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Berkeley County formalizes planning department roles; moves Laura Hoffmaster toward deputy director role
Summary
Commissioners approved a reorganizational plan for engineering, planning and building inspections that makes Steve Aberegg code official, moves Debbie Watts to handle commercial inspections and creates a deputy director position being filled by Laura Hoffmaster; staff said changes are budget neutral.
Berkeley County commissioners voted March 20 to formalize a restructuring in the Department of Engineering, Planning and Building Inspections that county administrators said is budget neutral and reallocates existing salary money.
The reorganization stems from the November 2024 retirement of the county’s longtime code official, which administrators said created a workload gap. Staff recommended permanently moving Steve Aberegg into the code-official position, promoting Debbie Watts into a Building Inspector 3 role to handle commercial inspections, and creating a deputy director position to support Director Brian (last name not specified) — a role administrators said Laura Hoffmaster has been performing unofficially.
Deputy county administrators told commissioners the changes recognize existing duties county employees have already been performing, and that the proposed salaries are funded from within current department budgets rather than adding new salary dollars to the county budget.
Commissioners praised staff for stepping up after the retirement and moved to approve the restructure. The motion passed during the meeting.
