Minutes - Council Work Session - 01/10/2012

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delicate balance with economic development/cost of construction versus safety. Chapter 1306 had been a hard fought battle when it was put into place but as economic pressures have come to bear, other communities have considered whether it should remain. Deputy City Administrator Nelson agreed fire suppression adds cost to a project but it also adds life safety benefits. The Council needs to decide from a policy perspective if it is willing to drop Chapter 1306. She noted that requirements in the Building Code for fire suppression kick in anyway but there are some cases where fire suppression would not be required without Chapter 1306. Fire Chief Kapler explained that since the City implemented Chapter 1306 in 2004, the Building Code has lowered the square footage threshold for fire suppression to 9,250, so some of the benefit pursued in 2004 has been gained from the Building Code revision four years later. Councilmember Strommen stated she would not want to make this determination without input from the Fire Chief and Fire Marshal. She explained she served on the Council with Councilmember Elvig when the City instituted Chapter 1306 and it was a difficult decision with a lot of the discussion around townhomes. Councilmember Strommen stated she does not want to take the Council's responsibility for health and safety lightly and felt it would be good to revisit why Chapter 1306 had been implemented and determine whether those factors remain true today. Councilmember Backous pointed out the City would not be telling a property owner to not sprinkle their building but repealing Chapter 1306 would provide flexibility. He confirmed the building owner would receive an insurance discount if it had fire suppression. Councilmember Backous stated he would prefer to leave the choice up to the building owner. Councilmember Wise agreed the push for Chapter 1306 was with multifamily units and the Building Code has self - corrected relating to when to require sprinklers. He pointed out that during the past three years the Council has not talked about multifamily units but has talked about industrial buildings that have been impeded by Chapter 1306. Councilmember Wise stated he would prefer to drop Chapter 1306 to gain more flexibility. Councilmember McGlone reported the outcome that Hope Fellowship signed a longer lease so the landlord will pay for fire suppression. It was the consensus of the Council to remove Chapter 1306. 6) Discuss Mayor's Recommendations for Desirable Changes and Improvements Pursuant to City Charter 2.6.2 Mayor Ramsey stated he has spent three years studying City operations in addition to two years prior to election. He presented his recommendation to eliminate the Deputy City Administrator position, terminate the contract with the current City Administrator or accept his resignation, and appoint the current Deputy City Administrator as City Administrator with a six -month probationary period. City Council Work Session / January 10, 2012 Page 8 of 13