DAYTON-Clint Atteberry is well into his second year working out of the county Planning and Building Department as the Code Enforcement Officer for both the City of Dayton and Columbia County.

Atteberry said he patrols all eight zones in the city, tackling one zone every day, looking for violations of Dayton's municipal code. He also investigates citizen complaints for both the city and county.

"It's an ongoing process," said Atteberry. "We're doing everything by the code, and I'm doing as much training as I can to make things more proficient."

The Code Compliance Focus for this month is on trees. In past months the focus has been on animals, tall grass, RVs and other items addressed by the code.

As if that weren't enough to keep him busy, the titles of Building Inspector and Fire Marshall have been added to Atteberry's list of duties.

Atteberry said he received his Building Inspection Certification, through the International Building Code Council, in April of this year. He is now responsible for building inspection in Dayton and Columbia County, along with Waitsburg and Garfield County.

Atteberry is also on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to investigate fires, whenever the cause is not immediately known. Atteberry said he is certified in basic fire investigation from training he received in May at the N.W. Fire Symposium.

"We also inspect commercial cooking hoods, fire suppression, large fire alarms and sprinkler systems. I used to install commercial fire alarm systems, so I am very familiar with them," said Atteberry. "It is just easier to have Building Services and Fire Marshall combined," he explained.

Atteberry said Dena Martin, also in the Planning Department, helps manage his schedule as he moves from job to job.

Atteberry added that the work he does is about community safety and making sure people have a safe place to live. Enforcing city codes protects the values and aesthetics of property, as well.