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SALEM -- The joint third party contracted commercial building department between Salem and Columbiana has officially opened its doors.
This comes following the approval of the department's proposed fee schedule by city council in its July 5 special meeting. With the final piece of legislation adopted, and state approval in place, the department officially opened its doors Monday and is ready to serve the Salem and Columbiana communities.
First discussed in a joint meeting of the Columbiana City Council and Salem Committee of the Whole May 9, the new department will contract services to the newly established third-party agency Elevate Building Solutions. While the department will only cover commercial building projects, it promises to have a much faster response and processing time over the state building department, which can take months before even beginning the inspection and permit process.
Elevate guarantees inspections within 48 hours of receiving application, and first comments on the inspection of plans for projects within 14 days. This represents a fraction of the multiple months it sometimes takes the state to process applications. The department's promises and operations come with no small amount of excitement from local developers, with SOD Center Executive Director Julie Needs previously noting that the disparity in processing time was so extreme she had spoken with developers who were waiting to submit applications for their projects on the mere possibility of the joint department beginning operations.
The department will be staffed by Building Official Rick Loconti, who will also act as inspector for the department; Permit Technician Lorie Bush; and Plans Examiner Mike Wildermuth, all overseen by Needs. Needs previously said that the staff at Elevate had 72 years of combined experience contracting building department services and 173 years of combined experience in the construction and architectural fields.
Housed in the SOD Center at 440 Pennsylvania Ave., Elevate will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Inspection hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For the first three years of the department's operation Salem and Columbiana will each contribute $25,000 per year in startup funding, in addition to startup funding from the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center; with a goal of the department being fully self-funding within three years through the department's permit and inspection fees. All project fees will also be subject to an additional 3% assessment fee by the state.
Additionally, with the joint department now in place all project applications within both cities should be sent to Elevate, rather than to the state. Needs previously said that after a transition period the state department would begin to refuse any applications from within the joint department's service area, redirecting them to Elevate directly.
For further information or inquiries visit Elevate's website at www.elevatebuildings.com, or contact them by phone at 330-537-1536.