MADISON TOWNSHIP — Zoning inspector Amanda Harris submitted her resignation letter to trustees at their Dec. 4 meeting.
The township hired Harris as the zoning inspector in June. She said she is resigning for personal reasons.
“I loved my job there but have a family member who I am now providing care for and I need to be able to focus my extra time onto that,” she said.
Harris said she will continue her zoning work through Dec. 31. She thanked trustees for the opportunity to serve the township and said she will be available to train her future replacement.
“I hope whomever they find to fill the position can continue building the momentum … to get our zoning back in order,” Harris said.
“I have every bit of faith in trustees Houser and Craft to do this, after having the privilege of working with them, and I’m sure future trustee Fletcher will do the same.”
Trustee Jim Houser, who previously worked as the township’s zoning inspector, said trustees hope to hire someone by Jan. 1 for the position.
If they cannot fill the position by then, he said the township plans for trustees to investigate code complaints themselves and hire someone to issue new permits.
“We still have the applications from when we interviewed everyone and hired Amanda, so we’ll go back to those and see if anyone is still interested,” Houser said.
The position is part-time but hours vary based on how many permits and inspections the officer needs to complete.
The township’s zoning officer is responsible for reviewing all zoning permit applications in the township and enforcing existing zoning codes. This can include writing permits and collecting fees for new construction, conducting zoning inspections and keeping records, and speaking in court on zoning violations.
The inspector is paid $600 each month and earns 25% of all permit fees. The township also pays $12.50 an hour for each hour in court.
“All three trustees agreed that Amanda has done a fine job for us and we wish her the best,” Houser said.
The township hired Harris after nearly 10 months without a zoning inspector following Wayne Liggett’s retirement after three years in the position.
The township zoning office can be reached at 419-589-5544.
Also in Monday’s meeting, trustee Cathy Swank said the township closed bids for three pieces of road equipment sold on GovDeals.com. The winning bids included $33,250 for a front-end loader, $11,800 for a backhoe and $875 for a GMC pickup truck.