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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_BSC_05.20.2004CITY OF GEORGETOWN, TEXAS Building Standards Commission Thursday, May 20, 2004 at 4:00 P.M. City Council Chambers 101 East 7th Street. Georgetown, Texas 78626 Commissioners Present: Richard Lenning, Chair, Samuel S. Giancario, Kristpher Kopack, Stanley Bland Ed Baxter, Ed Martin, Rob Dyer Commissioners absent: Billy Strickland Staff Present: Dave Hall, Patricia Rinehart A regular meeting of the Building Standards Commission, for consideration and possible action on the following: Meeting called to order at 4:00 pm Regular Session 1. Review of the minutes from the meeting on May 20, 2004. Dave Hall stated that as discussed in the last minutes that we elect Billy Strickland as Secretary but he is not agreeing to at this time. Dave plans to discuss with him what few obligations that he will have with this position. He really would not have to do a whole lot but the position would need to be filled. He plans to visit with him further and put back on the agenda to select another secretary if Billy does not wish to accept. Lenning states that he feels that Billy would be an excellent canidate for this. Motion by Commissioner Lenning to approve the minutes from the May meeting. Second by Commissioner Baxter. Motion Approved 5-0. 2. Section 551.071 consultation with attorney. None Executive Session (Commission reserves the right to convene into Executive Session at any time during the meeting regarding any agenda item. In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 Government Code, Vernon’s Texas Code, Annotated, the item below will be discussed in closed session.) Regular Session 3. Action from Executive Session. None 4. Discussion and review for possible comments or questions to be submitted to the City Secretary relating to an Ordinance for the City Council of the City of Georgetown repealing Chapter 2.20 of the Code of Ordinances relating to “Ethics” and adopting a new Chapter 2.20 to be entitled “Ethics” of the Code of Ordinances. Lenning states that he would like for Dave Hall to gather comments from all members regarding the mail out received on Ethics. He would like for him to take them forward to the city council. Lenning stated that having previous experience with these sort of issues concerns him to accept this as a member. Mr. Hall stated that this was requested by the City Manager and Council and has set a deadline of June 11th. Dave would like all comments to be sent to Patricia to forward to him. He will then get them to the City Secretary. Lenning ask for any comments. Sam stated that he thought the Ethics were very thorough and professional. Ed Martin state that any members with a personal gain should not be sitting on the board as a member. Stanley did not understand what Ed was saying. Ed then explained adopting the new Electrical Code would be a conflict of him looking out for his business and not the community. Ed thinks that Stanley should not be involved in adopting the new Electrical code if it affects his business, which it will. Stanley says of course it will affect him but he also would be a benefit to the board with his expertise and knowledge of all Electrical Codes. Sam agreed that Stanley would not be affecting just Stanley’s business because it will effect all electricians. He will not be singled out. In Lenning’s opinion, he feels that they are trying to make the members procurement officials. He states that they are not those officials and does not agree that it should be one of their requirements. He would like to have this commission exempt from Paragragh B in the Ordinance as well as other sections. There is also a section that refers to family members and he feels it is too broad to involve them. He wants that exempt. He says he would recommend a monetary limit of $50.00. Anything over that might then be questioned if not considered just a common gift. If not he feels that someone would accept a gift and therefore be violating the law. Ed did not want to have his name on Lenning’s comments as a board. He wants council to know which member is stating what comments. Lenning agreed on that suggestion. Dave hall stated that the council could be addressed by any member or public who wishes to attend the council meeting and speak or just peruse it in writing by giving them t o Patricia by Friday, May 28th to forward to City Secretary. 5. Discussion and possible action for the consideration to use IEC, Independent Electrical Contractors Service in order to provide technical information for all of the National Electrical Code changes for the public hearing process in order to update to the newest version of the National Electrical Code. Dave suggested that Mr. Bland had presented someone who he recommends with the Independent Electrical Contractors Service in Austin. It would really save staff time if someone could come in for a couple of hours and educate everyone on the changes from the current 99 NEC code to the 2002 code. Stanley has had experience with this service and says they are primarily into lobbying and licensee laws. City of Round Rock require a continuing education and used this same entity for a class. They outline and give the intent of the change from last to current version of the code. The last one Stanley attended was in Austin and was very pleased with the information he left with. He feels that it would benefit local contractors, staff and any others involved. He is not sure of the cost but it would be a per person fee. Chairman Lenning recommends that Dave Hall gets a list of some attendees toget her and maybe gets an estimate on what it would cost. Dave stated that several other cities within this area have done this and found it to be extremely helpful. All members felt very strong about this and recommend that it be persued. Lenning commends Stanley for doing the research and finding this information for the board. Sam questioned how the money was allocated for these or administration uses specifically for the Building Standards Commission. Dave quoted that it came from his budget which is Inspections budget and he would need to take a look at the budget to see if he could afford this class. Motion by Lenning and seconded by Commissioner Giancarlo. 6. Discussion and possible action for the review and update to the City of Georgetown Electrical Ordinance from the 1999 National Electrical Code to the 2002 or 2005 National Electrical Code and Electrical Licensing requirements in order to be presented to the City of Georgetown City Council for consideration and future adoption. Dave Hall stated that the Electrical Ordinance that was sent to everyone is what we will be viewing and making recommendations on changes for the liensense requirements. He questioned if we need to require a registration now that the State License has taken affect and charge an administration fee instead of a license fee. Master Electricians are complaining that since they have the State License they feel they should not have to comply with our City’s regulations in addition. Dave states that our budget revenue is every year is around $18,000 to $24,000 that come into our department. That is for a two-year renewal. We have electricians from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and many other areas. Dave would prefer to keep track of contractors who come to work within our city instead of having no control at all. Stanley states that there are so many contractors out on jobs that are not licensed at all. Dave’s inspectors spend a certain amount of time a week to track those down and require them meet requirements. Stanley has found out from other cities that they will be doing a registration on Electricians. Dave stated that the Plumbing and Mechanical Boards have a State License also in which they renew yearly and requires additional continuing education be taken. His inspectors have all been certified and licensed in order to perform inspections. Dave does not feel that our ordinance should be any less strict than the States. He is not as familiar with the States new ordinance as our own but plans to take time to get familiar with it to compare the both. Stanley states that he and all electricians will pay the fee to the state as well as each city individually. He says they will be double dipped. Lenning recommends that the members take a look at ordinance and State Law and look for possible discrepancies between the two. Sam states that the owner of properties, contractors as well as the inspectors should be checking for licenses of any trades on job sites. It would broaden the area of search. Dave states that the state plumbing board can write you a citation if you are a homeowner and you hire someone without a license. They will hold you responsible. He would like to see that added into the Electrical Ordinance to hold more individuals responsible for safety reasons. 7. Suggested items for next regularly scheduled meeting agenda. Meeting adjourned at 6:00. Motioned by Lenning and seconded by Ed Baxter.