MEDINA, Ohio -- After 12 years with the city, Medina Building Department employee Tom Cromer has earned a certification that will allow the department to be self-sufficient.
“That is rare for a city the size of Medina,” Building Official Dan Gladish said. “Typically, this is something you see only in larger cities like Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.”
Gladish explained that Cromer recently tested and was approved to become a chief building official -- the highest certification available from the Ohio Board of Building Standards.
“Tom started with the city as a property maintenance and zoning code enforcement inspector and as a building inspector,” Gladish said.
“During his early years with the city, Tom joined an on-the-job mentoring program where he could receive five to 10 years of on-the-job training. And in that time, he received certifications in plumbing, electrical and HVAC and now chief building official.
“I want to congratulate him on earning this accomplishment.”
With Cromer earning this final certification, Medina has the ability to maintain its building standards independently.
Gladish said smaller communities are generally required to have certain redundancies in place when it comes to personnel certifications.
Because of that, they often have to work with other municipalities.
He said Medina has had written agreements with the Brunswick and Medina County building departments to help each other meet those redundancies.
“Even now that we are completely self-sufficient, we will continue with those agreements with both Brunswick and the Medina County building departments to provide the necessary personnel redundancies,” he said.
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