The town of Damariscotta is in talks with officials from Edgecomb, Newcastle, Nobleboro, and Wiscasset about the possibility of hiring a single code enforcement officer to cover all five towns.
Stan Waltz currently fills the role of part-time code enforcement officer for Damariscotta, Nobleboro, and Wiscasset; and was Newcastle’s code enforcement officer until his resignation in October. The Newcastle position remains vacant.
Wiscasset Town Manager Marian Anderson serves as Edgecomb’s code enforcement officer.
“By combining resources, the towns could provide a better compensation package for Stan, and when the position ultimately becomes vacant, be in a much better position to recruit a successor,” Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus said in his notes for the Wednesday, Nov. 19 meeting of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen.
Waltz currently works half time for Wiscasset and would remain a Wiscasset employee. The other four towns would reimburse Wiscasset for their share of the position.
“We have a draft contract we’re working with, but it’s far from being final,” Lutkus said at the Nov. 19 meeting. The arrangement would be “similar to what we’re doing with animal control now, where the county is the employer and we pay them.”
“It just makes a lot of sense for small towns to do that, to share services like that and maintain high-caliber individuals,” Lutkus said. Towns around the state struggle to fill two positions: assessors’ agents and code enforcement officers, he said.
Selectman Jim Cosgrove asked if Lutkus had concerns about whether, if the economy were to pick up, the workload might prove too much for a single individual and result in delays for builders.
“That’s a possibility,” Lutkus said. “I think what we could do, through the contract, is add hours for an additional person to assist Stan.”
The contract would establish specific hours Waltz would work in each town and actually increase the hours he would spend in Damariscotta, according to Lutkus.
Waltz currently holds office hours in Damariscotta from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday. He logs considerably more hours in the field, Lutkus said.
The selectmen did not object to the discussions or otherwise take action on the matter.
Maine law defines a code enforcement officer as a municipal employee who enforces state laws and local ordinances relative to building standards, land use regulation, shoreland zoning, and other matters.