In many towns, the jobs end up going to someone who already does other municipal work. Brattleboro Town Manager Jerry Remillard doubles as the town's inspector of lumber, shingles and wood. In his five years in the latter post, Remillard said, he's never been called upon to inspect any wood. Those looking for a title without much duty attached have a range of jobs to seek, which towns are required to have under often archaic state law. There's the fence viewer, three in each town, actually who examine fence lines between properties and decide which property owner should build or maintain the fence.
Good fences make good neighbors, after all.
When looking at lumber or shingles, the inspector can charge 25 cents for every 1,000 feet measured. For over 30 years, it's never been used. Conservationists intend to hold a 24-hour mating marathon on St Valentine's Day in a bid to boost numbers of Britain's endangered water voles. Mammals Trust UK will match 30 voles at a secret hideaway in Herne Bay, Kent, at noon on Tuesday. Vole populations has been devastated in recent years by the destruction of their habitat and an increase in the numbers of predatory mink and now the trust's initiative to breed them in captivity for the first time is intended to reverse that process.