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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 28, 2005 Planning piled up In need of a new director and staff, department tries to juggle demand By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings To the untrained eye the Ashland planning department isn’t any different than any other city department. There aren’t stacks of files strewn around the office or baggy-eyed employees complaining about their jobs. But it’s an open secret that the planning department is operating with a reduced staff at a time when planning issues and actions have an increased importance in city government and politics. Planning manager Bill Molnar looks over one of many applications on his desk Thursday. Molnar will work on as many as 10 projects a day The city hopes to hire a new director and add more people to the department in coming months. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings “I don’t believe we have enough planners in the planning department,” Larry Medinger, a long-time resident and former planning commissioner, said at a meeting on Tuesday night. “All these confrontational issues going on are all a result of not enough groundwork being done.” Part of this situation arose when former Community Development Director John McLaughlin was chased from his job this spring. This caused Planning Manager Bill Molnar to take on those duties and delegate some of his normal work load to the rest of the staff. “The big crunch started with Mac’s departure,” Molnar said. But even before McLaughlin left, the department had already requested two additional planners in the annual budget. Those two positions, and possibly others, will be added at the conclusion of an organizational audit currently being undertaken by a private consultant. Soon after McLaughlin left, the community development department was hit by a slew of long-range projects, such as the downtown plan revision, the ordinance review and others. Add to that the normal litany of planning actions and other work and it’s no wonder residents are calling for more planners. “I think we are all looking forward to having a fully functioning staff again,” Molnar said. “We’re trying to keep it in perspective.” There are only four planners on staff. City Administrator Gino Grimaldi said they are down three planners. “Those folks are working very hard,” he said of the planning staff. “Under the circumstances I couldn’t ask for any more out of them.” Molnar said it’s not uncommon for him to work on up to 10 different projects in a given day. He said senior planner Maria Harris has taken on much of the excess work and assistant planners Amy Anderson and Derek Severson have each increased their responsibilities and work load. Dean Walker and Adam Hanks, who both work in the building department side of community development, have also been instrumental in keeping planning afloat. “We’ve needed them to step up and they’ve been doing a great job,” he said. Grimaldi said with the depleted staff, the planning department has had to put less of an emphasis on the future. “The one area we are falling behind in is long-term planning projects,” he said. “We don’t have the options of not handling the applications that come in or people who want service at the front desk.” Molnar said by this spring they should have those three vacant positions filled and, once those new staffers are brought up to speed, he is confident the department will be running better than ever. “People have had to take on greater levels of responsibility and it’s pulled the staff closer together,” he said. “With so many people rising to the occasion it’s only going to make the department stronger.” Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Free Music Downloads Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks Online Casinos FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products best online casino teleconferencing High-End Gaming Computers Diamonds Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Discounted Website Hostings Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Myspace Layouts Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Student Loans Bonus Casino ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Canadian Pharmacy Casino Gambling Sites Backpacks Click Here .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams