BOC postpones joint inspection idea

Jackson County leaders decided Monday night to get more information before taking action on a proposal to contract to use the city of Jefferson’s building inspector to handle building inspections for the county.

At an earlier board of commission meeting, planning director Gina Mitsdarffer presented a plan to contract with the City of Jefferson to use its building inspector, Danny Atkins, on an as-needed basis. The county would use Atkins a minimum of 10 hours per week and as many as 20 hours per week.

The county would pay the city $39.25 per hour for Atkins’ services, which would include his salary, benefits, workers compensation and insurance.

The item was on the consent agenda for approval at the BOC meeting Monday night, but commissioner Dwain Smith asked that it be pulled and discussed further. Smith questioned whether the county could hire a part-time person to handling building inspections. He said he heard from two people who would be interested in applying for a part-time position. He said both are certified to handle building inspections.

The county building inspector position is vacant following the retirement of Jerry Lord, who was working 20 hours per week.

For the full BOC story, see the July 20 issue of The Jackson Herald.