Council splits on building inspection issue

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council again discussed the building inspection services issue, with Council obviously split on whether to continue with state inspections or become a sub-department of Miami or Allen county’s building departments, while Council members also heard some concerns from residents of Rosalie Drive.

The discussion, which has stretched over the past two months, took up more than 20 minutes of Monday night’s meeting, with County Commissioners Thad Lichtensteiger and Todd Wolfrum attending the meeting to provide their input on the issue.

A group of Council members that includes Third Ward Councilman Ken Markward and Councilmen At-Large Warren Straley and Joel Penton seems to feel that a majority of local contractors are happy using the current state inspection system. That is largely based on an informal survey taken by Markward to which five contractors responded.

The other four Council members appear to be leaning toward approval of a county contract with Miami County’s building department to provide inspection services. Both commissioners said area counties using Miami County are pleased with the services provided by that county, with Lichtensteiger saying none of those counties would even consider returning to having building inspections done by the state.

“The counties using it say they wouldn’t go back,” the commissioner noted, adding none of the counties had any regrets about having Miami County perform building inspections for them.

There could be some additional charges, though, if the city opts to not use state building inspections, since the state doesn’t charge for re-inspections, while Miami and Allen counties both do. The city is not liable for any expense of the building inspection program, which would bill those requiring inspections.

Also Monday, several property owners from Rosalie Drive attended the Council meeting to, first, thank the city for taking care of most of the drainage problems on that street. However, residents were concerned about when street repairs needed after the drainage work would be done.

Safety-Service Director Jay Fleming acknowledged that an initial bid by the Shelley Company to repair the street was rejected because it was more than 10 percent higher than the engineering estimate for the project.

Other bids have been sought for the project, and among bids to be opened on September 4, Fleming said. If a bid for street repairs is within the threshold this time, the safety-service director said it would be accepted the next day. The problem in finding a suitable bid, Fleming said, is mostly because of the booming economy, since smaller projects such as the Rosalie Drive repairs is often not big enough to draw enough contractors to make the cost competitive.

Council also moved forward with its scheduled Clean Up Day on Saturday, September 28, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Young’s Trash Inc.’s transfer station, approving an resolution authorizing the event. Council President Jon Tomlinson stressed that the special collection day is not for the types of trash usually collected each week by local trash haulers, but for larger items not accepted weekly, such as appliances, furniture, and other electronic items.

Rich Riley of Young’s said he was pleased to participate in the Clean Up Day and hoped it would become an annual city event.

Legislatively, Council also approved three financial housekeeping measures, including a transfer involving the Hotel-Motel Tax Fund, several supplemental appropriations, and acceptance of city tax rates established by the County Tax Commission.

Council also approved the administrative sale of the railroad spur going to the megasite to the Community Improvement Corporation, which would then deed it to the County Port Authority.

Council also heard about an Eagle Scout project on city property and heard Fleming talk about a fish kill that occurred at the city reservoir that was attributed to natural events.

The next regular Van Wert City Council meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday, September 9, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St., with a special “committee of the whole” meeting set for 6 p.m. Thursday, August 29, to hear a presentation by the Ohio Municipal League on establishing a charter form of government.