Extra staffing to enforce codes

MAT-SU — Making sure no one is breaking any Mat-Su Borough ordinances over Labor Day weekend is, for better or worse, generally the province of a single person.

Each weekend over the summer the Borough’s Division of Code Compliance sends an officer out to patrol the Borough and keep an eye on things. Considering the Borough is the size of West Virginia, that’s a big job for one person. This Labor Day weekend, that job will be spread out among three people.

They’ll be looking for life and safety issues — violations of the Borough fireworks or littering ordinances and things like that.

“It’s really, really hard, especially on the long four-day holiday weekend, for our guys to cover the whole area,” said Robert Guertin, the Borough’s chief of code compliance.

This weekend, he’s bringing on contract help. Two security officers from Mat-Su Security will supplement the lone code-compliance officer. One will head up the Parks Highway past Wasilla, the other, probably, into the Jim Creek area, Guertin said. The Borough officer will stay in the core area and help coordinate.

Usually, the officer on duty will split the job up, Guertin said. On one night he or she will cover Jim Creek; the next night maybe the lakes north of Wasilla.

Sometimes, he said, they’re able to plan with more specificity.

“Lot of times before the weekend we’ll get a complaint that people are going to do this or going to do that,” Guertin said.

This weekend things will be different. The Borough will be divvied up between three officers, rather than over three days. All three officers will have video and still cameras and copies of the ordinances to hand out.

Guertin said most people, when they think of code compliance, think of building regulations and the like.

“When I think of code compliance I think about a 400-page book I’ve got here,” Guertin said.

Guertin said he’s happy for the help, but isn’t sure the extra hands on deck will come back on subsequent weekends.

“This is the first weekend we’re going to be doing this and we’re going to see how it works out,” Guertin said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.