Fremont County’s Code Enforcement Officers told the Board of Commissioners this week that in 2010 they stepped up efforts to make address changes around the county and to take on the added responsibilities of SMM enforcement. SMM stands for Special Mobile Machinery which typically involves any heavy equipment such as backhoes, dozers, graders, and other equipment that do not carry motor vehicle plates.
Officer Ron Zenisky said since taking over SMM enforcement duties in January, 2010, their focus was to overcome negative feelings that many equipment owners had towards Fremont County over past enforcement efforts. Zenisky said as with all other code enforcement they emphasized voluntary compliance of SMM registrations. He said SMM registration revenues dropped from $505,858 in 2009 to $441,914 in 2010. Zenisky said he didn’t believe that was due to any lax enforcement but because many businesses moved equipment out of Fremont County. He said some companies sold off equipment and other owners became somewhat complacent about complying with the law.
Officer Robert Sapp said over the past four years they’ve enjoyed an 83 percent compliance rate for code violations around the county. Sapp said he and Zenisky worked on 63 code violation cases in 2010 which was down from 81 cases in 2009. Sapp said the bulk of code violations continue to come from complaints in the Cañon City and Penrose areas.
Sapp said officers also spent more time in 2010 with verification or assigning new addresses. Sapp said there continues to be a need to change and assign new addresses so law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical personnel can respond to the correct location when a 9-1-1 call or other calls come in.
Sapp said in 2011 code enforcement will begin to spend more time dealing with hoarders. Sapp said they want to cooperate with the Department of Human Services and other agencies to put together a team approach to deal with hoarding. He said hoarding continues to grow as a problem in homes and on properties and there are usually other social or health issues associated with hoarding.