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MINUTES OF THE HOUSING COMMITTEE July 22, 2019 East Conference Room Present: Councilmembers Anderson, O’Malley & Rader Also Present: Councilmember Bullock, Assistant Law Director Swallow, Building Commissioner Joe Meyers, Police Captain Wilkins, and a couple members of the public Call to Order: 6:00 p.m. AGENDA Approval of the minutes of the May 6, 2019 Housing Committee meeting. Chairman Anderson made a motion to approve the minutes from the committee’s last meeting on th May 6, which was seconded by Councilman Rader. All members voting yea. Motion passed. ORDINANCE 18-19-AN ORDINANCE amending Chapter 1323, Registration of Contractors, of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Lakewood to require contractors registered with the City to receive a training or orientation to be provided by the City. stnd (Placed on 1reading and referred to Housing Committee 6/3/19; 2reading 6/17/19) The committee posed questions regarding the registration of contractors on the state level of government.Building Commissioner Meyers stated that the licensing of contractors is handled at the state level by the Ohio Department of Commerce and the Ohio Construction Industry’s Licensing Board, whichhas supervision over specialty contractors. These licensing agencies ensure that contractors in specific trades have the required competency and certain level of education needed to complete quality work. Local municipalities used to handle these tasks, but the state took over in order to standardize the process and ease the burden on contractors. There was discussion among the committee regarding the process of registering contractors, the fees related with doing so, etc.It was clarified by the BuildingDepartment that sub-contractors are required to register with the city. If a sub-contractor has 5 employees or less, he or she would just register as a contractor, with no tax ID number needed.Chairman Anderson concluded that being registered in Lakewoodfunctions as a de facto license. Members of the committee had questions regarding specifics in the legislation, such as defining a contractor orientation program and what percentage of contractors do not require a license. Commissioner Meyers guessed that about 30% do not require a state license because they are general contractors. Commissioner Meyers presented a list a questions he and his department had about the legislation, such as has public opinion or contractor input been sought, have other cities implemented this type of ordinance, etc. He added that one of the problems the Building Department sees is not shoddy contracting, but homeowners obtaining permits for contractors that are not registered with the city and call the department, looking to be bailed out, when the agreed upon work has not been completed.