Friday, April 26, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
By ADAM ATKINSON CANTON -- The town wants to expand the residency requirement of its code enforcement officer position to allow candidates for the job to live anywhere in St. Lawrence County. The …
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By ADAM ATKINSON
CANTON -- The town wants to expand the residency requirement of its code enforcement officer position to allow candidates for the job to live anywhere in St. Lawrence County.
The board here has scheduled a public hearing for Monday, March 26, at 6 p.m., on a draft local law which would change the requirement.
State Public Officers Law requires that the person who holds the code enforcement officer/town building inspector’s position be a resident of the “political subdivision or municipal corporation within which his or her official functions are required to be exercised,” said the draft law.
The board is expected to take action on the law following the hearing and may decide to take action on an actual appointment of a candidate for the position.
The town is currently contracting with Mike McQuade to serve as interim code enforcer at a rate of $50 per hour.
McQuade, the code enforcement officer for the town of Gouverneur, has worked in that capacity for the town since former town code enforcement officer Russell “Rusty” Lawrence resigned his position with Canton Oct. 6 to work in a similar capacity for the town of Oswegatchie.
The board recently set a $35,000-$47,000 salary range for a new code enforcement officer position, and an annual maximum salary of $47,146 is accounted for in the town’s 2018 budget for the job.
A Civil Service examination held in September produced a list of three potential applicants for the position.
Interviews to fill the position began in February.
The local law under consideration indicates that the town board intends to appoint a competent candidate to the job, and that “the health, safety, and welfare of Town residents will be served if eligibility for the office is not limited only to Town residents, but is also open to qualified individuals who reside outside the Town of Canton.”
The draft law is available for public review on the town website at https://cantonny.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Draft-Local-Law-1-2018-Code-Enforcement-Officer.pdf, or at the town clerk’s office.
