04/28/2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MINUTES APRIL 28, 2003 APPROVED 813 Mayor Bergeson stated that infrequency is not a good reason to not sprinkle, and he thinks the issue is •14 one of feasibility. If small private hangars are unheated and the only option is an unheated well, it is 815 difficult to comply. He thinks the effort to expand the use of sprinkling is a good one, but questions 816 how to do that practically. 817 818 Councilmember Reinert stated he does not think they have an answer to why private buildings of 819 2000 square feet are now commercial and have to be sprinkled, and if they are going to impose 820 $20,000 or more on seven residents, he believes they need to know that. 821 822 City Attorney Hawkins reiterated that when they adopt the building code, they do not have the option 823 to change the wording. He stated he does not know if there is an exception for water supply, but they 824 can look at that. 825 826 Mayor Bergeson asked if they did not adopt this Chapter, what they would lose. Fire Chief Bennett 827 indicated they would be backing off of sprinklers in a lot of areas, and it would be a big step back. 828 City Administrator Waite Smith added that the Joint Powers agreement indicates the City has to adopt 829 it. Fire Chief Bennett agreed. He stated right now the fire department does not worry about 830 commercial buildings because they are sprinkled. He noted hangars are one little piece of what is 831 covered in this chapter, and he would not want commercial businesses slipping through the cracks. 832 He suggests the hangar owners pull permits in the next 30 days. 833 834 Councilmember Carlson asked Fire Chief Bennett to address the successfulness of sprinklers. Fire 835 Chief Bennett cited an example of a daycare center with a tanning salon attached. When the building 1,36 changed uses to the daycare, they required it be retrofitted with sprinklers. There was a fire in the 37 tanning salon, but it had extinguished itself before the fire department could get there, and the daycare 838 business was operating the next day. The tanning salon had minor carpet damage and little else. He 839 stated that without sprinklers, there is damage done before they get there, and while they are setting 840 up, however with sprinklers the fire is usually out before they arrive and the fire department just helps 841 the business squeegee things out. 842 843 Mayor Bergeson asked if there was any alternative to high pressure sprinklers. Fire Chief Bennett 844 indicated there were different kinds of systems, but he does not have clear information, and does not 845 know if any of them would be cheaper. He knows you can have dry systems, and can have systems 846 on a well. He indicated another option would be an arrangement like they made with the school 847 district. He indicated the City Council passed a resolution and asked the State Fire Marshall for a 848 variance. He is not sure if this would work, but they could try it. 849 850 Mayor Bergeson asked if they had a deadline to pass this. Fire Chief Bennett indicated that anything 851 on the table before it passed would be grandfathered under the old code, so he would like to see it 852 passed soon. Mayor Bergeson asked how many of the hangars were already at their maximum size. 853 City Planner Smyser did not have specifics, however he stated they were all over 2000 square feet, 854 but not all at the maximum size, so they could have additions that would put them under the new code 855 requirements. 856 857 City Attorney Hawkins indicated they could get building permits within the 30 day timeframe. 858 Councilmember O'Donnell asked how long the permit would be valid. He wants people to 1.59 understand if they pull a permit with no plans to build, it would only be valid for a defined period of 60 time. City Planner Smyser added they would need engineering plans to request the permit. 18