By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
The city of Salisbury has hired Chris Branham as its first code services manager.
Dan Mikkelson, director of Land Management and Development, introduced Branham to the City Council Tuesday.
Branham, a civil engineer, is a Clemson University graduate who lives in Cooleemee. He formerly worked for National Homebuilders in Charlotte.
The hiring of Branham is connected to the city’s goal of creating a new Code Enforcement Division, which will bring together personnel from four different departments and base them at one location ó the city office on Park Avenue.
The division will fall under Mikkelson’s Land Management and Development Department.
Branham started work this week.
The 2008-2009 city budget allocated funds toward the hiring of a code services manager and a code specialist to improve enforcement, especially related to run-down housing in several Salisbury neighborhoods.
The Community Appearance Commission and Neighborhood Leaders Alliance have repeatedly told city officials of their concerns about deteriorating housing since 2006.
Downtown Salisbury Inc. also has pushed for a commercial maintenance code for buildings in the central business district.
City staff formed a 17-person “Better Housing Committee” in 2007 that led to several recommendations, including the call for establishing a housing commission.
At its retreat earlier this year, the council spent considerable time on the code enforcement issue, leading to City Manager David Treme’s budget recommendations for a restructuring that would put all code enforcement duties under one division.