HOULTON, Maine – A shortage of municipal code enforcement officers makes planning and new business development a challenge for the state’s rural municipalities.
After talking about it for several years, the state’s development commissions are applying for a FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant through Maine Emergency Management Agency to place a code enforcement officer in each of the state’s regional districts.
“The thought is to help our municipalities with a problem we’ve been talking about for a number of years and this is a good opportunity to see if we can get some available funding,” said Jay Kamm, senior planner for the Northern Maine Development Commission.
Without adequate code enforcement a municipality has to deal with not only a backlog of code violations and deteriorating properties, it is a hindrance to new development which can’t happen without building permits and code inspections.
On Tuesday, the Aroostook County Commissioners approved a letter in support of the statewide initiative, a requirement of the FEMA grant.
A significant number of Aroostook County municipalities do not have the financial ability to support a full-time code enforcement officer and they have a difficult time scheduling services on a part-time basis, according to Aroostook County Administrator Ryan Pelletier.
The problem is not unique to Aroostook County.
“There is a big need for rural code enforcement officers all over the state and this is an opportunity to have one of the regional officers based in Aroostook County,” Pelletier said.
For the past several years, with retirements and fewer people entering the field, the struggle to find code enforcement officers is absolutely a trend in the state, said Kamm. .
The Northern Maine Development Commission, representing Aroostook, Washington and Northern Penobscot Counties, has been trying to get a regional code enforcement officer for several years and Kamm said there are also significant problems in central Maine.
“It’s definitely across the state. Probably not in your Bangors or Portlands, but all the rural communities,” he said.
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The grant is asking for funding to pay a full-time regional code enforcement officer in each regional council office throughout the state for three years. By the second year, municipalities would help fund the position and by the fourth year they would fund it.
This regional code enforcement officer is not intended to take away positions, but to help communities having trouble finding or paying for an officer, Kamm said.
Kamm said that this is a very important position in a municipality; it’s just hard to get them. And because of a lack of funding, some towns can hire an officer for five hours a week and to make a living, officers are forced to work in six or eight towns, really stretching them thin.
Additionally, there is a certification and training program and most municipalities do not pay for the training and the officer must fund it out of pocket.
The final grant application with the local support letters will be filed next week and Kamm said MEMA will notify applicants by the end of May. If successful, they can start to use the money Aug. 1.
