The Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments is set to receive almost $400,000 in grant money to bolster code enforcement staff.

The state Office of Policy Management announced Friday $1.85 million in grant money to regional councils of governments, including $1.5 million to the Western Connecticut Council of Governments to “build and operate a regional firearms training facility for law enforcement agencies,” according to a news release from the office.

The $395,079 for the SCCOG will allow the regional council of governments to “hire building officials and zoning/wetlands enforcement staff to contract out to member municipalities for regular monthly hours, including inspections and fieldwork, office hours and board/commission meetings,” according to the release.

Executive Director of the SCCOG Amanda Kennedy said this is not the first time the council has received grants to help conduct work that promotes the regionalization of services. But it’s the first year that the grant funding will go toward staffing to provide direct service.

Kennedy says several towns in the region are struggling with code enforcement officer and building inspector vacancies, in part because towns can’t afford them. Building inspectors must be licensed by the state, and the licensing process can be long and arduous, Kennedy said.

Bozrah, Griswold, Preston, Ledyard, Franklin, Lisbon and North Stonington will all benefit from this year’s grant, she added. Some towns will receive staffing support for both building and zoning enforcement officials; other towns will receive one or the other.

“It adds up to about one-and-a-half full time people” who will service all the towns, Kennedy said. “So what we’re envisioning is to fill a full-time building official position, and then to have in our staff capacity someone who can do zoning enforcement at about half of their time.”

The council has already been providing similar services since last year to three or four towns in the region, with independent contractors on contract with the Council.

This year’s grant money is meant to build a foundation for a regional zoning enforcement and building inspection program which towns that want to participate will pay into. The amount of money expected from towns for the program has yet to be determined.

The town of Preston has had a hard time finding code enforcement inspectors as of late. First Selectwoman Sandra Allyn-Gauthier said the grant is “great news” and that SCCOG has been working on securing it for the past few months.

“Code enforcement is an area where we felt regionalizing and sharing services would be of benefit as a SCCOG member,” Allyn-Gauthier wrote in an email to The Day.

Allyn-Gauthier said the council applied for this grant several years ago, “but COVID hit and the state ended up not funding the grants at that time (based on my recollection)…with zoning enforcement certification being required this should be helpful in that area too.”

“By collaborating regionally on these essential services, these towns will each save taxpayer money while eliminating redundancy and wasteful spending,” Governor Ned Lamont said in the news release.

The grant money is coming from the Regional Performance Incentive Program, which was established in 2007 and is meant to foster regional participation for shared services. It is also meant to lower tax burdens that would otherwise be required for such services.

Claire Bessette contributed to this report.

s.spinella@theday.com