13-Deliberate and possibly act on an Ordinance of the City Council amending Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances

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CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM BRIEFING SHEET Submittal Date: Originating Department: Presented By: Agenda Item No.: 08/11/10 Council Date: Fire Department Ronnie Grooms, Fire Chief 13. 08/23/10 RECOMMENDED MOTION: [NOT AN ACTION ITEM - FIRST READING] IF SUPERMAJORITY RULE INVOKED - Move to approve an ordinance amending Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Paris, amending Article I, In General and Article Il, Liquefied Petroleum Gas; repealing Article III, Fire Reserve Unit, Sections 12-51 through 12-66 and repealing Article IV, Fire Prevention Code, Sections 12-86 through 12-89; establishing a new Article III, entitled Fire Code; adopting the 2006 Edition of the International Fire Code, 3`d printing, April 2007, and establishing local Amendments to the 2006 Edition of the International Fire Code. POLICY ISSUE(S): Public safety BACKGROUND: The last fire code adopted by the City of Paris is the 1994 Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) Standard Fire Code (SFC). The 1994 code is relatively vague and leaves considerable discretion and interpretation of the code to the fire official. Because it is 16 years old, the SFC also does not recognize advances in building construction and fire science technologies and techniques since 1994. In addition, the SBCCI no longer exists (in 1994 it combined with two other regional model code groups, Building Officials Code Administrators International and International Conference of Building Officials, to form the International Code Council) so the SFC will never be updated. Code of Ordinances Chapter 12 (Fire Prevention and Protection) also has not been updated and contains antiquated language (some of which is undoubtedly a legacy of the 1916 fire) and needs to be completely revised. The deficiencies and inconsistencies in our codes makes it difficult for builders to know what the City's expectations are, potentially adds unnecessary costs to projects, and can lead to buildings that are not as safe as they can be. Recognizing the need to modernize the code and improve safety, staff began researching and developing an updated fire code and ordinance in 2007. On August 24, 2009, Council appointed a Building and Fire Code Review Committee comprised of local builders, electrical contractors, Council Members, and city staff and charged them with reviewing the 2006 International Fire Code , Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances, and 2006 International building codes, with local amendments recommended by city staf£ The Committee completed their review on August 10, 2010, and recommends adoption of the changes as detailed in the accompanying ordinance. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: Fire and Building Code Review Committee recommends adoption of the 2006 International Fire Code along with the Amendments to Chapter 12 of the City Code of Ordinances regarding Fire Prevention and Protection. EXHIBITS: Ordinance ACTION: BUDGET INFO: ❑ Financial Report ❑ Minute Order Expense ❑ Department Report ❑ Resolution gudgeted Amt. ❑ Presentation Z Ordinance y'I'D Actual ❑ Public Hearing ❑ Other Acct. Name Acct. Number FISCAL NOTES: REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY: ~ Adminisuation Z Ciry Clerk Z Communiry Development ❑ EMS/IT ❑ Finance Z Fire ❑ Municipal Court Z Legal ❑ Library ❑ Police Z Eng./Public Works ❑ Urilities City of Paris Revised 2/04/08 ~ ~