PROSPECT — The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to appoint a new land use inspector nearly two months ago, but the winning candidate has yet to start her job.
An attorney representing Mary Barton of Middlebury wrote to commission Chairman E. Gil Graveline Jr. Oct. 4 demanding that she start her job the following week. The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to appoint Baron as land use inspector Aug. 30 after interviewing four candidates.
According to the letter from attorney M. Leonard Caine, III, the Planning and Zoning Commission has sole power to appoint the zoning enforcement officer.
“She has been duly appointed ZEO now for several weeks and has received no compensation for the position she holds,” Caine wrote.
He also objected to the commission discussing the position without notifying Barton.
Barton worked as the land use official in Watertown for 10 years. After leaving Watertown in 2006 to spend more time with her two children, Barton worked part-time for both Roxbury and Thomaston.
In 2011, Barton said she left Woodbury’s land use office after nine months on the job citing serious health issues, but continued working part-time in Roxbury.
At the time, the town was investigating Barton’s certifications. Her resume listed her as a “Certified Zoning Enforcement Officer” and a “Certified Wetland Enforcement Officer,” but neither the Connecticut Association of Zoning Enforcement Officials nor the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection could verify that she completed the certification process.
Barton said she completed all her course work for both certifications but lost the documentation.
DEEP spokesman Dennis Schain said at the time Barton had not completed all three segments of coursework needed to earn the agency’s certification.
A record of Barton’s progress in seeking CAZEO certification credits her with completing the required 60 hours of coursework from 1991 to 1995 but indicates she had not yet submitted a case study of an enforcement action to the group, had not had her membership confirmed, had not had her length of work experience confirmed, and had not had a certificate granted.
Prospect Mayor Robert Chatfield said Barton now has her wetlands certificate, but no zoning certificate.
“Mary knows her stuff,” said Judy Wick, who was on the Planning and Zoning Commission in Watertown when Baron was the land use official there. “Years ago, that certification wasn’t as necessary, but it’s pretty essential these days.”
Chatfield said there was a delay in the hiring process because he had to interview Barton as the town’s human resources director, then ask the Town Council to set a salary range.
Chatfield said he was supposed to meet with Barton to negotiate the terms of her employment last Friday, but she had a minor emergency surgery and he hadn’t heard from her as of Monday evening.
He said he hoped Barton could start in her new position this week.
The Town Council set the salary for the land use inspector between $45,000 and $65,000 at its meeting last week.
Prospect’s land use inspector of 17 years, William Donovan, made about $69,000 by the time he left, according to Town Council Chairman Thomas Galvin.
The last land use inspector, Tammy DeLoia, was making about $65,000 after three years on the job. She had been the land use clerk for five or six years before the promotion, Galvin said.
Graveline did not return a message seeking comment.
