Latrobe hires new code officer, plans to share service with Derry Borough

Latrobe officials didn’t have to look beyond the city municipal building to find a new code enforcement and zoning officer.

City council on Monday hired Shannon Cypher Hart for the job, at a salary of $46,000 plus benefits. She was a legislative aide in former state Rep. Joseph Petrarca’s Latrobe office, located at the municipal building.

Hart has been easing into her new job unofficially for about two weeks — learning her role from her predecessor, Ann Powell, who is shifting her attention to overseeing Latrobe’s new storm water management program.

Latrobe is proposing to share Hart’s services and compensation costs with the smaller nearby community of Derry Borough, where she resides.

According to city manager Michael Gray, Latrobe presented Derry with a proposed cooperation agreement that would have her working 30 hours per week for the city and 10 hours per week for the borough.

“We’re going to be very flexible between both,” Gray said of the two municipalities.

Derry council has yet to vote on the agreement, but Al Checca, vice president of the borough panel, said he believes “everything’s a go.”

Checca said having a local worker should allow for a quicker turnaround in addressing code and zoning issues compared to Derry’s previous provider, which offers services to multiple communities.

“A resident can actually dial up and speak to a code officer,” Checca said. “It’s a better way of taking care of our community.

“It’s a win-win. It helps Latrobe and it helps us. I think this is going to be the wave of the future, for small communities to help one another.”

Hart noted her new job involves physically moving to an office down the hall and switching jurisdictions from state government to local government.

But, she noted, “It’s still in the governmental element. I’m in the business of helping people. Problem-solving is what I do.”

During her year and a half working for Petrarca, a Democrat who was defeated in his re-election bid last year, Hart helped in efforts to land state grants for Latrobe and other communities, she said. Previously, she worked for eight years as an aide to former state Rep. Dave Reed, an Indiana County Republican.

Hart said she plans to enroll in continuing education, to attain certifications in the zoning and code enforcement field.