Anna council authorizes department renaming and separation of Code Compliance into its own department

The Anna City Council on Sept. 9 approved a staff-requested organizational change to rename and reassign department responsibilities: Code Compliance will become its own department with a director, and the current Neighborhood Services functions that include parks, recreation and library services will be renamed Community Services.

Acting City Manager Mark Marchand said the change reflects the city's growth and the formalization of services added in recent years. "When Code Compliance became its own division, they took a different name and we continued to go by Neighborhood Services... now that we've established more fully, we have the library online, and Code compliance has continued to grow. There are two things that I intend to happen. One is that code will become its own department with its own director... I think it's more appropriate that we name that department Neighborhood Services... and rename the current Neighborhood Services of parks, recreation, and libraries and special events to Community Services," Marchand said.

Council members said the explanation made sense and approved the change unanimously. Staff indicated the split will allow a clearer operational focus: code enforcement and regulatory functions on one side, and parks/recreation/library programming and special events under Community Services on the other.

Vote: Resolution authorizing redesignation and department-name changes passed unanimously.

What to expect next: Marchand indicated he would announce the code-department director in the coming week and that staff will implement the renaming and organizational adjustments.