The Lower Towamensing Township supervisors are considering a proposal from Palmerton to share the same zoning code enforcement officer.

Brent Green, the chairman of the Lower Towamensing Township supervisors, said at a recent supervisors meeting that neither municipality has enough work to hire someone as a part-time employee. He thinks Lower Towamensing Township may have about 10 hours of work per week and Palmerton has about 15 hours of work. If they go in together, then they could offer someone about 25 hours between the two municipalities.

“We would have our set hours, and they would have their set hours,” Green explained. The idea is very preliminary. “There are lots of details to work out.”

Right now, Lower Towamensing Township does not have a zoning code enforcement officer, and neither does Palmerton. Duane Dellecker is the township’s building code administrator, but Green said he asked has the township to hire a zoning code enforcement officer.

“We don’t have enough hours (of work) to support someone coming in part-time during the day,” Green said about hiring an assistant.

If the township goes in with Palmerton, the zoning ordinances will stay separate. Only the position is being shared.

Green said he would like to redefine the current building code administrator position to include zoning code enforcement, too. But Dellecker has a full-time job elsewhere, in addition to the work he does for the township and four other municipalities.

“We’ve plateaued with the amount of hours that Duane can give us, but we’re at the point where we can’t really afford anything else,” Green said. “We can’t hire a third party at $85 an hour to come in and do 10 to 15 hours.”

“Duane knows his job well,” said Supervisor Michael Takerer.

Green said he plans to talk to Donna McGarry, Palmerton’s borough manager, about the possible job sharing.