By Collin BreauxWashington County Administrator Jeff Massey brought up the need to hire staff to inspect buildings and administer grants during a Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) workshop on April 11.
“We know we’re busy–unprecedented in the history of the county. We’re busier than ever in our building office,” Massey said. “Our building inspector is going to retire in June. He said he would stick with us until June. I’d like to have this resolved way before June.”
Even with the outgoing building official in place, the County is still “having a hard time keeping up” with inspections, according to Massey.
“We have put this job out for advertisement to try to hire a building official and prior to the knowledge of him retiring, we even advertised for another deputy building official,” Massey said. “We can’t either get a qualified applicant or no applicants.”
Some of that may be due to limitations in salary, he said.
“If you look at other building officials around the state, they’re making a lot more money than ours,” Massey said. “We have to look at our options. We have to consider how we move forward to make sure we don’t have a lapse with a representation in that office. In fact, the goal is to be stronger than we are now.”
Qualifications include having to be a licensed building official.
“That entails, if you want to apply, you have to have 10 years experience in the construction industry,” Massey said. “You have to have references from construction companies that will vouch for you. You send an application to the state. You can’t just go take a test. You have to be invited to take the test because the state will review it and say, yeah, this guy looks qualified. He can take the test.”
Commissioner Tray Hawkins said they will have train locally “from within.”
County Attorney Matt Fuqua said they have struggled with similar issues in Calhoun County as far as people struggling to pass the test.
The County also has staffing needs as far as grant administration, Massey said.
“Most of what we do to get things done, whether it be roads, infrastructure, anything, is done through the grant process,” he said. “We’ve been without a grants manager, which would actually give us just two people. Right now we presently have one, Candace (Thames).”
Thames has “had the weight of the world put on her,” Massey said.
“We have advertised this position many times trying to get somebody qualified to help keep us between the lines,” he said. “The real work comes in managing the grants. We’ve been unsuccessful. I have to look at the options there, as well.”
Those options include working with a company who will write and manage grants for the County.
County Attorney Clay Milton said the engineering firms the County contracts with now offer grant writing.
“Depending on the funding source, you may still have to go out for a RFP for grant administration,” Milton said.
KINSLEY COOK 
GARRETT VALCOURT