North Liberty ties building permits with city licenses

NORTH LIBERTY - The City Council has passed an ordinance requiring all contractors working in North Liberty to get a city license before they can get a building permit.

The council Tuesday night voted 3-1, with Terry Donahue opposed and Chris Hoffman absent, to approve it.

The ordinance takes effect in January but for now requires that contractors work in good faith with the community during a probationary period while a licensing procedure is developed. Testing for licenses would likely start in 2017.

he plan is to tie the city-issued contractor's license to building permits, meaning that if a contractor has had violations, has failed to complete projects or received complaints from the public, the city administrator will have the power to issue warnings, revoke a contractor's license or deny license applications.

Currently, building permits have to be approved as long as they are properly submitted. But under the new ordinance, the city license will be required to receive a building permit.