McMinnville Planning and Zoning director Nolan Ming has a new hat to wear, that of codes official for the city of McMinnville.
Naming Ming to the position allows him to decide if a codes violation exists and reduce the number of cases taken to court. However, City Court will still be used for any condemnation proceedings.
“It’s gotten to the point in recent discussions with Nolan and (city judge) Tim Reed, a substantial part of the city court docket is now been dedicated to codes enforcement,” said Pirtle. “That’s fine and good, but if you can do it in-house, you can achieve efficiencies in terms of, not only control, but also outcome.”
Ming would also be allowed to assess a fine. Per city code, the fine is $50. In some cases, that fine can be assessed per day. Fines are assessed as a lien against the property and collected in the same way as delinquent property taxes.
“Can we get a report every month?” asked Alderman Mike Neal. “I want to make sure everybody is treated equally. I would like to see a report that shows me everyone is on equal ground.”
Pirtle reminded board members any decision made by Ming would be subject to the same right of appeal, as are the decisions made by Reed. If the homeowner feels Ming is being unfair in his judgement, they have 10 days to file an appeal to a court of record.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously approved Ming as codes official.