Silver Valley cities sharing new officer

PINEHURST — The city of Pinehurst along with their neighbors at the city of Smelterville have put into motion the process of hiring a code enforcement officer to be shared between the two western Shoshone County communities.

According to Pinehurst Police Chief Tami Holdahl the decision was made to create the position in late 2020 with the goals of primarily enforcing the two city’s animal codes and keeping an eye on blight issues.

Holdahl believes that once implemented — having a code enforcement officer will be a very valuable and positive change for the communities, but getting it off the ground has hit a few snags, including Holdahl herself breaking her leg.

“This new position has a lot of potential for us, but there are a few kinks that need to be worked out,” Holdahl said. “It’s also pretty hard to run a new program when the chief is down.”

The part-time position includes a bit of leg work, in and out of a vehicle, being able to handle animals, as well as getting pictures and logging information.

Both cities have animal codes, including pet licensing, as well as ordinances regarding chickens.

Blight issues have plagued Smelterville for a few years as well, prompting a more aggressive approach from the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office — who handles Smelterville’s law enforcement responsibilities — but this new officer will be able to handle some of that load as well.

One of the major hurdles that was cleared in getting the position officially created was the donation of a full-size pickup truck from Avista Utilities — which was the big ticket item associated with the creation of the new position.

“Avista was really the saving grace for us getting this thing off the ground,” Holdahl said. “They deserve a lot of credit. I mean, how do you come up with a new department with no real budget? This saved us a lot of money.”

According to Holdahl, the new Code Enforcement Department will be active in the coming months as her leg continues to heal.