The town of Bristol did not have to look far for a new code enforcement officer. Round Pond resident Joe Rose started work April 21.
Rose, 62, brings experience in the administration of state and municipal fire codes as the fire prevention officer for the Falmouth Fire Department in Falmouth, Mass., at the southernmost point of Cape Cod.
He retired from the fire department in 2000 and moved to Round Pond so he and his wife could live closer to his father-in-law. He most recently worked in property management for a private estate.
The Bristol Board of Selectmen officially appointed Rose to the code enforcement post April 22.
“The property management job had a change of description, downsizing, and I’m nowhere close to ready to retire, and being that (code enforcement is) very similar to what I did in the fire department on Cape Cod, I thought it would be a good fit,” he said.
His first days on the job have been “kind of like drinking from a fire hose – a lot of information all at once – but I’m finding a lot of similarities to what I did before, running the fire prevention office,” he said.
“Everybody here in town hall has been extremely supportive and very helpful,” Rose said.
As code enforcement officer, Rose will enforce local ordinances and state laws regarding building standards, land use regulations, and shoreland zoning, among other matters.
The code enforcement officer is a half-time position in Bristol. Rose will work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. He replaces Susan Metzger, who resigned in December 2014 after a year on the job.
Before his time in the fire service, Rose was a professional photographer on Cape Cod. He studied firefighting at Cape Cod Community College, taking classes in arson investigation, fire prevention, and firefighting techniques.
Rose enjoys life in Round Pond. “Bristol’s a great town,” he said. “It’s very similar to Cape Cod about 60 years ago, without all the traffic lights and traffic congestion.”
He lives with his wife, Marion. The couple has four adult children and eight grandchildren.
