The City of Ellijay is looking to hire a new code enforcement officer/building inspector.
Don Schneider, who worked in that role since 2000, retired in September. There haven’t been many applications to fill to the vacancy since then, confirmed Mayor Al Hoyle.
“I’m actually surprised. There have been maybe four (applications), which is a lot less than I would have thought,” he said.
Hoyle confirmed that he’s been covering general site inspections himself since Schneider retired, while Fire Chief Sam West has been covering fire-related inspections. Hoyle noted that he’s done inspections in the past when Schneider was on vacation and has some experience in homebuilding.
“I’ve been doing it because, frankly, we don’t have anyone else to turn to. I don’t plan to stay doing it long, but it’s getting us through,” he said.
Schneider said he recently turned 65 and decided it was time to retire.
“I really enjoyed working with Mayor Hoyle and all the people I worked with. Between the new city council, the mayor and the police staff, I really think they’re trying to do right by the citizens of Ellijay,” he added.
The longtime Gilmer County resident said, along with watching Ellijay change and grow over the years, he saw two building booms occur in his time working for the city.
“One was from 2003 to about 2008 when (the economy) crashed, and the latest one has been going pretty strong for about the last two years. I saw the whole downtown transform into what it is now, into more of a touristy destination (with) a lot of restaurants. It’s a new place,” he added.