Fairfield hires code compliance officer

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield’s new code compliance officer is hoping his work will help make the town beautiful.

Weston McKee was hired as the city’s code compliance officer on June 13. The position is now a full-time job. The city’s previous code compliance officer was Scott Vaughan, who was also the city’s fire chief, until he stepped down in March.

McKee grew up in Ottumwa, and moved to Fairfield about five years ago. In addition to working as the city’s code compliance officer, he owns and operates McKee Construction and Abatement, which he said he will continue.

McKee said he was interested in the code compliance job because he enjoys Fairfield and wants to see it continue as a well-maintained community.

“It’s going great,” McKee said about his first month on the job. “I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback about the cleanups, properties that need some maintenance but have slipped by through the years.”

McKee said his first focus has been mowing yards that are overgrown. One of his priorities is nuisance abatement, especially properties with overgrown bushes, undergrowth, or junk that shouldn’t be stored outside. Apart from nuisance abatement, his job covers working on building permits and planning and zoning.

McKee reports to Melanie Carlson, whose position was recently changed from city engineer to public works director and city engineer.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations about what we’re looking for in the community and what needs to improve,” McKee said.

Some of McKee’s tasks thus far have been cleaning up the city parking lot on North Fourth Street, putting in mulch and installing signs indicating which spaces are part of the city’s parking lot and which are private.

“Another project we’re working on is a list of contractors we can direct people to if they need help,” McKee said. “Maybe some volunteer groups will help the elderly and disabled. Those are some programs we’re looking at.”

McKee said his goal as code compliance officer is to make the community better.

“I hope people see this as a positive,” he said. “Change can be a little painful at first. We’ve been so set in our ways, and not had a full-time person in this position. I enjoy Fairfield. We have a unique community, and I just want to see it flourish.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com