Hollis McClard and Vernon Biggs from the zoning committee spoke to the commissioners at Monday nights meeting and requested that a full time building codes enforcer be hired.

Current building codes enforcer, Keith Scruggs, had contacted McClard and requested that someone else handle the job. Scruggs, who also holds the title of the Lafayette Fire Chief and FEMA Director, as well as the enforcer, felt that a full time person was needed for the position.

McClard stated that when a person is in violation of the zoning laws they are sent a letter requesting them to clean the area up. After 30 days they are sent another letter. After that, they are taken to court. McClard stated that they needed someone full time to handle this ever growing problem in Macon County.

McClard stated that people are concerned with this problem and are constantly calling Scruggs or members of the zoning committee. The committee feels that the county has enough work that a person could easily put in a full time work week.

Commissioner Scott Gammons stated that he was not sure of the need for a person because people were going to dump trash and an enforcer was not going to be able to stop them. Commissioner Anna Dean Carter disagreed with the statement made by Gammons and said that an enforcer could stop the people dumping trash.

Gammons then stated that he felt that the commissioners should hire a new person and let Scruggs go. McClard informed the commissioners that he felt it was not a good idea to let Scruggs go at this time because the new person would need to be trained and attend school for at least a year.

A motion was made to advertise for a zoning enforcer with an annual salary of $18,000 with the agreement that they would work with Scruggs for at least a year. This motion was deferred until the next meeting.

County Mayor Glen Donoho reported that as of Monday, February 7, the County General Fund held $1,470,203.14 and the debt service held $686,931.12.

Scott Gammons was nominated to be placed on the beer board. This motion was approved and deferred to the next meeting.

Judicial Commissioner Ralph Meeks spoke to the commissioners and requested a pay raise. He stated that he had been paid $25.92 a day for past 16 years. He stated that for the past two years he had been doing the job alone. He requested $33 a day. This was approved by the commissioners.

The next meeting of the county commissioners is scheduled for Monday, February 28, at 6 p.m.