Building inspector position to be split

NEW LONDON – The building inspector position for the city of New London will be split into two positions, with the second position having the title of community development director.
The New London Common Council approved the position split 9-0 when it met Aug. 19. Ald. Dennis Herter was absent from the meeting.
In approving the position split, the council approved an updated job description for the city’s building inspector, created a new community development director position and approved a new job description, and updated the city’s starting wage scale schedule by moving the building inspector position to grade 14 and inserting the community development director position at grade 17.

Committee meeting
At the Aug. 6 New London Finance & Personnel Committee meeting, New London City Administrator Chad Hoerth told the committee that during discussions at previous meetings and during the 2025 city budget process, it was identified that the city is “experiencing staffing challenges in several areas.” One of those areas is the city’s Building and Zoning Department.

“Permits are up and we have a challenge performing all necessary tasks,” Hoerth said.
He added that he would also like to see the city perform more code enforcement.
Half of the cost for an additional position in the Building and Zoning Department were included in the 2025 city budget. This was accomplished through increased revenue from building permits, Hoerth said.
“The intent is to budget the other half of a fulltime position, to make it fulltime, in the 2026 budget,” Hoerth said.

Duties

Hoerth said the major duty for a building inspector position is to review and process one- and two-family dwelling building permit applications. This includes construction, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC.
Building inspections are also included in the building inspector duties.
Zoning administrator duties include reviewing zoning applications, Hoerth said.
“The building inspector is looking at the building structure itself,” Hoerth said. “Then the zoning administrator, that hat, is looking at the setbacks from the different sides of the property. There is a lot of overlap, but there are a lot of different things going on.”
The zoning administrator also takes care of flood plain zoning and shoreland zoning.

Proposal
Hoerth told the committee that he was proposing to split up the building inspector and zoning administrator duties into two positions.
He said the main job responsibilities for the building inspector would be to review building permits and perform inspections. The building inspector would also assist the zoning administrator with code compliance.
Regarding code enforcement, Hoerth said if the city turns the position into two positions, the building inspector would hopefully have more time to perform code enforcement in the city.
For the zoning administrator position, Hoerth said many communities refer to this position as the community development director.

Under Hoerth’s proposal, he said the primary duty of New London’s zoning administrator, or community development director, would reviewing zoning permits. The position would also be responsible for plan reviews, plat reviews, and the city’s comprehensive plan. The position would also serve as secretary of the New London Plan Commission. The secondary duty of the position would be code enforcement.

Discussion
Ald. Mike Barrington asked if either position would need a college degree.
Hoerth said most community development directors have a college degree. He added that the building inspector position would require certifications, but not necessarily a degree.
“This is a problem that I see,” Hoerth said. “I think we are going to have a problem in the future.”

He added, “I have not seen a college or tech, or any type of educational opportunity for a building inspector. It’s simply on the job training, or you’re on your own for education.”
Through his research, Hoerth said many communities contract out their building inspections because it is difficult to find people to fill a building inspector position.
“I think this is going to be a challenge for us in the future no matter what,” Hoerth said.
Hoerth said New London’s building inspector will probably be retiring within the next year.
Under his proposal, the city would hire a new community development director, and the city’s current building inspector would remain in that position and help train the community development director.
The pay range for a new building inspector position would be $63,000-$81,000, Hoerth said.
The pay for the community development director position would be $87,100, Hoerth said.
He said recommended pay was determined by researching what other communities pay those positions. He added that the salary for New London’s current building inspector would not change.