BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Village of Massena officials say they want to reassess how code enforcement is handled after discussions during budget sessions raised a number of concerns.

Trustee Ken McGowan raised the topic during budget sessions in April, saying it is time the village begins rethinking how code enforcement is handled.

"Personally, I think the career firefighters should continue to do fire inspections. But, as you (Fire Foreman Aaron Hardy) can attest, code enforcement is not what it was 10 years ago," McGowan said.

McGowan commented that code enforcement officers are out conducting law enforcement every day.

"I would rather see our career staff doing EMS instead of dealing with individuals that should be handled by maybe a full-time code person moving forward," McGowan said.

He went on further, saying it was important to discuss now so the village can properly budget moving forward.

"It's not the new construction that's the issue," McGowan continued.

Calls for EMS services continue to rise, with the department handling over 3,000 calls last year alone.

McGowan said that trend across the north country exacerbates issues for the code enforcement officers who are pulling double and even triple duty.

"It's not just this area, it's everywhere across the north country. I think we need to start looking at it, maybe move in a different direction," McGowan said.

Hardy said it has become difficult to conduct code enforcement calls, fire inspections, EMS calls and fire calls with the sheer volume of calls, let alone the wide variety of calls.

"A lot of that turns into scheduled calls and you know, with fire service we can't be locked down. You don't know what's going to happen," he said.

McGowan said the unpredictability of EMS and fire calls are why he is advocating for career fire staff to be able to prioritize such calls.

"I don't know if it's this year or next year or whatever. Personally, I'd rather see a career firefighter rolling up to my house helping me, my family and friends than doing a (code enforcement) complaint," McGowan said.

He also spoke to the importance of apartment inspections, saying he did not want to downplay the importance of such inspections while citing a fatal fire on 419 South Main Street that left three dead last June.

McGowan said such incidents could be avoidable if inspections are conducted as the village intends but admitted that it is asking a lot of career fire staff.

"I think apartment inspections are highly important and they're getting there. So, maybe we don't get that triple fatal that we had last year if we can get these guys in there. I think it's very important that firefighters are checking buildings," he said.

Hardy said his staff are doing the best they can, with one person on the streets to conduct code enforcement duties on either a full-time or part-time basis, dependent on the need and availability of staff.

Hardy said hiring a full-time code enforcement officer would help staff prioritize duties and ensure that calls are responded to appropriately but he did note that supplemental support by other code enforcement officers would likely be necessary.

According to Hardy, the changing landscape and interactions with residents has also played a role in the time required to address code situations as well.

"We went from sending a notice to someone and they used to call us and say 'Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'll take care of this' to the point where we've got people now calling and complaining and saying 'prove to me where I have to do this.' We've actually gotten to that point because you can't make them do things. Now we're getting the lawyers involved more and this is only going to progressively turn into more and more time," Hardy said.

McGowan commented that despite the call volumes for fire and rescue, the code enforcement officers have done a great job keeping up.

"I'm just really impressed with how much is being done. You guys are capable of doing an excellent job and have continued to do so," he said.