MADEIRA - This small city of about 9,000 residents joined a mutual aid contract for building inspectors this week, joining a growing number of Southwest Ohio communities.

        Committing to the contract established by the SouthWestern Ohio Building Officials Association (SWOBOA) means that, should a natural disaster strike, the other 13 communities will rush to Madeira's aid.

        In exchange, Madeira's building official, Bill Fiedler, will offer reciprocal aid by helping inspect homes in other communities to make sure they're livable if touched by tornadoes, flooding or even a train wreck.

        “We'd all go in and help that building official with respect to reviewing buildings,” he said. “It's all common sense and safety.”

        City Manager Tom Moeller urged council members to join the contract.

        “Usually, a community has just one building inspector,” he said. “That puts a tremendous amount of stress (on) those two communities. Now we're saying we're going to share building inspectors in case of a catastrophic event.”

        An April 1998 twister destroyed homes in Blue Ash. City Manager Marvin Thompson remembers that communities throughout the region, including those near Dayton, offered help.

        They weren't all part of SWOBOA's contract but they helped the city recover, he said. “When there's a disaster like that, everyone pitches in and helps,” he said.

        Tonia Edwards, Hamilton County building commissioner, said many smaller communities struggle to cope with natural disasters.

        “In times of disaster, the smaller jurisdictions are overwhelmed,” she said. “If you're a much smaller jurisdiction, you could easily become overwhelmed by the work load and you could not serve the public very well.”

        Under the agreement, participating communities are helped by those larger than their own. For example, Cincinnati's building staff lent a helping hand to Loveland when homes there suffered tornado damage in 1998.

        Communities participating in the mutual aid agreement include Cincinnati, Cheviot, Fairfield, Middletown, Forest Park, and Hamilton and Clermont counties.

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