Board approves contract with city

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority board has approved a six-month rental-unit inspection contract with the city, under which the city will pay the authority $15 per unit inspected.

Under the program, the city hopes to inspect annually an estimated 6,000 privately owned rental apartments and houses, but landlords have filed a lawsuit to block the city’s new rental-property registration and inspection program.

The authority will use three or four federally certified, part-time housing quality inspectors who will be employed by the Callos Personnel Services temporary agency.

They’ll be paid $9 to $11 per hour, and YMHA will pay Callos $1 to $2 per hour, with the rest of the money going for the inspectors’ gasoline and incidental expenses, Clifford Scott, the authority’s executive director, said Tuesday.

Inspection of each unit is expected to take about 30 minutes, with the inspectors taking photos for the city, he said.

The city hopes the inspections can begin in about two to three weeks, said Judy Carlin, the authority’s legal counsel and director of human resources. “We want to be a good partner to the city,” she said.

“How are we going to make money, and what’s the benefit to the housing authority at $15 per inspection?” asked Harry Johnson, board vice chairman.

“This isn’t a money-making program for the housing authority,” Carlin replied.

“It shouldn’t be a losing proposition, either,” Johnson responded.

“We believe we’ll be able to cover the costs,” as long as scheduled inspections are clustered near one another on each inspection trip, Carlin told Johnson, who ended up voting for the contract.

Either the city or the authority may cancel the contract upon 14 days’ notice, Carlin added.