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Construction Board of Adjustment Minutes - 03/23/2022 MINUTES CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT March 23, 2022 PRESENT: James Cox •Member Michael Grassi • Member David Hartwell •Member Pete Johnson •Member Leo Lane *Chairman Allen Moore •Member Gary Oatman •Member Luke Oechsner • Member Ripley Tate •Member Tanner Wachsman •Member James McKechnie, Deputy City Attorney •City Staff Paul Menzies, Assistant City Manager • Terry Floyd, Development Services Director ♦ Wayne Smith, Chief Building Official • Ken Prillaman, Fire Chief ♦ Cody Melton, Fire Marshal • Ricky Horton, Plans Examiner • Christal Ashcraft, Development Services Assistant ♦ ABSENT: Anthony Inman •Vice-Chair Doug Marchand •Member Johnny Ozee •Member Councilor Browning •Council Liaison I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mr. Leo Lane, chairman of the board at 3:00 p.m. III. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chairman Lane asked if there were any comments from the public. With no response, Mr. Lane closed public comments. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Michael Grassi made a motion to accept the October 24th, 2014 minutes. Mr. Luke Oechsner seconded, motion passed 8-0. Mr. Ripley Tate made a motion to accept the January 6th, 2022 minutes. Mr. Allen Moore seconded, the motion passed 8-0. VII. REGULAR AGENDA A. Discussion and Possible Action on Amending the Current Building Codes Construction Board of Adjustments 2 March 23, 2022 Chief Building Inspector, Wayne Smith, presented updates and brief overview of previously held sub-committee pre-code meetings, what was discussed and attendance. International Building Code (IBC) had an initial meeting held January 24th, 2022 and a 2nd meeting held February 14th, 2022. International Residential Code (IRC) had an initial meeting held January 31st 2022. International Plumbing Code (IPC), International Mechanical Code (IMC) & International Fuel & Gas Code (IFGC) had an initial meeting on February 7tn 2022. National Electric Code (NEC) had an initial meeting on February 22nd, 2022. International Existing Building Code (IEBC) held its initial meeting on February 28th, 2022. The last meeting held was for the International Swimming Pool & Spa Code (ISPSC) on March 7th, 2022. Mr. Smith advised this would be a new code for the City of Wichita Falls that currently did not have in place, which is being proposed by the State. The 2018 version is what would need to be adopted. Mr. Smith stated there was one amendment being proposed to this code which was requested by the Health Department. The amendment would roughly read "Section 324.8.2.3 — Pool equipment stored in a storage area with a gas fired heater will be required to have a carbon monoxide detector installed". The Health Department is still reviewing this code and could possibly have more revisions/request in the future. Chairman Lane had a brief discussion with Mr. Smith regarding if the State requirements versus the proposed amendment on the carbon monoxide detector. Mr. Smith gave a proposed schedule of future meeting dates for review of the proposed new code for CBOA recommendation; Monday April 4th - IECC Residential Provisions Monday April 11th — IECC Commercial Provisions Monday April 18th— NEC (council chambers meeting) Monday April 25th - IFC Thursday April 28th — Follow up IPC- IMC - IFGC Monday May 2nd - IBC Final Meeting Thursday May 5th - IRC Final Meeting Monday May 9th - IPC — IMC — IFGC Final Meeting Thursday May 12th — NEC Final Meeting Monday May 16th — IEBC Final Meeting Thursday May 19th — ISPSC Final Meeting May 23th — IFC Final Meeting Monday June 6th— CBOA Meeting for recommendation Construction Board of Adjustments 3 March 23, 2022 Chairman Lane asked the Board if there were any comments/questions/concerns. Mr. Oechsner asked if the National Electric Code Adoption Meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 24th, had been canceled. Mr. Smith responded that it had been canceled until further direction could be obtained in this meeting, also noting the meetings were scheduled too close together and moving at a faster pace than expected. Chairman Lane asked about the max limit on board members attending the sub-committee meetings. Mr. Smith advised the limit was four members. Chairman Lane asked if a board member was absent from the sub-committee meeting and another member wished to attend how they would know without having to show up and possible be turned away. Mr. Smith advised they could reach out by phone or email to Ms. Christal Ashcraft, Development Services Administrative Assistant at any time for help regarding attendance. Mr. Moore asked if a scheduled member showed up after a non-scheduled member signed in, who would be allowed to stay. Mr. Smith advised the scheduled member would stay. Mr. Michael Grassi stated the City of Wichita Falls exceeded the State minimums and were more stringent than peer cities when it came to building codes. Mr. Grassi asked if it was prudent to continue with the code adoption process, especially the NEC. Mr. Smith stated he would like to have something to present to the City Council and that he had very positive interactions regarding the IBC and the public wanting to move forward with the adoption of that code. Mr. Smith advised this did not mean they could not adopt other codes and leave the NEC as it was, if that is what the Board recommended moving forward. Mr. Smith stated he would like to continue the discussion on the individual codes and have the support of the Board when presenting the City Council as that has been the standard, in the City of Wichita Falls since the International Codes have been in place, in which the new code would be adopted every other code cycle. Mr. Smith noted there were other options available if the Board was not in agreement of adopting the codes as presented, this was just the standard for the last 22 years. Chairman Lane asked what cycle the City was on for NEC, Mr. Smith advised they were on the 2017 code of NEC. Mr. Terry Floyd, Director of Development Services, stated the pretense of this item was for the CBOA and staff to be all in accordance with moving forward on adopting the new International Codes. Mr. Floyd wanted to open discussions to help clarify any details or address any issues and continue moving forward with the adoption, if the Board was in agreement on staff continuing to work on bringing a recommendation to the Board for their recommendation to City Council. Mr. Moore asked if at this time the Board could make a motion to not move forward with adopting the 2021 code at all, to which Mr. Floyd advised that was correct. Mr. Moore clarified that the Board Construction Board of Adjustments 4 March 23, 2022 could take a vote on said motion at that time. Mr. James McKechnie, Deputy City Attorney, advised the language in the agenda would allow for the motion and voting of said item. Mr. Moore made the motion, "not to adopt the 2021 code, any of them" with a second from Mr. Tanner Wachsman. Chairman Lane opened up discussions to the Board. Chairman Lane clarified to Mr. Moore that his motion stated to not adopt any of the 2021 International Codes, to which he responded that was correct. Mr. Grassi asked if we currently did not met state code on swimming pools and spas. Mr. McKechnie stated that was correct, if the City were to continue enforcing standards for swimming pools as the code is written they would need to adopt the 2018 ISPSC. Mr. McKechnie stated they could call another meeting to bring that back or Mr. Moore could amend his motion to not move forward with any other codes except the ISPSC. Mr. Moore amended his motion stating, "drop the 2021 codes except for the pool and bring it to the 2018". Mr. Smith stated there was another option and wanted the Board to be fully aware there was positive feedback from the building code portion and if they wanted to retain 2015 standard on IRC because it was a standalone code they would need to make some changes to bring in some of the mechanical, plumbing and electrical provisions of that 2015 code but could leave the IRC were it stands and move forward with the IBC. Mr. Smith reiterated many design professionals and contractors are in favor of adopting the IBC because of the benefits it contains. Mr. Smith stated he believes there are also benefits in the IRC as well, however, if the Board was not in agreement, that could be set aside. That would mean staff would recommend adopting the IPC/MC/IFGC 2021 codes because those codes are direct references to the IBC where the IRC is a standalone code. Chairman Lane asked about the IECC and Mr. Smith stated they could keep the provisions on that code as well, however, design professionals had expressed a desire to adopt this code as it presented more options on the later IECC requirements that they would like to pursue. Mr. Smith stated there was no action stating staff was going to adopt this code as- is, it would always come back to the Board for their recommendation. Mr. Smith advised there would be no ill effects of discussing these codes and nothing would or could be adopted without first bringing to the Board for their recommendation before being present to the City Council for adoption. Mr. McKechnie reminded the Board Mr. Moore still had a pending motion that needed a second or to let the motion die for lack of second. Chairman. Lane stated Mr. Wachsman had previously seconded the motion to which Mr. McKechnie advised it needed to be voted on. Chairman Lane stated he would like to finish the discussion and see how to proceed and backtrack on the motion. Mr. Wachsman stated he would like to have more discussions on the ISPSC before voting on the adoption of that code. A brief discussion between board members on what code(s) were going to be voted on. Mr. David Hartwell stated that if it was voted on, the way the motion was made, all code adoptions would cease then and there to which Mr. Moore replied, "exactly". Construction Board of Adjustments 5 March 23, 2022 Mr. Floyd stated to the chairman he believed the Board needed to hear the presentation from the Fire Department in the IFC before voting to stop all adoptions. Chairman Lane stated this item had to be decided as a motion was already on the floor. Mr. Wachsman stated he would like to have more time to consider the ISPSC and bringing the code only to State minimums with another meeting to discuss before voting on. Chairman Lane discussed with the board on how to amend the motion. Mr. Moore amended his motion with the statement to drop the adoption of all code cycles except for the ISPSC. Mr. Wachsman seconded the motion. Chairman Lane asked if there was any further discussion, with nothing more Chairman Lane called for a vote. The motion to drop all code adoptions except the ISPSC was made by Mr. Moore and seconded by Mr. Wachsman. The motion passed 5-3 with Mr. Hartwell, Mr. Oechsner and Mr. Tate in opposition. B. Discussion on the Adoption of the 2021 international Fire Code (IFC) Chairman Lane stated discussion was open for the IFC. Chief Prillaman stated he came to the meeting to discuss the International Fire Code (IFC) and hear any concerns the Board may have on adopting the 2021 code. The Chief expressed his disappointment in not being heard before the Board voted down the adoption and stated the decision the Board just made would result in the City being 6 years behind on code adoption leaving the last adopted code at 2015. Chief Prillaman advised he was a member of the International Code Council (ICC) and testified in the creation of the 2015 code and that evidence for 2015 was needed in 2013, stating this would put the City back even further than 6 years. There were significant safety improvements particularly in the commercial buildings. The standlone nature of the IFC, except for IBC would have allowed the Board to adopt it. The Chief stated he hoped sometime in the future the Board would consider allowing staff to present the new code and benefits of moving with the adoption of the IFC and IBC. Mr. Wachsman stated to Chairman Lane that he believed the Board was confused on the last motion and believed no one wanted to vote down the IFC. Mr. Wachsman wanted to bring it back to the table at that time or later. Chairman Lane asked if the upcoming IFC meeting scheduled for Monday, April 25th, 2022 was a correct date. Mr. Floyd stated with the previous motion that had passed no meetings would be scheduled until further direction received from City Council. Mr. Wachsman stated he didn't believe that was true because it was the Board's job to bring the codes to City Council and that the Board could independently resurrect it. Mr. McKechnie stated just as the Board had requested to hear the ISPSC at a later date, the IFC could be requested as the same. Mr. Wachsman made a motion to retable discussion for the IFC and ISPSC and keep scheduled meeting dates. Chairman Lane advised that motion could not be presented as it was not an action item on the agenda. Mr. McKechnie confirmed Chairman Lane was correct. Mr. Wachsman stated it was on the agenda and Mr. McKechnie stated it was only on the agenda as a discussion and not an action item. Mr. McKechnie stated no formal action needed to be taken to discuss the IFC and ISPSC at this time. Mr. Smith stated he wanted to reiterate what Chief Prillaman stated that the IFC and IBC were entwined and stated there were some standalone functions however they will be at odds in other places and that will create a problem. Chief Prillaman stated he would not expect anyone on the Board to understand the entwining nature of the IFC and IBC and would like for the Board to request Construction Board of Adjustments 6 March 23, 2022 them back to explain and give a better understanding of the benefits and what was involved. Mr. Grassi asked what the State minimum was on the IFC, Mr. McKechnie referred to Code Melton, Fire Marshal and confirmed it was 2012 code cycle. Mr. Grassi asked for confirmation that the City exceeded State to which Mr. McKechnie stated the City was on 2015 cycle. Mr. Wachsman asked if he was the only one to not receive an agenda which he thought was a requirement. Mr. Smith advised the agenda was an attachment on the meeting invite sent to the Board and noted in the invite the agenda was attached. Meeting agenda are also provided at the meeting as well as posted by the City Clerk. Mr. Hartwell asked if there was a way to revisit the proposed codes for adoption and review those individually at their own pace. Chairman Lane stated he believed City staff had provided good resources and many meetings to participate in for the review of the proposed code. Mr. Grassi stated he believed they could amend up or down on the codes as the Board viewed and recommended. Mr. McKechnie advised that was correct and many options available on the possible adoptions. Mr. Wachsman stated he believed that would be up to the Board members on an individual level to read and make their own recommendations. He stated now they would need to address the unintended consequences of their last motion and keep the IFC and ISPSC on the table and move forward. Chairman Lane asked if there were any other comments and wanted to clarify the Board wanted to move forward with discussions regarding the IFC, ISPSC and talk about other code committee meetings to see where it would go. Board was in agreement with that, Mr. Smith asked what time frame the board would like. Chairman Lane stated to keep the schedule IFC and ISPSC meetings. VIII. ADJOURN Chairman Lane asked if there was any other business. Mr. Hartwell made a motion to adjourn the meeting :t 3:38 p.m. Mr. Oechsner seconded the motion with it passing unanimously 8-i. At ( . 0 27 Vice-Ch. Erman, nthon nman tor Chairman Leo Lane Date Terry ,tbyd, Di ctor of Development Services Date /