Brenda Medcoff is leaving her post as the town’s code enforcement officer.
By Noreen Coolidge
Special to the Sun Journal

WILTON – Despite efforts by the outgoing code enforcement officer, selectmen decided not to recommend increasing the position’s hours in the upcoming year.

Code Enforcement Officer Brenda Medcoff, who recently resigned that position to take on more hours in Chesterville, told selectmen the town’s zoning ordinance is very comprehensive. “We can’t effectively get this ordinance enforced with 20 hours,” she said. Medcoff asked officials to recommend an eight-hour increase in the code enforcement officer’s hours.

Medcoff gave examples of the duties the code enforcement officer performs, including dealing with ordinance violations. She said she has worked on some junkyard violations for 2 years because buildings come up that must take first priority, moving the violations to the back burner over and over again.

“We’re not accomplishing anything here,” she said during a review of the proposed municipal budget Tuesday. She added that the next code enforcement officer will need the same amount of hours in order to effectively get the job done.

Medcoff told officials she is not the only person who feels the code enforcement officer hours need to be increased. She referred to former Code Enforcement Officer David Giroux’s bid to also increase the hours 3 years ago. “There’s a reason why CEO’s keep leaving. My main reason is that I felt like I was getting nothing done,” Medcoff said. She there is no initiative for a code enforcement officer to stay in Wilton.

Medcoff also told officials townspeople have told her they have considered coming forward with a petition to increase the hours. “Let the townspeople decide,” Medcoff said.

Dennis Landry, who has been outspoken for keeping the budget down in the past, said he feels townspeople who visit the code enforcement officer generate tax dollars by building. “It won’t hurt the town. It could end up making the town money,” Landry said.

Town Manager Peter Nielsen said he did not feel he could support the increase in hours while asking other department heads to hold the line or decrease their budgets. He said the hourly rate and social security would amount to about a $5,000 increase for the year if the hours were increased.

Medcoff said the code enforcement budget is only .4 percent of the municipal spending. She said the increase in hours would move it up to only .56 percent. “This is a very small portion of the budget,” Medcoff said.

Nielsen said nine people have applied for the code enforcement job so far. He said none of those people is certified in code enforcement. Officials questioned whether they would pay the same hourly rate for a person they would have to train. They suggested there may be enough in the proposed budget to add additional hours if that’s what the townspeople want. “I’d hate to see too many changes where we are hiring new,” Selectman Rodney Hall said.

While Medcoff’s resignation is effective April 1, she said she will “be in and out” helping out until a new code enforcement officer is hired. The budget proposal allows for a 2 percent pay increase for the code enforcement officer at $11.84 per hour for a total of $12,315 annually.

Nielsen said he expects the amount to be raised by taxation this year will be about $70,000 less than originally anticipated because the expected costs for the SAD 9 school budget “looks more favorable.” He said the combined budget total is expected to be $24,890 less than last year. Nielsen said once town valuations come through there may be even more of a decrease. The annual town meeting will be held in June.

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