Centreville staff to budget full-time zoning administrator; council reviews cemetery mapping software and special-events funding

Centreville — The Council discussed staffing and program changes intended to address rising planning, zoning and code-enforcement workloads, and reviewed investments in cemetery management software and special events.

Zoning and code enforcement: council members voiced support for adding a full-time zoning administrator in FY26 to take on planning duties now handled by a contract planner and to create capacity to support code enforcement. Staff said the proposed zoning-administrator position would be full time; by contrast the existing code-enforcement officer position is budgeted for 10 hours per week, which council members called insufficient given recurring violations and safety concerns. Council members discussed alternatives including a half-time or full-time code-enforcement position in combination with a full-time zoning administrator; staff agreed to prepare salary/cost scenarios for part-time and full-time code enforcement for the next work session.

Cemetery mapping software and IT: staff presented a proposal to move the cemetery records from spreadsheets to a GIS-enabled cemetery-management system. Staff said the implementation quote included an upfront implementation cost of about $16,000 plus first-year installation and licensing expense; recurring annual subscription and managed IT services costs discussed in the packet added roughly $9,000—$15,000 depending on the implementation approach. Staff argued the system would let residents locate grave spaces online, support on-site GPS mapping with Trimble units and allow online payments and records instead of manual ledger searches.

Special events and fireworks: staff proposed adding $39,000 to the FY26 draft specifically for fireworks tied to the town—s 250th anniversary; council members discussed scaling and fundraising, including approaching the county and private funders such as the Legacy Foundation to help cover large one-time costs. Council members also discussed bringing some recurring events (First Fridays, Centerville Day, Drink Maryland) under a clearer town-events policy and asked staff and Main Street leadership to provide event-level profit-and-loss breakdowns for upcoming sessions.

What happens next: staff will prepare cost scenarios for full- and part-time code-enforcement staffing; they will return a revised personnel cost estimate that includes the zoning administrator and any recommended changes in code-enforcement hours. Staff will also provide a final implementation cost for the cemetery software and proposed contract terms for managed IT services.