By John Estridge
At the Tuesday, September 8, Brookville Town Council meeting, members proposed taking the compliance code duties away from the town administrator and give them to the Brookville Police Department.
During the last council meeting in August, some local residents were critical the process for getting a property in town cleaned took too long.
Council member Curtis Ward started the Sept. 8 conversation.
Ward said he and town administrator Tim Ripperger discussed the situation after the last meeting. It has been part of Ripperger’s duties to handle property code violation complaints since his position was created.
However, Ward said, at the Sept. 8, meeting, council members have been considering taking those duties off Ripperger’s plate for a couple of years as they believe he currently has too many responsibilities.
Ward said prior to Darrell Flaspohler resigning as a council member – he moved out of the ward he represented – Flaspohler was part of that conversation regarding Ripperger and the code enforcement issue.
According to Ward, he talked to then-chief Doug Ralph concerning having a police officer in charge of code enforcement. Since the last meeting, Ward continued those talks with the current police chief Terry Mitchum. Ward said Mitchum will have a police officer be dedicated to the code enforcement.
“Tim’s really busy with everything he does,” Ward said. “And the code enforcement process does consume quite a bit of his time with trying to follow up with the complainant and the property owner and coordinate and etc.”
Ward said Mitchum had a particular officer in mind for the position.
“The specifics of it we can discuss with Tim and the officer to come up with a type of protocol on how this is going to work,” Ward said.
This includes how Ripperger will oversee the process and how the complaints and the ensuing process will be presented to the council members.
Ward said the process from complaint to enforcement and presentation to the council needs to be streamlined. Ripperger still needs to be part of the process, especially with establishing protocol and procedures.
According to Ward, the way it will work is the officer will continue to patrol like the other officers but this will be in addition to his other duties.
Council members gave their consensus for Ward, Ripperger and Mitchum to begin working on the process.
A person asked if the officer will get an increase in pay because these are additional duties put on his plate.
Another person in attendance at the meeting did not agree with putting the code enforcement on the police department and away from Ripperger. Gary “Gig” Marmouze Jr., a candidate for town council in the November election, spoke up.
“It seems like it adds more work to law enforcement and – I’m sorry Tim – but that was your job,” Marmouze said during the audience participation at the end of the meeting. “And that still should be with Tim. Taking care of lawns and all that kind of stuff shouldn’t be put onto the roles of the Brookville Police Department. If that’s going to happen, it shouldn’t be put onto somebody with more responsibilities. There needs to be a position hired for that.
“That position Tim’s in is what that position is supposed to do and not give it to the Brookville Police Department,” he continued.
Ward said he trusts the department heads to make decisions regarding their departments and Mitchum did not express any concerns about one of his police officers taking over those responsibilities.
“This is consistent with what other communities do,” Ward said.
And while that was one of Ripperger’s original responsibilities when council created the town administer position, Ward said Ripperger’s duties and responsibilities have “morphed into a number of responsibilities that go well and above enforcing lawn codes.”
Ward said this idea began two years ago.
Also BTC President Mike Biltz said the present police department per capita has more officers than other communities Brookville’s size “by far.”
Another council member said before Ripperger’s position was created, the police department handled the code enforcement duties.
According to Biltz, they heard the concerns from the group of 12th Street residents who had a complaint about a property in their neighborhood at the last council meeting. And council members believe the town should react more quickly to complaints of that type.
“Tim is doing enough, so we need to help him,” Biltz said.
Marmouze said, at a later date in a conversation about his comments, the town administrator position pays $44,000 per year.