Newly chosen codes director knows city well

A Bedford County native will be returning home to fill the position of Director of Codes and Planning for Shelbyville.

W. Edward Dodson, who currently lists his home address as Atlanta, has been selected for the job, following interviews with six applicants, according to city recorder Betty Lamb.

"All of the applicants did very well on their interviews and this was not an easy decision," Lamb wrote in a letter to the mayor and city council members regarding the selection.

Dodson is in the process of purchasing property and relocating back to Shelbyville, Lamb said.

He is a certified architect by profession, is licensed in both Tennessee and Georgia and Lamb stated that Dodson "comes highly recommended and I believe he will be a good fit for the Codes and Planning Department."

Dodson will be on six months probation, as are all city employees when they are hired, and will have a starting salary of $40,000.

He should be available to begin work shortly after Jan. 1.

Lamb said that Dodson recently worked on the new MTSU Satellite School that is to be located off of Union Street and also has knowledge of the city's building and codes requirements.

"He makes a good presentation and I believe he will be able to work well with the public and developers while making sure that the rules are adhered to and treating everybody the same," Lamb told council members.

Dodson graduated from Shelbyville Central High School in 1971 and was a member of the National Honor Society. In 1976, he received an Bachelor of Architecture degree, with honors, from the University of Tennessee.

Following graduation, he was employed with a variety of architectural firms in Tennessee and Georgia from 1977 until 2008, and was project designer on a number of structures in Nashville such as the H.G. Hill Shopping Center, Bordeaux Hospital and restoration of four buildings in the Second Avenue Historical District.

He was also the project manager or architect for buildings in Atlanta, Raleigh, Jacksonville, and Los Angeles.