Lima provides info on building inspections

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert City Council approved amended legislation setting hours of closing for city parks and also heard a presentation from the Lima-Allen County Building Department during its meeting Monday evening.

Council unanimously approved Ordinance 19-07-038, which sets hours of operation for city parks, on first and final reading under its consent agenda. The legislation mandates that all city parks be closed from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. each day. In addition, the measure adds Franklin Park to the list of city parks affected, while deleting Memorial Park, which is now owned by American Legion Post 178 in Van Wert.

Chief Building Official Amy Harpster and Assistant Administrator Douglas Ditto, PE, provided information on Lima-Allen County Building Department services, whose staff is fully certified to provide building, electrical, mechanical, fire alarms, and sprinkler inspections. Ditto noted that the department is not yet certified to do plumbing inspections, but noted he is working to add that service to the department.

The department now provides building permit and inspection services for the City of Lima, unincorporated areas of Allen County, and the villages of Beaverdam, Elida, Harrod, and Lafayette, but is looking to add other municipalities that don’t currently have their own building inspection staffs.

Harpster said the department currently has an average turnaround time of 14 days for inspections, but can work with customers who need next-day inspections and same-day emergency inspections, for example.

“We want to make sure our customers’ projects stay on track,” she noted.

The Lima-based department also can provide video/remote inspections for quicker turnaround on eligible projects.

Van Wert County has been considering a contract with another city’s building department to provide building inspection services because of the slow turnaround time for state building inspectors to provide that service. However, without the City of Van Wert, where approximately 90 percent of building inspections are done, such a contract would not be worth the effort.

City officials heard a presentation from the Miami County Building Department in June on providing inspection services to the city, and must now decide whether to go with that county or the Lima-Allen County Building Department. Whichever agency is selected would add Van Wert County as a sub-building department and could then issue building permits and conduct inspections locally. The county and city would be charged for the service, which is paid for by fees levied on contractors and property owners seeking building inspections.

Council members did prepare a resolution related to the building inspection contract, but have not yet decided which county department will provide the services.

Also Monday, Council learned from Economic Development Director Stacy Adam that the Van Wert County Port Authority has agreed to pay for more than $100,000 in repair costs for a warning signal placed on the railroad spur that provides rail service to the megasite, but would have to be the sole owner of the spur to do so.

Currently three entities, the City of Van Wert, the Port Authority, and the Community Improvement Corporation, each own a portion of the rail spur, with the city also owning an easement along the spur, according to Adam.

A few years ago, damage was done to the crossing signal, which was then removed until repairs could be completed. The Port Authority has now committed to making the costly repairs, but ownership of the spur would need to be consolidated.

According to Adam, the Port Authority seeks ownership so that it can generate revenue by storing rail cars along the spur. The sale of the city’s portion would be for $1 to the CIC, which would then transfer the spur to the Port Authority.

Mayor Jerry Mazur was all for making the move, since the city doesn’t have the money to repair the signal itself.

“I think we should give (the Port Authority) a dollar to take it off our hands,” he noted.

However, a survey of the property would need to be done, Adam said, before the sale could be completed.

City Council voted 6-0 (Councilman At-Large Warren Straley was absent) to prepare an ordinance authorizing the sale.

During his report, Health-Service Safety Committee Chair Bill Marshall reminded city trash haulers that all vehicles used to haul trash in the city must be inspected and certified. Marshall said a trash hauler was recently cited for using an uncertified vehicle to haul trash within the city.

He also noted that another, new trash hauler had been storing trash collected at his residence, which is also a no-no.

Council members also discussed how a communitywide trash collection event might be handled. Council President Jon Tomlinson had earlier suggested that the city conduct a one-day annual communitywide trash collection for items too large, such as appliances or old furniture, or that are not appropriate for residential trash collection.

City officials had first thought about leasing a large dumpster and using city workers or volunteers to conduct the collection. However, the local transfer station has also volunteered to open for a weekend to allow city residents to bring those items there. The transfer station would set minimum and maximum fees it would charge the city for the service, so that the city could budget for the cost of the collection, while any expenses over the maximum fee would be absorbed by the transfer station.

City officials will now decide which option they feel would be most cost-effective. 

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, August 12, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St.