Two soon-to-be-certified code enforcement officers are sure to be welcome additions to the city of Jamestown.

Crystal Surdyk, city director of development, said two code enforcement officers have handled or are currently working 976 cases that have come in over the past 12-month period. She said two additional officers with the city Department of Development are nearing completion with their training.

“They’ll be all certified and ready to hit the ground running in early December,” Surdyk announced during a Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency meeting this week.

Regarding the open cases, Surdyk said, “It’s a big number; it’s a big jump even from last year, but they’re handling it the best that they possibly can and they’re doing a really great job.”

Surdyk’s remarks were included in a list of accomplishments JURA members heard at their meeting.

“It’s interesting that even with two people, they are such rockstars,” Surdyk said of the city’s two current code enforcement officers. She said there will be a review on how to split up the cases, which can range from tall grass complaints to more serious violations, once the department has its four code enforcement officers in place.

To start, Surdyk said, the new employees won’t be on-call 24/7 to give them time to adjust to their new roles.

At present there are 370 open code violation cases compared to 251 at this time last year.

“Not only do we have that significant of a caseload between two people … but they’re handling an incredible amount of work,” she said.

In her remarks on 2023 accomplishments, Surdyk said $413,687 in Community Development Block Grant funds were spent to assist 23 different projects. In addition, she said the city spent $73,250 in HOME funds to assist four properties as well as $61,354 spent from an allocation of the American Rescue Plan Act.

The city also was awarded an Environmental Justice grant through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the amount of $982,632.

“So a lot of initiatives, a lot of projects, a lot of things underway,” Surdyk said.