-time.
But, while the part-time position was filled tonight, the full-time officer cannot be hired until after the first of the year. The position has not yet been created; once it has, the board can obtain the civil service list, interview, then hire the new person, Russell said.
In addition, Assistant Town Attorney Steve Kiely said an online complaint form has been developed, so that code enforcement can react in real time to potential code violations.
The board said possible administrative help might be needed for the code enforcement department. As it stands now, Kiely said, if a phone call with a complaint comes in during the evening hours, it takes until the next business day before the concern can be addressed.
The code enforcement officer often has to listen to voicemail, and write all the information on a form. The new online form, which code enforcement officers could access in real time with iPads, Kiely said, will allow code enforcement to “bypass” that process with new technology and respond immediately.
“Code enforcement should be in the field, not in the office doing paperwork,” Kiely said, adding that the goal is to go paperless. Down the line, as the town becomes more proactive with enforcement, he agreed additional support staff might be necessary.
Councilwoman Jill Doherty asked if the funding for the iPads was in the budget; Russell said it was.
Doherty also asked if the police dispatcher could be emailed with the complaints, so if “something turns violent,” code enforcement officers will have help at the ready.
Russell said once a resident fills out the complaint form and hits “send,” all information will go directly to Kiely, code enforcement, and, at Doherty’s suggestion, to the police.
Depending on the nature of the complaint, Russell said sometimes, residents can call the police department directly. “But people are hesitant to do that,” he said. “This online form will allow us to evaluate the complaint, what action needs to be taken immediately and which officers should be engaged to act on it.”
The new part-time code enforcement officer will be able to respond regardless of the time or day, Russell said. “The benefit is that we can immediately evaluate the complaint and an immediate response can be taken.”
