The City of Uhrichsville is without a code enforcement officer following Terry McFerren’s resignation.
Council was made away of the departure at their latest meeting by Mayor Jim Zucal.
“His comment to me, and he put it in writing, he resigned due to the fact that the system is broken. Mayor Jim can tell you this I get one opinion from the law director and when Terry worked here, I got a different opinion. His opinion was I can’t get anything into the court system, and I can’t get it prosecuted.”
Law Director Jeff Merklin thought things were working smoothly the past few month, since he and McFerren figured out a citation process adhering to the International Property Maintenance Code.
“I don’t know why he resigned. I’m just at a loss. It is going to be a loss. I’m telling you he prepared these cases fantastic. Everything the constitutional law due process required. I haven’t kept track of the files but I’m guessing 12 to 15 the last couple of months. You either have all convictions where the people went in and plead guilty. One of them he asked me to dismiss after we filed because the person ended up doing what he wanted him to do. One of the cases had to be dismissed because we found out the person who owned it was dead, and another one we went through and prosecuted that person and got a guilty plea on that one.”
Zucal says he or the service director can issue notices for minor IMPC violations like shrubs and high grass. The mayor expects to post the code enforcement employment opportunity at some point.
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