(April 20, 2017) Jon Hill, who came on board as Snow Hill’s code enforcement officer in January, is looking to cultivate a new approach to the position.
“We’re here not only just to enforce the code, but to help people achieve their project goals too,” he said.
Hill, who grew up in Whaleyville, spent two decades working with his father as a home improvement contractor.
“In college I did new-home construction for a couple different companies,” he said. “I’ve always been in the trades. Anything that you could possibly do to a structure that’s already existing, I’ve done.”
Before accepting the code enforcement position, Hill spent four years working at the Eastern Correctional Institution, a 3,400 capacity medium-security prison in Somerset County.
“I was a supervisor at a furniture production plant that they have inside of the prison that employs inmates,” he said. “It was carpentry work, but it was mainly supervising inmates, most of which were lifers. It was always interesting.”
The prison supervisory position was “quite a bit different” than his current employment, Hill said
“It’s a rough place to work around guys, most of which were murders, or in there for some other heinous crime,” he said. “It was a very stressful place.”
Despite the potentially challenging clientele, Hill came to appreciate the work ethic exhibited by long-term inmates.
“The lifers are actually some of the best workers you had, because they really relied on the few dollars a day they made in there,” he said. “They really prized their jobs a little bit more than the newbies or the guys that had short-term sentences.”
While his wife acknowledged the merit of steady employment offered at the prison, Hill said she also expressed concerns about the long-term impact on her husband’s psyche.
“I saw that the position (in Snow Hill) was open and it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while,” he said. “It was quite a bit different from what I’m doing now, so this is more getting back to what I used to do.”
Hill, who has lived in Snow Hill for the past three years, said he was impressed by the steady flow of people relocating to the area.
“Snow Hill is a growing community with quite a few ‘come here’s’ and they seem to have quite a bit of energy,” he said. “That’s exactly what this town needs is some energy to create growth. Sometimes you need new blood and you need fresh ideas.”
In late March, Hill attended the inaugural “Meet and Greet,” event organized by Joe Kane, who purchased a pair of properties in Snow Hill last year.
“That was nice to see a lot of people who have recently moved here that really love Snow Hill,” he said. “You can see things from the outside that I think people who have lived here all their lives don’t recognize.”
Hill feels the growth trend in Snow Hill will continue and hopes the newcomer event will become a tradition.
“I think it was a success and I think it will grow if they continue to do it yearly,” he said. “Welcoming newcomers probably wouldn’t have been something too many people would have done 15 or 20 years ago.”
To continue stoking growth, Hill said Snow Hill should address the sizeable number of vacant, dilapidated properties found throughout town.
“We’ve got to work to improve property values by either improving or demolishing these structures,” he said. “We have a lot of absentee landlords where properties just sit and it’s impossible in some cases to get in touch with the owners.”
Moving forward, Hill sees infill potential as a means to foster continued growth in town.
“We don’t have many building lots available in town, but we have a lot of structures that before long are going to be demolished by neglect,” he said.
Since taking over code enforcement this year, Hill has worked diligently to assure lines of communication are open with homeowners and prospective builders.
“I don’t know if the communications have been the best in the past,” he said. “Sometimes it’s given the town a bad reputation as being opposed to growth, and I’d just like to say that is definitely not the case.”
Hill said his intention is to lend assistance to help homeowners or developers navigate bureaucratic requirements that can be challenging at times.
“It can be depressing when you think you can do something and (then) find out there’s a lot of hoops you’ve got to jump through, but I can help people jump through them if they want to get the work done,” he said. “I will work with them as much as I can to help the growth come here.”
With extensive hands-on experience in the building trades, Hill feels empathetic to those seeking building permits and hopes to share a common perspective.
“There’s a lot of people that do (code enforcement) for a living that have never drove a nail, built a house or done a remodel,” he said. “It’s kind of hard having somebody that’s never done it for a living tell you what to do. I’ve felt that before.”
“We’re here not only just to enforce the code, but to help people achieve their project goals too,” he said.
Hill, who grew up in Whaleyville, spent two decades working with his father as a home improvement contractor.
“In college I did new-home construction for a couple different companies,” he said. “I’ve always been in the trades. Anything that you could possibly do to a structure that’s already existing, I’ve done.”
Before accepting the code enforcement position, Hill spent four years working at the Eastern Correctional Institution, a 3,400 capacity medium-security prison in Somerset County.
“I was a supervisor at a furniture production plant that they have inside of the prison that employs inmates,” he said. “It was carpentry work, but it was mainly supervising inmates, most of which were lifers. It was always interesting.”
The prison supervisory position was “quite a bit different” than his current employment, Hill said
“It’s a rough place to work around guys, most of which were murders, or in there for some other heinous crime,” he said. “It was a very stressful place.”
Despite the potentially challenging clientele, Hill came to appreciate the work ethic exhibited by long-term inmates.
“The lifers are actually some of the best workers you had, because they really relied on the few dollars a day they made in there,” he said. “They really prized their jobs a little bit more than the newbies or the guys that had short-term sentences.”
While his wife acknowledged the merit of steady employment offered at the prison, Hill said she also expressed concerns about the long-term impact on her husband’s psyche.
“I saw that the position (in Snow Hill) was open and it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while,” he said. “It was quite a bit different from what I’m doing now, so this is more getting back to what I used to do.”
Hill, who has lived in Snow Hill for the past three years, said he was impressed by the steady flow of people relocating to the area.
“Snow Hill is a growing community with quite a few ‘come here’s’ and they seem to have quite a bit of energy,” he said. “That’s exactly what this town needs is some energy to create growth. Sometimes you need new blood and you need fresh ideas.”
In late March, Hill attended the inaugural “Meet and Greet,” event organized by Joe Kane, who purchased a pair of properties in Snow Hill last year.
“That was nice to see a lot of people who have recently moved here that really love Snow Hill,” he said. “You can see things from the outside that I think people who have lived here all their lives don’t recognize.”
Hill feels the growth trend in Snow Hill will continue and hopes the newcomer event will become a tradition.
“I think it was a success and I think it will grow if they continue to do it yearly,” he said. “Welcoming newcomers probably wouldn’t have been something too many people would have done 15 or 20 years ago.”
To continue stoking growth, Hill said Snow Hill should address the sizeable number of vacant, dilapidated properties found throughout town.
“We’ve got to work to improve property values by either improving or demolishing these structures,” he said. “We have a lot of absentee landlords where properties just sit and it’s impossible in some cases to get in touch with the owners.”
Moving forward, Hill sees infill potential as a means to foster continued growth in town.
“We don’t have many building lots available in town, but we have a lot of structures that before long are going to be demolished by neglect,” he said.
Since taking over code enforcement this year, Hill has worked diligently to assure lines of communication are open with homeowners and prospective builders.
“I don’t know if the communications have been the best in the past,” he said. “Sometimes it’s given the town a bad reputation as being opposed to growth, and I’d just like to say that is definitely not the case.”
Hill said his intention is to lend assistance to help homeowners or developers navigate bureaucratic requirements that can be challenging at times.
“It can be depressing when you think you can do something and (then) find out there’s a lot of hoops you’ve got to jump through, but I can help people jump through them if they want to get the work done,” he said. “I will work with them as much as I can to help the growth come here.”
With extensive hands-on experience in the building trades, Hill feels empathetic to those seeking building permits and hopes to share a common perspective.
“There’s a lot of people that do (code enforcement) for a living that have never drove a nail, built a house or done a remodel,” he said. “It’s kind of hard having somebody that’s never done it for a living tell you what to do. I’ve felt that before.”