NEW CANAAN, CT — The hiring of a new addition to the town's Building Department was unanimously approved by the Board of Selectmen during a recent meeting.
Human Resources Personnel Director Cheryl Pickering-Jones told board member during the April 15 meeting that Tim Blakeman was chosen for the position of assistant residential building inspector from a pool of 22 applicants.
Blakeman's new role will replace the position previously held by Scott Becker, who was promoted to chief building official back in February, according to Pickering-Jones.
"As you can see from Tim's application, he has been a general contractor for 30 years," Pickering-Jones said during the meeting. "He has amazing references, he's passed his background and I think would be a great asset to the Building Department."
Pickering-Jones noted the position will be part-time at first, however it may become a full-time role in the future.
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"[Blakeman] is taking his RBI license in May," Pickering-Jones said, "and we are going to bring him in 20 to 25 hours a week, see how that works, and if they need it then we will increase it."
She also noted Becker's previous position also started out as part-time but quickly evolved into a full-time role.
"Scott wants to kind of get the sense of what's going on in the office," Pickering-Jones said, "but he does feel as the spring and summer approaches, he thinks that we will need full-time, but he's going to see how it works out."
Selectman Stephen Karl said he thought it was "really important to keep those permits and everything moving," and ensure everything continues to run smoothly following recent changes in the department.
First Selectman Dionna Carlson quickly noted things are currently "moving very well right now" in that regard.
"There's not a backlog...I wouldn't want people to think that there's a backlog," Carlson said. "They are moving, it's just we want to anticipate during the season."
Karl also noted the town was essentially "just replacing folks that we've had in those positions already."
Carlson, Karl and Selectman Amy Murphy Carroll all approved of hiring Blakeman to the position.
A full video of the April 15 board meeting can be viewed here.