NORWICH – Chenango County Fire and Building Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Bates has left his position after 10 years of service to the county, and officials are having a difficult time finding a qualified replacement.

Bates served as code enforcement officer for the previous four years and was a building inspector with the Department of Public Health prior to that. During his time with the department, Bates achieved both his associate’s and bachelor’s degree, taking weekend and night time classes, which ultimately led him to his current appointment as code officer.

Bates’ last day at codes will be Aug. 29. After that, he will take a position with the Town of Ithaca as its director of code enforcement. He said the new job will nearly double his current county salary, which is just shy of $40,000.

“It’s been a learning experience working for Chenango County, and I’ll be taking those experiences with me to greener pastures,” said Bates.

In Wednesday’s Chenango County Safety and Rules Committee meeting, Department of Health Director Marcas Flindt informed the committee that a replacement for the Civil Service position may be difficult to find since no current employee in the department met the perequisites of both education and experience. Flindt also told the committee they had lost Bates because they couldn’t compete with the competitive pay scales offered in other counties.