×

Saranac Lake hires code enforcement officer

SARANAC LAKE — The village has filled the two positions it created to handle former Community Development Director Jeremy Evans’ responsibilities.

“It’s been a relatively quick turnaround,” village Manager John Sweeney said Tuesday.

After Evans announced his departure in mid May, the village said it would give Evans’ code enforcement and Development Board liaison roles to a new code enforcement officer, who would work with current code enforcement officer Patrick Giblin.

At a meeting Monday night, the village Board of Trustees filled that position by hiring Matthew Szeglia. He’ll be paid $43,000 plus benefits. The village budgeted for the position this year.

Szeglia lives in Gabriels. Sweeney said he has a background and certification in home inspection and also worked as an assessor and planning board member in Norfolk, in St. Lawrence County. He’ll go through the necessary state code enforcement officer training, Sweeney said.

To fill Evans’ other roles, last month the board hired Jamie Konkoski as community development director. She’ll be responsible for grant writing and grant administration, and working with various advisory boards in the community. Her first day will be Aug. 24.

At the time Evans left, some board members speculated it could be several months before the positions were filled due to civil service guidelines and the restructuring of the community development office. It took less than two months.

“We’ve been trying to aggressively get there,” Sweeney said. “We had to make some decisions on how we were doing it, and timing-wise, it’s gone quicker than I expected, truthfully.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.75/week.

Subscribe Today