The city is returning to a full-time building inspector, after two years of contracting for those services, and adding the duties of zoning administrator to the post.
Brian Bunke, who had been the building inspector in Kiel and Howards Grove, starts his new job Thursday in Shawano.
He is also the owner of Bunke Home Inspection in Kiel and was previously a housing code inspector in Manitowoc.
Mayor Lorna Marquardt said the new zoning code that was put into place this year requires an on-staff zoning administrator. Those duties combined with building inspection were seen as being a full-time job.
Bunke will start at a salary of $55,000 a year.
Bunke is originally from Shawano and graduated from Shawano Community High School in 1982.
“You can’t believe how happy I am to be coming back here,” he said. “It’s like the dream ending to my career.”
Bunke had been in construction since 1984 before moving into his inspector roles.
“It was a natural progression from being young and working in construction to getting old and getting smart and inspecting roofs instead of climbing on top of them,” he said.
The city eliminated its full-time building inspector in 2013. Seven other jobs were also cut that year as the city grappled with an anticipated revenue shortfall.
In May 2013, the city contracted for building inspection with Mike Miller, who previously had the job full-time.
Eliminating Miller’s position was expected to save the city more than $57,000 in salary that year, as well as more than $26,000 in benefits and office expenses, according to the 2013 budget.
The city budgeted $52,000 to contract out for those services.
The city this year put in place its first major overhaul of the zoning code in more than 30 years. Bunke’s duties will include interpreting and enforcing the code.
Among the biggest changes that went into effect in January, the new code tosses the “legal nonconforming” designation for properties that don’t fit in with the zoning in their neighborhoods. The change would make the properties legally conforming and make it easier for property owners to get loans to make improvements or sell the properties.
The code also puts a premium on landscaping for any new development, setting a score that proposed developments would have to meet. They would get points toward the score for various types of landscaping in the site plan.
The requirement applies to new development and to those portions of existing properties that are significantly remodeled or expanded.
Bunke said he has been reviewing the code for the past week and that many aspects are similar to what was on the books in Manitowoc.
“I’m used to quite a bit of it,” he said.
One difference, Bunke said, is that Shawano’s code is more aggressive in its landscaping rules.
“We want to make sure the landscaping looks pleasant for the area,” he said.
