The topic of legislation proposed by Mayor Peter Wilson has been a hot-button issue since Wilson brought the idea to council last year. Village landlords and residents have expressed support and pushed back at that idea in a series of council meetings, committee of the whole meetings and most recently a safety committee meeting.

It was at the safety committee meeting that council decided there was a need for a rental registry in the village and a yearly registration fee per rental unit.

“The census that something needs to be done is much appreciated,” Wilson said. “I look forward to moving forward on this. I would hope to have a proposal from council within a month.”

Marty Grimm of the Columbiana County Community Action Agency spoke in favor of regulations at Tuesday’s meeting. She said, in her experience, proactive solutions are a better approach rather than a complaint-based system. The CAA performs habitability housing inspections in the county.

Councilman and Safety Committee Chair Jerry Cox discusses rental regulations during Tuesday’s council meeting. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

“Last year, we did 70 inspections in Columbiana County and only 10 failed our basic inspection, and of those only two landlords were unwilling to make repairs needed to pass,” Grimm said. “The most common deficiencies were GFI outlets near water, some paint issues and working windows and sometimes some electrical concerns. Many times it is not large items, it’s the little ones that make the property livable or unlivable for individuals.”

Grimm also said that inspections are the only way to truly see what goes on behind closed doors or what tenants face behind those doors.

“These are conditions that many of us in this room have never lived in but [the tenants] may feel they don’t have any other options,” Grimm said.

Grimm went on to describe those conditions.

“One was infested with cockroaches to the point that it had to be treated twice before it would pass. It was occupied by a grandmother that had custody of a child under the age of 5,” she said. “Another had a hole in the bathroom floor upstairs in an upstairs unit where you could see the living room downstairs. The family living in that unit included a veteran. There was a ceiling that was completely caved in with the insulation hanging down to the floor. That was an elderly woman. There was a crooked foundation with a hole in the floor covered by a rug. There was a family with young children living in that home. And then there were vines growing under the front door that were going under the carpet in the living room with a disabled veteran. What we typically see is that the units with most deficiencies are in communities that don’t have any standards.”

Melissa Hiner, Linda Donnalley and Jerry Cox make up the safety committee and shared with Wilson and the rest of council what was kicked around at their committee meeting. The ideas included extended outreach education, an online link for both tenants and landlords for the village landlords that would better explain their rights under current Ohio Revised Code, taking deposits for water service from future residents to combat the problem of unpaid bills left by tenants and a rental property registry that would include a $25 annual fee.

The safety committee supports a complaint system. When a complaint is received, that property would undergo a mandatory inspection. The funds generated by the yearly $25 rental registration fee that all landlords would be required to pay would be enough to cover inspections on an as-needed basis.

Wilson was asking for $60 per unit and the establishment of a housing department within the village.

Donnalley said no matter what action council decides to take, some would be unhappy but the complaint-based inspections and the $25 fee is “a good place to start.”

Cox said the village should consider using the CAA for the inspections — something Grimm said was possible but had to first be approved by the CAA board.

“Correct me if I am wrong here, but what we’re concerned about is that sewage is hooked up, that’s not running from the second floor to the basement, that we have running water, we have heat, we have electricity, we have smoke alarms and we have fire extinguishers,” Cox said. “That being said, if we have the CAA who’s got a program already together, why not contract them.”

Cox added that Hiner, Donnalley and himself have “a lot of homework to do” regarding the proposal but should have no problem submitting one to council within the month requested by Wilson. The proposal is expected on April 8.

In related matters, council heard from residents regarding the condition of homes on Pritchard Avenue and Sherman Street.

Village resident Donna St. Clair again called on council to put rental regulations in place. St. Clair said she’s been “fighting for five years” over the condition of a house near here.

“Nobody in this room would want to live by or deal with what I have to live by and deal with,” she said. “I don’t know what to do anymore. I like where I live. When my husband passed away in 2003, I vowed to finish my house and stay here, but now I am regretting that decision.”

Police chief Mike Abraham said letters have been sent out to address both properties – one privately owned/occupied and the rental property near St. Clair — and that progress has been made towards cleanup of both. Abraham encouraged residents who see a zoning violation to notify his department — particularly when there is an accumulation of raw garbage.

Abraham also explained the citation process. First, he said, a letter is sent to the owner who then has 10-days to rectify the situation or a citation is issued, but he also added that issuing citations or jailing residents for noncompliance isn’t always the best solution. Often, Abraham said, he does what he can to help the residents himself – many who are elderly, single mothers or simply overwhelmed — clean up the property.

“The problem is it’s a mismedanor in the third degree, so I could cite her and I could take her to county jail,” Abraham said of the Pritchard Avenue property, but that doesn’t get the mess cleaned up and the village has to spend over a day for her incarceration. We might as well just pay for a dumpster ourselves and go down and clean-up. That’s why we try to work with people and try to get it done this way other then get the citation rolling and the courts get involved in it and we don’t anybody there to clean it up in the long run.”

Also at the meeting:

— Council approved a request by the village police department to update policies regarding charging for body cam footage and other republic record requests, allowing officers who retire from the force to purchase their service firearm at a cost of $1 and having all dispatchers become notary publics.

— Council received updates on the Grant Street Bridge, the Pritchard Avenue Bridge and East Washington Street paving projects, the 2025 chip and seal program and the T-Mobile Grant.

— Council approved a request from the Little Blue Devils Football to use the Cedar Street Park as a practice field.

— Council accepted the resignation of a part-time police officer.

— Council approved repairs to the Dixon mower — costs will be shared by the Street and Water Departments.

— Jeff DeCort asked council to consider repaving the pickleball courts at Cedar Street Park.

— Council heard that the park committee hopes to locate the leak at the village pool even if repairs are put off until next year.

— A Street Committee meeting was set for 5:30 p.m. on March 19.

— The Board of Public Affairs reported that 15 letters of recommendation were received and submitted along with the grant application for the waterline expansion on state Route 45.

— Fiscal Office Tracey Wonner suggested that the amount deposited into the Capital Improvement Fund be reduced to help build back up the General Fund.

— The Street Committee reported that the department recently purchased a roller at the cost of $4,700 through an online auction.

selverd@mojonews.com