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SALEM--The Committee of the Whole and the Columbiana City Council met in a joint session Tuesday to hear a new proposal for the implementation of a third party contracted building department for both cities.
The joint session, held at Salem's Sustainable Opportunity Center (SOD), saw SOD Executive Director Julie Needs make a presentation to both bodies to establish a new third-party agency under the supervision of the SOD Center named Elevate Building Solutions to contract building department services for the cities in accordance with revised code.
Salem previously considered such an arrangement with SAFEbuilt in 2019. However, unlike the arrangement discussed in 2019, Elevate Building Solutions would be providing oversight solely for commercial projects, and not residential, eliminating the associated additional fees which proved controversial in the past.
Needs said that in the past there had been two primary issues in successfully implementing such a program: securing the necessary funding, and acquiring the required personnel. Needs said that most contractors require oversight of both commercial and residential projects when providing building department services for the costs of operation to be worth it. However, she said that after five years of investigation and planning she was confident they had developed a plan that could "get over those hurdles."
However, Needs also noted that for this plan to be successful both Salem and Columbiana would need to participate and collaborate.
"To make it a reality, it will take two cities, and an organization with the capacity and knowledge to develop and oversee the creation of this building department. Those two cities sit in front of me, Columbiana and Salem, and the organization is the SOD Center, a collaboration that will support the growth of our communities, that will set us apart, and will open opportunities we have not even imagined," said Needs.
Needs explained that under the plan, Salem and Columbiana would each contribute $25,000 per year in startup funding for three years, and that it was hoped with this funding in addition to a contribution of startup funds from the SOD Center directly that the department would be self-funding within three years. An ideal situation --once all necessary legislation had been passed and the cities' applications had been processed --the department could be ready to begin serving residents as early as July 1, and was hopeful to begin operating sometime this summer at the latest.
Needs said that the necessary staff had already been identified and had committed to the department and they would sign employment contracts once it has been confirmed that the two cities will be moving froward under the plan. The proposed department would be staffed by a primary and backup building official overseeing the department's plans examiners, building and electrical inspectors, and permit tech, all of whom would be housed in unused office space at the SOD Center. those identified to fill these roles had 72 years of combined experience contracting building department services and 173 years of combined experience in the construction and architectural fields.
"These are very experienced individuals, they've worked in multiple communities across the state of Ohio, they are very familiar with code, operating building departments, starting building departments; and they have all the required state certifications. Between the four of them they hold 19 different state certifications to provide our communities with a commercial building department," Needs said.
She also said the department would guarantee inspections within 48 hours of receipt, and first comments on the inspection of plans for projects within 14 days of receipt. This would represent a fraction of the multiple months it sometimes takes the state to process applications. Needs noted that the disparity was so extreme that there were contractors she had spoken to that were holding off on submitting their project applications on the possibility of a city department being opened.
"Time is money and if we want to set ourselves apart and continue to grow these are the services we need to be able to provide at the speed of business," she said.
Once the department had officially been established, and an appropriate transition period had been set with the state and published, contractors would have to submit their applications through the city department rather than the state. Once the transition period had elapsed the state would begin to redirect any applicants unaware of the change to the city department. However, those hoping to take advantage of these expedited processing times should hold off on submitting their applications, as once an application has been submitted to the state department it must remain with the state even if the city department is successfully implemented.
Near the meeting's conclusion both Salem Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey, and Columbiana Mayor Rick Noel voiced their enthusiastic support of the project, with Noel highlighting the similarities between the two communities and the possibility for future collaboration.
"We have a really unique opportunity here, we have two communities where people are looking to invest, and to come and do business, and it would really be advantageous to us to work together to make this happen and take full advantage of this time. With all the grant money out there, all the push for industrialization and project sites, we really want to take advantage of this; and what better opportunity than two communities like our who are focused on the same types of things to come together to do this and to make it affordable for each of us," Dickey said.
"There's so many opportunities, and I think there's more than just this. It's so refreshing for our council members to get an opportunity to meet one another in person, because I can see this becoming a long-term partnership, and we're really very excited about this project," Noel said.
Both bodies passed motions directing the drafting of all required legislation and expressing their intent to move forward with the project. It should be noted that each city council will need to pass all required legislation prior to the submission of their city's application to the state for the project, and that the SOD Center is hopeful to submit both applications simultaneously.
The Salem and Columbiana City Councils both meet next at 7 p.m. May 16.