REDWOOD EMPIRE ASSOCIATION
OF
CODE OFFICIALS
Minutes of the Meeting of Tuesday -
June 7, 2005
1. Call to order
President Daryl Phillips (The Phillips Group) called the meeting to order at
Noon at the Rancho Adobe Fire District, Cotati Station.
2. Self Introductions
Vice President Williams welcomed the 45 attendees
and called for self-introductions.
3. Approval of Minutes
Minutes for the May 10, 2005, meeting was not
available in time for this meeting.
4. Officers and Committee Reports
a. Treasurer
DeWayne Starnes (County of Sonoma) – Reported the balances for the checking
account as $6,413.42 and for the CD as $11,667.51.
b. Secretary
Michael Enright (City of Santa Rosa) – No report.
c. Vice President
Doug Williams (Rincon Valley Fire) – No report.
d. President
Daryl Phillips (The Phillips Group) – No report.
e. Executive Committee
Did not meet. No report
f. Education Committee
Did not meet. No report
g. Code Coordination Committee
Did not meet. No report. Michael Whitaker, City of Santa Rosa, asked what
other agencies use as criteria for requiring soils reports / foundation designs
for residential addition building permit applications. Cliff Kendall, City of
Petaluma, said their criterion was that the addition's foundation had to match
the existing foundation design. Peter Bruck, City of Rohnert Park, said that if
the addition is smaller than 500 sf, then they have to match the existing
foundation design or sue the standard pier and grade beam design. If the
addition is larger than 500 sf, then they need to design the foundation based on
a soils report (unless the building official agrees to waive the report
requirement).
h. ICC Liaison
No report.
i. CALBO Liaison
No report.
j.
Location Committee
The July meeting will be
in Santa Rosa and will include a presentation from the State Architect's Board.
The August meeting will include a presentation about the 2004 Electrical Code.
k.
Donations Committee
No report.
5. Correspondence and Announcements
None.
6. Legislative News
Scott Ward, City of Healdsburg, asked how SB
1025, the proposed changes to CBC Chapter 11A concerning multi-level dwellings,
applied to townhomes. There was much discussion and attempts to clarify the
difference between a R3 occupancy townhome and an R1 occupancy townhome. The
general consensus was that the proposed changes only applied to those townhouses
that were R1 occupancy types (three or more apartments / 4 or more
condominiums). Row house style single family dwellings on individual lots are
not subject to the proposed regulations. { Check out the following link for more
information:
http://www.bsc.ca.gov/prpsd_chngs/pc_emrrm.html }
7. Code Issues
Ron Averiette, City of Novato, asked about windows near exit doors that appear
to be functioning as doors. Consensus was to treat it as a window unless it was
actually being used as an exit door (but make sure to check with the local fire
marshal).
Joe Kagen, City of Cotati, asked about the effective date of the new energy
standards (October 2005).
8. Old Business
Bob Ost, Ost Engineering, brought in additional information about the oversize
hole in foundation sill plate problem discussed at the April REACO meeting.
9. Program
Ruben Grijalva, State Fire Marshal, gave a timely, enjoyable and well
received presentation about his role as the State Fire Marshal, how he got
appointed, short term & long term goals for the coming years and his career as
an actor. The following is a brief recap of his presentation (and pales in
comparison to the actual presentation).
He was appointed as the State's 13th Fire Marshal (12 Fire Marshals, 1 serving
two separate terms) by Governor Schwarzenegger in August 2004. CALBO, BIA and
BOMA all supported Ruben's appointment. Prior to his appointment, he was the
Fire Chief for the City of Palo Alto. He previously served in various fire and
police duties for the City of Sunnyvale. (Ruben also let us know about the
financial "benefits" of taking a job with the State.)
The top 5 priorities for the State Fire Marshal's Office are:
Communication with stakeholders.
Code Adoption (adopt the 2006 codes instead of the 2000 or 2003)
Wildland Urban Interface (Phase 2 adoption anticipated in 9/05)
Fireworks – help improve disposal methods for illegal fireworks.
Training – Bring the training program back under the SFM jurisdiction.
Upcoming issues potentially include having the State Fire Marshal's office
involved in the Fire & Life Safety reviews at the Indian Casinos.
Also, the goal is to have the UL300 fire suppression systems at restaurants in
compliance by 2008 (based on the newer standards required because of the change
in types of oils used for cooking).
Ruben talked about the time he was offered the chance to play himself in a movie
about a stalker / hostage situation in Sunnyvale. The movie starred Brooke
Shields and Richard Thomas. Unfortunately, Hollywood chose someone else to play
Ruben.
The meeting was then opened up to questions from the attendees.
10.
New Business
None.
11. Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 2:05 P.M.
Respectfully submitted by Michael Enright