Building Inspection Commission
BUILDING INSPECTION COMMISSION (BIC)
Department of Building Inspection (DBI)
Wednesday December 5, 2001 at 1:00 p.m.
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 408
Adopted Wednesday, January 16, 2002
MINUTES
The meeting of the Building Inspection Commission was called to order at 1:20 p.m. by President Fillon..
1. Roll Call - Roll call was taken and a quorum was certified.
COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT:
Alfonso Fillon, President Denise D'Anne, Commissioner
Bobbie Sue Hood, Vice-President Esther Marks, Commissioner
Roy Guinnane, Commissioner Rodrigo Santos, Commissioner
Debra Walker, Commissioner
Ann Aherne, Commission Secretary
D.B.I. REPRESENTATIVES:
Frank Chiu, Director
Amy Lee, Assistant Director
Jim Hutchinson, Deputy Director
William Wong, Deputy Director
Sonya Harris, Secretary
2. President's Announcements.
President Fillon stated that he had no announcements.
3. Discussion and possible action regarding Supervisor Daly's proposed ordinance amending Chapter 31 of the San Francisco Building Code by adding Section 3102.8 regarding woodburning fireplaces. [Mr. Laurence Kornfield, Chief Building Inspector, Technical Services Division]
President Fillon welcomed Supervisor Daly to speak on this issue. Supervisor Daly thanked the Commission for having him at the meeting and for placing this item on the agenda. Supervisor Daly stated that this item was an ordinance regulating the installation of non-approved woodburning fireplaces and similar devices in new and remodeled buildings, and will prohibit the use of certain fuels. Supervisor Daly said that Supervisor Becerill originally introduced the item and served as one of the Board of Supervisors appointed to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), which was working through their Board of Directors to implement these types of ordinances in municipalities around the Bay Area. Supervisor Daly said that he currently serves along with Supervisor Tony Hall on the BAAQMD and decided that this would be a good piece of policy to forward in San Francisco. Supervisor Daly said that he did not want to embarrass himself by talking about the chemistry of woodburning and pollution, and introduced Ms. Tommie Mayfield and David Fairley to speak to the Commission..
Mr. David Fairley introduced himself as the statistician with the BAAQMD, .and stated that he would give an overview of the air quality problems and Tommie would speak in more detail about the ordinance itself. Mr. Fairley said that it was his job in the district to analyze air quality in the Bay Area and stated that he knew a lot about the levels and where the pollution is coming from. Mr. Fairley said that among all of the pollutants in the Bay Area air borne particles are, from what he could see, by far the most serious health threat and they exacerbate asthma, bronchitis and could even cause premature mortality. Mr. Fairley said that it could be shown that on days when air pollution is higher more people die; specifically when the fine particle levels are higher. Mr. Fairley stated that based on studies the district found that woodburning was a large part of the particulate problem in the Bay Area and this included San Francisco. Mr. Fairley said that the district had measurements from a monitoring site in the City. Mr. Fairley said that from his point of view reducing particulates is one of the best things that could be done to improve public health. Mr. Fairley said that the easiest way to reduce particles is to cut woodburning.
Ms. Tommie Mayfield said that she was present to address some of the issues that were in DBI's staff report, primarily the cost of implementing this ordinance. Ms. Mayfield said that one of the trends that were found throughout the Bay Areas is that most people are already installing natural gas fireplaces; the City of Morgan Hill and the City of San Jose both adopted this ordinance in 2000. Ms. Mayfield said that both of these cities found that in 90% of new construction natural gas fireplaces were being installed. Ms. Mayfield stated that subsequently adopting the ordinance in these cities was legitimizing what had already occurred. Ms. Mayfield said that in the DBI staff report, she noticed that the Building Inspector was giving information about how much it would cost to install EPA certified woodburning heaters into fireplaces and the cost averaged from $800 to $3,000. Ms. Mayfield said that these figures were correct; throughout the Bay Area she had spoken with vendors and fire products association members and the Bay Area is not installing EPA certified wood heaters in new construction. Ms. Mayfield said that what is going in is natural gas fireplaces and those are installed at an additional cost of about $100 in new construction. Ms. Mayfield said that throughout the Bay Area, particularly in new construction, this is a done deal. Ms. Mayfield said that with remodeling it is more difficult because with remodeling even if a natural gas fireplace is going to be installed, plumbing lines will have to be installed which would add to the cost. Ms. Mayfield said that some cities, San Jose for example, and last night Milpitas, adopted the restrictions on remodels. Ms. Mayfield said that these cities are looking at the cost of particulate matter on the public health. Ms. Mayfield stated that the 1991 Oakland Hills fire wiped out a lot of homes and unfortunately, because there was no ordinance there, masonry fire boxes were put right back and there was no net reduction of particulate matter where lower emitting equipment could have easily been installed. Ms. Mayfield said that right now in the Bay Area what has to be recognized is that no one wants the situation to get any worse and particulate matter needs to be reduced even if it is going to be a trend that occurs slowly. Ms. Mayfield said that in September 2000, Napa had an earthquake and unfortunately, in speaking with the vendors in Napa, there was no ordinance in place. Ms. Mayfield said that she was getting conflicting reports saying that gas fireplaces were put in Napa, but she has also been told that the typical factory built woodburning fireplaces were installed. Ms. Mayfield said that had there been an ordinance in place then Napa would have put in lower emitting equipment after that earthquake. Ms. Mayfield said that she was asking the Commission to ask further questions of her agency. Ms. Mayfield said that her agency supported this ordinance and said that it was a reasonable ordinance that can be easily adopted throughout the Bay Area as it protects the public health.
Supervisor Daly thanked the staff from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for coming to talk about air quality and particulate matter. Supervisor Daly said that this item was originally introduced by Supervisor Becerill and was heard in DBI's Code Advisory Committee on September 19, which did recommend the item with some changes. Supervisor Daly stated that he had incorporated those changes, as well as another to exempt historic woodburning appliances and historic structures. Supervisor Daly asked if there were any questions.
Vice-President Hood said that she had a question for staff, as she was very concerned when there was going to be a Code change that could advocate unforeseen problems that are really worse, for example the required additive to gasoline. Vice-President Hood said that she was wondering because she had spoken to an engineer about the use of gas fireplaces and understand that they are easier to use, if there were any studies done in the areas where this ordinance has been adopted that show that the overall air quality has been affected adversely by the byproduct of the gas fireplaces. Vice-President Hood said that these fireplaces are increasing in use and there are models that do not even have to be vented out through the roof. Vice-President Hood stated that it is not like these are very efficient gas furnaces that have become very high tech as this is a very low tech situation. Vice-President Hood asked if there were any studies done that compare air quality under these scenarios on an actual built basis. Mr. Fairley said that he could not address Vice-President Hood's question directly and said that he thought it was an excellent question because often an agency such as his takes a very narrow view point on something. Mr. Fairley said that he could say that burning natural gas is way cleaner than burning wood; burning wood has all kinds of byproducts such as PHs, which are carcinogenic, and a whole range of fiber carbons. Mr. Fairley said that natural gas tends to be very simple chemically, and generally when it is burned it emits very low pollution, although when it is something like a power plant that is a different story as there is so much burning that there is a significant amount of pollution. Mr. Fairley said that for individual stoves there would not be that much pollution.
President Fillon said that under the exceptions that were listed there was one that said EPA certified wood heater and asked what was the nature of that. Mr. Fairley said that this issue was Tommie's expertise and called on Ms. Mayfield to answer President Fillon. Ms. Mayfield said that the EPA certified wood heaters are wood heaters that meet the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency; the EPA in 1998 developed a test methodology that must be met by the manufactures of these wood heaters and if they pass, then the EPA certifies those products. President Fillon asked if these were an open fireplace. Ms. Mayfield said that these are heavy, and as reported by the Building Inspector, are more expensive than the typical factory built fire place and are going to cost about $1,000. Ms. Mayfield said that they are big and usually are inserted into an existing masonry fireplace; a regular fireplace that is steel built or they may stand-alone. Ms. Mayfield said that lately because of the desire of the public to have a fireplace, typically an average person cannot discern the difference between an EPA certified woodburning fireplace and a regular factory built fireplace. Ms. Mayfield said that since the laws changed back in 1991, in order to make factory and masonry fireplaces more energy efficient they now must have a glass door; the EPA certified wood burners have glass doors, so the average person really cannot discern the difference except when they pay.
President Fillon said that if someone really wants to burn wood in their house for a cultural reason or whatever and they have the money, there is an option. Ms. Mayfield said definitely. President Fillon asked if a person could retrofit their fireplace. Ms. Mayfield said that a person could use an EPA wood burner and in fact that is all that someone could buy at this time if they were going to be using their fireplace for energy efficiency. Ms. Mayfield said that in existing homes masonry fireplaces or even factory built are efficient, but the regulation does not prohibit woodburning in existing homes. President Fillon said that this would be for new construction only or if someone were to remodel to add a fireplace. Ms. Mayfield said that was correct. President Fillon said that if a person was doing an addition to their house they would have to bring the fireplace up to Code. Ms. Mayfield said that not the way that the draft is stated at this time. Commissioner Walker said that it would only be if a person were doing a fireplace. Ms. Mayfield said that was correct.
Commissioner Marks said that she felt that the ordinance was reasonable, but for a point of information stated that she noticed that the Code Advisory Committee reported that in San Francisco people don't burn wood and Mr. Fairley reported that woodburning did affect the air in San Francisco. Commissioner Marks said she wanted to know what was the discrepancy. Mr. Fairley said that to the best of his knowledge, people do burn wood in San Francisco and it may not be at the same level as some other places, but in certain areas you can smell a wood stove. Mr. Fairley said that he lives in the City and smells the woodburning. Mr. Fairley said that his studies have measured filters and he is able to take the filters and say that a certain amount of pollution is coming from motor vehicles, so much is coming from geological and a substantial portion is coming from wood smoke. Mr. Fairley said that some of it may be coming from other areas, but stated that he was certain that some of it is locally produced.
Commissioner Walker asked if the logs that people buy in stores are considered wood or wood pellet. Ms. Fairley said that he would defer to Ms. Mayfield. Ms. Mayfield said that that there are different types of logs; the presto logs are probably 99% wood and there is a small additive in them. Ms. Mayfield stated that the duraflame logs are wood, but they are about 60% wax depending on what type of log that is being burned. Ms. Mayfield said that some of these logs, and it depends on the type, are better than burning cored wood, but with others the agency is not sure of what pollutants are actually coming off of those logs. Ms. Mayfield said that her agency was going to be doing an analysis of these types of logs. President Fillon asked if these logs are allowable. Ms. Mayfield said that at this time the logs can be used in existing fireplaces. President Fillon asked if this ordinance would change that. Ms. Mayfield said that the ordinance did not stop anyone from burning, but restricts the type of equipment that is actually being used.
President Fillon asked if there was a staff report related to this ordinance. Director Chiu said that he would defer to Chief Inspector Laurence Kornfield to give the Commission a report.
Vice-President Hood said that she wondered what percentage of the particulate matter in San Francisco is attributed to fireplaces. Mr. Fairley said that his best estimate was 20% and that is for the winter, not year round. Vice-President Hood asked if that was a worst-case condition, as it sounded hard to believe. Mr. Fairley said that for one thing the particulates are worst in the wintertime and in fact, the worst conditions are cool, still nights and it just happens that those are the nights that people tend to burn wood. Mr. Fairley said that on an average basis it may not be that high, but on the worst days which are when the pollution should be kept down a lot of the particulates in the air are coming from woodburning. Vice-President Hood said that she was uncomfortable with Mr. Fairley stating a lot. Mr. Fairley said that it varies from place to place, as there are a certain number of monitors that are able to measure and San Francisco has one of the lowest percentages, which is 20%, and it can go up to 50% which would be on an average high pollution day; on occasion, woodburning can constitute, in certain areas as much as 90% of the particles. Vice-President Hood asked if this were true in San Francisco. Mr. Fairley said no. Vice-President Hood said that she thought that a lot of this is coming from outside the City. Mr. Fairley said that the one monitor is located on the northeast corner of Potrero Hill. Mr. Fairley said that he would bet that most of what is being seen at this monitor is locally produced. Mr. Fairley said that the kind of conditions where there are high particulates are when there has been a long period where the air is just sort of sitting there in a stagnant condition, but it does slosh around a little bit. Mr. Fairley said that it would be hard to imagine that most of the wood smoke that was seen at this Potrero Hill monitoring site is actually coming from outside the City; it is much more likely that it is coming from housing close by on Potrero Hill. Vice-President Hood asked if any of the particulates could be coming from the freeway, which is nearby. Mr. Fairley said that the agency could tell the difference between the pollution coming from the freeways and they are able to make that distinction. Mr. Fairley said that one of the things that was measured by carbon protean, which tells if it is new carbon, or old carbon, and basically fossil fuel is detected as old carbon, as it has been sitting in the ground for millions of years. Mr. Fairley said that it has essentially no carbon protean; new carbon sources are wood smoke and to some extent from cooking. Mr. Fairley said that it was found that the majority of the carbon that was seen on the filters, even in San Francisco, was new carbon and this is convincing evidence that a lot of the carbon and a lot of the pollution was from woodburning. Vice-President Hood said that she wanted to talk about this issue some more as she has lived in the City for a long time and has noticed changes in the pattern of dust in her office located South of Market. Vice-President Hood said that she would like to speak with Mr. Fairley about this in detail, but did not want to waste anymore time. Commissioner Marks said that she would like to hear from Mr. Kornfield.
Mr. Kornfield said that at the request of Director Chiu he had looked into this issue with the Technical Services Division and then brought the matter to the Code Advisory Committee for hearings. Mr. Kornfield said that the President of the Code Advisory Committee is Zachary Nathan who was present at the meeting. Mr. Kornfield said that the Code Advisory Committee asked the same kind of questions that the Commissioners were asking, including is this, in fact, a problem in San Francisco and how it could be determined how much of the pollution problems are caused by woodburning fireplaces. Mr. Kornfield said that there was no specific data available at the time the Committee was doing its review, so this was expressed as a concern, but nonetheless voted to move this issue to the Building Inspection Commission for approval with certain changes that were recommended. Mr. Kornfield said that the primary change was to remove the requirement for retroactive replacement in existing buildings. Mr. Kornfield said that there were a few other changes related to historic buildings and other exemptions. Mr. Kornfield said that he was pleased to say that by working with Supervisor Daly's office those changes were made. Mr. Kornfield stated that the Code Advisory Committee did have some reservations, but felt that at this point this was the most reasonable resolution. Mr. Kornfield said that he would have to concur with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in that other jurisdictions where these regulations have been adopted, people don't generally install woodburning fireplaces anymore; they install gas fireplaces which don't cost much more than current woodburning fireplaces. Mr. Kornfield said that it is possible to install a woodburning fireplace at a substantially greater cost if it is an EPA certified fireplace. Mr. Kornfield asked for questions. Commissioner Marks asked if there was any data available as to how many people have woodburning fireplaces in San Francisco. Mr. Kornfield said that there was no data that addressed the use of wood, and stated that he and other people who are long time residents, just don't have the experience of seeing people burning wood in San Francisco, but perhaps there is data to support that. President Fillon said that perhaps people in San Francisco don't burn as much wood as people in rural areas. Commissioner Walkers asked if people don't use their fireplace at all, or if they just burn something else. Vice-President Hood said that most people burn logs. Commissioner Walker said that this is wood. Vice-President Hood said that it is 60% wax. Commissioner Walker said that it is still called wood. Mr. Kornfield said that it is still considered a solid fuel for the purpose of this discussion. Vice-President Hood said that Ms. Mayfield stated that some of these logs might be more efficient than just plain wood, but there was no data on the artificial logs so it is really an unknown. Commissioner Walker said that she understood what Vice-President Hood was saying and that maybe by using the duraflames it is reducing the particulates, and if that were true, it would follow that the particulate count would be lower. Vice-President Hood said that if the State EPA has already passed these laws that fireplaces can't be sold unless they pass the EPA standards it seemed to her that San Francisco is solving a problem that has already been solved. Mr. Kornfield said that the only restriction in the State is that fireplaces must be installed according to the California Energy Code, which is a lower standard than the EPA standards. Vice-President Hood said that this is not what Ms. Mayfield just testified to and asked Mr. Kornfield if he was sure about his answer. Mr. Kornfield said that he was sure.
Commissioner Walker said that she wanted to thank Supervisor Daly and the Code Advisory Board for bringing this issue to the Commission with a recommendation of approving it and said that she wanted to put forward a motion to approve and support this legislation. Deputy City Attorney said that the BIC would vote to send a recommendation back to the Board of Supervisors as an amendment to the Building Code. President Fillon said that Commission Walker could make a motion that the BIC was recommending that it be approved. Commissioner Walker said that is what she wanted to do. Commissioner D'Anne seconded the motion. President Fillon asked for any discussion.
Vice-President Hood said that she did not have any questions as she had already indicated her concerns. Vice-President Hood said that she felt that there were questions that the Commission needed to answer about this and stated that she was very much in favor of the goals of this legislation, but said that she felt that the science is not as tight as it needs to be. Vice-President Hood said that she wanted some time to look at this and see if the BIC can't work with the Department to get the answers to some of the questions that have come up. Vice-President Hood said that she thought that the ICBO had looked into this issue a great deal and said that she was sure that there was information that would put her concerns to rest, but stated that she had not heard them at the meeting today. Vice-President Hood said that she felt very uncomfortable about recommending legislation that may have side effects that would be worse than the problem that is to be solved, which she felt all of the Commissioners agree is not a major problem in this particular city. Vice-President Hood said that was her concern and stated that she was in whole support of cleaner, better air and said that she just wanted to make sure that was happening by this recommendation which automatically precipitates a different set of choices by builders and designers. President Fillon asked Vice-President Hood what specifically were her concerns. Vice-President Hood said that her concern was primarily with the byproducts of the widespread natural gas use, as there was a response that this is coming from cooking and fireplaces, and stated that she wanted to know how many fireplaces are going and that she would like to see the pattern of air quality. Vice-President Hood said that she was putting a fireplace into a building and an engineer that she spoke with told her that she might think that she was solving the problem, but she just wanted to know more about this, as it is a very complex issue that affects the air we breathe. Vice-President Hood said that she did not want to do something that would have another set of conditions that are worse than what the Commission is trying to deal with. Vice-President Hood said that she did not feel that there was a need for speed on this and stated that she was not asking for it to be tabled, but was asking for more research before a decision would be made. Commissioner Walker asked if she could get a clarification from both the agency that is responsible for these kinds of things, but also from the Supervisor as to what the schedule is. Commissioner Walker said that Vice-President Hood was asking if there exist any studies that determine the particulate in the air vis-à-vis of the natural gas. Ms. Mayfield said that there are no studies and that is because the scientists have not addressed the problem. Ms Mayfield said that typically in the State of California if someone uses their own gas oven or gas stove it is not necessarily required that it be vented in a house. Ms. Mayfield said that Mr. Fairley indicated that because the indoor air pollution coming off the natural gas is so minimal and especially in comparison to wood smoke venting is not required. Ms. Mayfield said that the agency, recognizing that there has to be a balance if the agency is going to advocate that people switch to natural gas, is that going to be good for the environment when eventually the natural gas reserves are going to be depleted over time, so they also advocate conserving energy. Ms. Mayfield said that is the first thing that is done before anyone burns wood or natural gas. Ms. Mayfield said that just as her agency has not done studies in order to find out the efficiency of pellet heaters, they actually take the word of manufacturers because they know what type of combustion products are already coming off of those pellet heaters. Ms. Mayfield said that she did not think that the Commission was going to find studies that address what has occurred in the Northern Sonoma Air Pollution Control District, for example, as a result of the fact that they are now putting in the natural gas fireplaces. Ms. Mayfield said that overwhelming what the agency looks at is that the particle level outside has gone down and subsequently even indoors that particle level is going to be down. Ms. Mayfield said that to address the issue of whether the smoke is coming from outside San Francisco she thought that Dr. Fairley had given the information about the fact that the monitoring sites are right here in San Francisco. Ms. Mayfield stated that throughout the Bay Area there were 120 city and counties, and all of them when she goes to speak to those agencies, ask about their own air. Ms. Mayfield said that she has to tell them that there are only sixteen monitoring sites for particulate in the Bay Area and one of them is in San Francisco and the westerly winds would normally blow from the ocean and toward the east, so it is not likely that San Francisco is going to be getting a lot of pollution from other cities. Ms. Mayfield said that the BIC should take that into consideration and said that the Air Quality Management District would provide more data if needed.
Supervisor Daly said to answer Vice-President Hood's questions on timeline, he believed that the Air District started working with Ms. Paladies in the Bay Area to do this two or three years ago. Supervisor Daly said that over a year ago Supervisor Becerill introduced this item, which was actually transmitted to the BIC on November 3, 2000 so it has been hanging around for over a year. Supervisor Daly stated that meanwhile to him it is pretty simple because what is going in as woodburning fireplaces produces more particulate matter than what would now be required in this legislation. Supervisor Daly said that more particulate matter in the air in San Francisco means that folks with asthma or other respiratory problems have increasing difficulty and potentially more particulate matter leads to more deaths. Supervisor Daly stated that he felt this was a pretty common sense proposal and said that he knew there were opponents out there to this and other municipalities that have passed this have had suits against them, so there is opposition. Supervisor Daly said that the Air District Board of Directors have asked for and received assistance from counsel to uphold this as this is an item that is being pushed. Supervisor Daly said that the commitment is there at the Air District to help cities that do this, if they are challenged by the opponents and the opponents are legitimate.
Commissioner Marks said that she had a question for Mr. Kornfield because she said that she believed that he had done extensive research on this issue, but asked Mr. Kornfield for his thoughts on whether natural gas does cumulatively and in the long run emit more particles than woodburning. Mr. Kornfield said that he was sorry to say that this was not an issue that he had researched and stated that he had no opinion on it. Commissioner Walker said that the air pattern over the Bay Area is such that every city is polluting the other to a certain degree, and stated that she would hope that San Francisco could act as an example on this issue and actually take a stand to do what San Francisco could do to eliminate particulates which seems to be the problem things in the air. Commissioner Walker said that she made a motion and thought that the Commission should take a step at this point.
Vice-President Hood said that she had one more question and asked what remodeling with respect to a fireplace meant. Mr. Bill Barnes of Supervisor Daly's staff said that he wanted to acknowledge Laurence Kornfield's work. Mr. Barnes said that when this item originally came forward there were some distance requirements and he believed that was 12 inches or so forth, Supervisor Becerill's proposal said that any remodeling that happened would necessitate replacement. Mr. Barnes said that now the ordinance specifically says that this is necessary if someone is going to replace the appliance with a new appliance this ordinance applies so if someone remodels their entire home, but decides to keep the fireplace because it has a historic merit or because someone just likes it, this would not trigger it; if on the other hand, someone wants to update and get a newer one, the requirement would be that when the person goes out to purchase it, they would have to purchase one that meets the criteria. Mr. Barnes said that remodeling, thanks in part to Mr. Kornfield's comments and the comments of the Code Advisory Committee will not trigger application of the ordinance, it is only new construction or replacement of the specific appliance. President Fillon said that typically when someone is refinishing the entire inside of their house with a fireplace they may not touch the fireplace, but may redo the facing, the surround and the mantle, and asked if this would count as remodeling as long as the firebox itself is not being touched. Mr. Barnes said that it is his understanding that is not the intent of the legislation, but if the fireplace is replaced it is triggered. Mr. Barnes said that the historic appliance section which was put in at Supervisor Peskin's request, gives the Director of Building Inspection in consultation with the Director of Planning a fair amount of latitude regarding that as well as a technical point that hadn't been raised previously. Vice-President Hood said that she was just trying to understand the replacing of the appliance because it rarely happens like that. Vice-President Hood said that what usually happens is that if someone had a prefab fireplace, which most people with active fireplaces in San Francisco have because nobody wanted to build brick chimneys after 1906, typically there is a hole in the box or something like that. Vice-President Hood asked if they go and buy another box to repair that, is that remodeling or what. Mr. Barnes said that he would defer to Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian because she is the author of the ordinance and Vice-President Hood is asking a legal question. Vice-President Hood said that she felt her question was a very basic code question, and what does it say. Mr. Barnes said that respectfully, he would say that it was the intent that the only instances where this would be triggered would be where someone willfully says that they are going to replace a fireplace, but if people are doing remodeling by doing alterations or additions, that would not trigger it. Mr. Barnes said that he would venture to say that it was not the intent even if there were minor modifications, to have it triggered. Ms. Boyajian said that the ordinance is applied if the appliance is reconstructed or replaced. President Fillon asked if that would include repairs. Ms. Boyajian said that it would not cover minor repairs, but if someone is going to totally rebuild it, like rebuilding an engine for example, it would be triggered. Vice-President Hood said she thought that the word reconstructed should be removed from the ordinance. Ms. Boyajian asked what word could be used instead. Vice-President Hood stated that she would just say replaced and said that she thought that would cover the object that Mr. Barnes just spoke about. Ms. Boyajian said that would raise the question about using the same one and it is not replaced, but basically to rebuild it from scratch, that raises a new question about what is covered. Commissioner Walker asked what constitutes appliance because if appliance is used she asked if that was definable. Ms. Boyajian said that there were a number of definitions that cover two pages of the ordinance. Ms. Boyajian said that she would say that this is mainly a model ordinance that was created by the Air Management District. Ms. Boyajian said that she tinkered with a little bit to cover San Francisco's issues, but most of this ordinance is a model ordinance; the definitions are from the model ordinance as well as most of the requirements. Vice-President Hood said that she would hate for things that are ambiguous to go into the ordinance and cause people problems and eat up staff time. Commissioner Walker said that it is similar to fixing a car where there is a definition between repaired and reconstructed materials. Vice-President Hood said that both of these phrases are in as the ordinance as it says reconstructed or replaced and said that she was not clear on what was being said because reconstructed would just cover what the previous speaker said was intended to be repairs. Ms. Boyajian said that Vice-President Hood could express her opinion to the Board of Supervisors that this is ambiguous and needs to be clarified and stated that she could work with the Department and the Supervisors Office to make that clarification at the Board. Vice-President Hood said that she would be happy to do that because if that clarity could be in the ordinance she would be happy to support this ordinance.
Commissioner Walker asked if she could ask a procedural question. Commissioner Walker asked if the BIC could approve this ordinance with the recommendation that it clarify that someone could repair. Ms. Boyajian said that the Board was looking for some input from the Commission so if the Commissioners thought that certain things were vague or ambiguous or need to be changed that would be appropriate for the BIC to convey. Commissioner Walker asked if Vice-President Hood wanted to suggest a friendly amendment. Vice-President Hood said that she would like to suggest what she would like to do and stated that she did not know if it was friendly or not, yet. Vice-President Hood said that because in her own experience working with housing in San Francisco, and that is what her firm has done for thirty years, she very often goes into homes that have the metal fireboxes installed and there is a problem with them that is actually dangerous. Vice-President Hood said that if there is any incentive not to repair these things she thought it would be a very bad health hazard. Vice-President Hood said that she would like to see the language of that particular section clarified so that it does not discourage repairs and stated that rather than voting on Commissioner Walker's amendment said that she wanted to look at it again before the BIC recommends it to the Board of Supervisors with that language change as it is a very important issue to her. Commissioner Walker said that she felt the purpose of the ordinance is that if there exists a situation that causes something like that to be replaced with something that is better for the environment; that is the issue. Commissioner Walker said that she would still like to move on her motion. Vice-President Hood said that people who just need a repair that costs $100.00 are not going to want to spend $1,000.00 to replace their device so they have to be able to fix the thing. Vice-President Hood said she felt that there was a real sort of science thing present because people she knows who have gas fireplaces use them extremely frequently, but people who have to build a fire use them extremely infrequently because they are lazy. Vice-President Hood said that she did not think that this was apples to apples and stated that she felt that last year everyone was distraught by lack of natural gas. Vice-President Hood asked if the Building Department knew how many new fireplaces were installed every year in San Francisco. Director Chiu said that the Department did not have that kind of data, but compared to 57,000 permits that are issued there are not that many. Vice-President Hood asked if two hundred would be a reasonable number and Director Chiu said that he would guess that it would be less than that. Vice-President Hood said that was a relatively small number and stated that all of the lofts that were built that everybody hated had gas logs in them. President Fillon said that he felt that what Ms. Boyajian was saying was that the Commission could vote to, in principle, to support this issue and forward any changes in language. Vice-President Hood said that she could not support it in principle unless these things could be dealt with because of the vagueness of what is being corrected and the lack of scientific data because fireplaces are inherently dangerous in houses. Vice-President Hood said that the deaths that everyone reads about are from gas heaters, not from fireplaces and stated that she felt there were a lot of issues and urged the Commission to at least get in the language that would not discourage repairs to existing fireboxes. Vice-President Hood said that she knew people who had smoke coming back into their houses and wondered why the drapes were turning gray, and so forth and if it costs $1,000 to fix their fireplace she did not think they would do it. Commissioner Santos asked if Vice-President Hood was suggesting revisiting this issue. Vice-President Hood said that she was just suggesting that the Commission get some answers to this and revisit it at the first meeting in January, which would not be a big delay. Commissioner Santos that he would support Vice-President Hood as he felt that she had brought up some interesting points and some technical issues that unfortunately there have been no answers for.
Commissioner D'Anne said that her understanding of repair would be that the existing firebox would be kept and if it is removed it would be a new one and that would be reconstruction. Commissioner D'Anne suggested that the language state that if someone were going to repair an existing firebox it is okay, but if it is removed that turns into a new firebox or reconstruction. Vice-President Hood said that the fireplace is actually a whole system that goes out through the roof and if someone has a hole in the place that is burning stuff they have to replace that box which would be relatively inexpensive compared to replacing the whole system. Vice-President Hood said that was why she was concerned because the actual application of this ordinance is more complicated than the legal language deals with. Vice-President Hood stated that she felt that there were no different objectives, but it is just different language. Vice-President Hood said that the way Commissioner D'Anne described it would be what she would want, but that is not what the language says.
Commissioner Walker asked Supervisor Daly if there was a way to accommodate this concern. Supervisor Daly said that his office would be more than willing to work with the Deputy City Attorney Boyajian to clarify the change of repair and reconstruct to make sure that anyone that wants to do small repairs that are necessary without changing fundamentally the fireplace, would be allowed. Supervisor Daly said that he was not a lawyer so his office would have to work with the City Attorney's Office, but stated that he would be willing to make that change. Supervisor Daly said that he would ask for the Commission's indulgence to move this item now because it was sitting on his legislative list for almost a year. Supervisor Daly said that he felt that in terms of good government, in terms of being good neighbors to other governments in the region, that San Francisco should be a good neighbor and move forward with some similar type of ordinance on woodburning fireplaces. Supervisor Daly said that the Air District is one of the regional government bodies that regulates in the Bay Area and it is good to be a good neighbor, as it gives politicians from other jurisdictions less of an opportunity to San Francisco bash as regional issues get decided. Supervisor Daly said that from a public policy perspective and from San Francisco's position within the region, it would make sense to move forward. Commissioner Marks asked if Commissioner Walker would amend her motion to include Supervisor Daly working with the City Attorney on the wording to clarify the wording for repairs to make the fireplace more efficient. Commissioner Walker said that absolutely, she would be willing to do that. Vice-President Hood said that Supervisor Daly mentioned a small repair and if things like that are put into the ordinance, they become that any repair is replacement because of the nature of how these things are designed. Vice-President Hood said that she thought that the people writing this ordinance have not installed or maintained these fireplaces and they don't know what they are dealing with because the language is inherently ambiguous compared to what these objects actually are. Supervisor Daly said that he would agree with Commissioner Hood and that is why he would leave the expertise to the expert, the City Attorney's Office. Commissioner Walker said that maybe the approach would be one that includes a dollar amount. Commissioner Marks said that she felt it should say more efficient because repairs to make a fireplace more efficient is a general term that is understandable by the general public and is an incentive for people to make improvements on fireplaces. Vice-President Hood said that she felt that the ordinance should just say that repairs are okay, replacements are not, and as long as someone was repairing the same system than however it had to be done it would be okay, but when the system is being changed it would trigger this other thing. Vice-President Hood said that all of the sort of qualifications mean when it goes to be applied that it will be done stringently which will mean that the moment someone touches that thing it will have to be replaced. Vice-President Hood said that if this sounded like a paranoid assumption, an example would be buildings that have sat in the City and not had minor things done with them to deal with earthquakes because it would have triggered a total structural upgrade; things such as signs or parapets don't get fixed because it triggers more of a structural upgrade than people can afford. Vice-President Hood said that this was a dangerous thing that the Commission is dealing with. Ms. Boyajian asked if Vice-President Hood was suggesting to remove the word reconstruct altogether. Vice-President Hood said that was correct and wanted the ordinance to say that it is allowable to repair existing systems and said that she felt that language should be added. Vice-President Hood asked if Supervisor Daly would be wiling to accept that. Supervisor Daly said quite possibly, but stated that what he would prefer was what San Jose adopted which was to adopt an ordinance with a change that used a dollar figure of $1,550.00, which is half of the average cost of installation of the approved appliance. Vice-President Hood said that she would be opposed to putting in a dollar figure because, first of all, it would become obsolete quickly and secondly, the dollar figure seems like it is black and white, but people can construe it according to how they want to by calling it an estimate. Vice-President Hood said that she would rather have it be that it can repaired, but it can't be replaced and asked Supervisor Daly why he would object to that. Supervisor Daly said that his objection was that the intent of this ordinance is to improve air quality and said that his understanding is that this is not the mission of the Building Inspection Commission. Commissioner Walker said it was not the mission of only some of the Commission. Vice-President Hood said that it was the mission of the BIC to improve air quality and there are many things in the Code that improve air quality. Supervisor Daly said that it was news to him that the BIC's mission is to improve air quality as he thought it had more to do with buildings, but as a member of the Board of Directors of the Air Quality Management District, it is there mission explicitly to improve air quality and this is his intent with this ordinance. Supervisor Daly said that he understood that changes in the Building Code might need to come before the Commission, which is why he was present, but without that he said he was looking to implement a more restrictive ordinance to have a greater impact on improving the air quality in the City. Supervisor Daly said that he did not have any science to backup how many remodels of existing heavily polluting woodburning fireplaces or stoves there are in San Francisco and if that is happening he would like to legislate to make sure that people install the cleaner burning fireplaces.
Director Chiu said that based on what he was hearing this discussion was stuck with the repair work and said that he would offer a recommendation. Director Chiu stated that there was a definition of appliance in this ordinance and said that he shared some of the same concerns with Vice-President Hood about dollar values not working. Director Chiu said that the intent was not to allow new appliances or replacement appliances be installed and the language could be cleaned up to allow the repair of a ventilation system or a vent in a chimney and so forth. Director Chiu said that the definition of appliance needed to be clarified and said that appliance means a fire-burning stove and the language should be changed to say that if someone was going to replace that then it would have to be replaced with an approved EPA type. Director Chiu said that would get away from the repair or maintenance work and would solve the Commissioner's concern. Director Chiu said that he would suggest defining what the appliance was and also say that if the appliance is going to be replaced then it should comply with the EPA product. Vice-President Hood said that the example she was thinking of would be if someone had to replace the box, but were not replacing everything it connects to; if a new system is being installed it has to be taken all the way to the roof and that is where it gets expensive because of what has to be ripped out to get to it. Vice-President Hood said that is why the dollars don't work. Director Chiu said that he is suggesting not to say anything about repair or maintenance because understanding Vice-President Hood's point of view that if maintenance work is included that will discourage people from doing necessary repairs. Vice-President Hood said that she thought that might work, but stated that she felt the Commission needed more time to think about it and said that she did not know why it couldn't wait for one month if it has been sitting for a year. Vice-President Hood said that she felt that everyone had the same goals, but just didn't want it to go out with ambiguity that is going to be a problem. President Fillon asked what Vice-President Hood felt was going to happen in a month and said that Vice-President Hood had asked for all these figures and wondered who was going to do that study on the effects of gas. President Fillon said that he did not see what was going to change in a month. Vice-President Hood said she was just asking to get the language cleared up so that what people are saying this is intended to do, is what the language says it is going to do.
President Fillon said that there was a motion before the Commission and if there were no more comments, the Commissioners needed to vote on it and take action. President Fillon asked for public comment.
Mr. Brian Brown said that he lived on Battery Street in the Golden Gateway Center. Mr. Brown said that the best policy that the BIC could adopt would be non-discretionary policies and the non-discretionary policy that would work for him would be no woodburning fireplaces. Mr. Brown said that the Center is plagued by a monster with three woodburning fireplaces and said that the Center is perched in a high rise with the fireplaces underneath. Mr. Brown said that in 1998 the Planning Department allowed the Kukari Restaurant to open and use woodburning fireplaces without any filters. Mr. Brown said that the Air Resources Board tells the tenants that the Planning Department should have insisted that they used scrubbers or something and said that the group had not been successful in getting the restaurant to do that. Mr. Brown said that there have been two fires that he knows of and stated that he asked the Chief Building Inspector, Wing Lau, to go on the roof and inspect them and tell if the restaurant needed a certificate to rebuild these fireplaces and if so, did they get a certificate. Mr. Brown said that he was still waiting for an answer. Mr. Brown said that he has heard the calculus of the English language all over the place today and said that if the BIC could just adopt what he thought was originally going to be adopted, a moratorium on woodburning fireplaces, so that the tenants could breathe fresh air. Mr. Brown thanked the Commission.
Ms. Ernestine Weiss said that she was sure some of the Commissioners knew her very well and stated that she was an activist from the Golden Gateway Center. Ms. Weiss said that this problem that exists in the City with woodburning fireplaces is totally unacceptable as there are people living in the Battery apartments which are 23 story buildings and there are 54 townhouses and 8 penthouses with fireplaces, so that is 62 woodburning fireplaces. Ms. Weiss said that thankfully the tenants have cooperated, at least some of them, as there was wood stacked up outside of one of the units and she begged them not to use it. Ms. Weiss said that there are little children in the building that cannot breath and older people who have emphysema, which this makes worse, and old people have died as a result of this. Ms. Weiss said that there was another woman who wanted to attend the meeting today to testify who is suffering terribly from this woodburning smoke. Ms. Weiss stated that there have been fires and said that this restaurant is very close to the building as Jackson Street is a very narrow street and it burns right into these people's apartments, so much so that they cannot open their windows or sliding doors or cannot use their terraces. Ms. Weiss said that these people are suffering very badly and one person had to go out and buy an air conditioner to be able to sleep. Ms. Weiss said that this is not fair and is not a Code that should be political in this City. Ms. Weiss said that she did not care what ten regional areas did, but let San Francisco be a leader in having clean air and if Bay Area Quality has any punch the Code should be changed to have no woodburning fireplaces in the City. Ms. Weiss said that this is not Sonoma County where there are acres and acres of land and the air dissipates it, but it is very close to where people live. Ms. Weiss stated that where she lives she goes to the Port Commission Meetings and they have introduced into their agendas, two restaurants that want to locate on a little strip of land called Rincon Park which was created due to the freeway coming down and required open space. Ms. Weiss said what good is open space if they are going to build woodburning fireplaces, as no one will enjoy the park. Ms. Weiss said that this is the most ridiculous thing she has heard of and said she was asking on behalf of the 15,000 people living in the Golden Gateway Center to have a moratorium, a ban completely on woodburning fireplaces because they emit the worst poison toxics imaginable. Ms. Weiss said that this is very serious stuff and stated that she did not feel that the Commission should be pushing it though at this meeting. Ms. Weiss said that she would suggest that the Commission give this issue more serious thought and come down and visit this area when the woodburning is going on and smell the smoke. Ms. Weiss said that this was not good government.
Commissioner Guinnane said that in reference to the last gentleman that spoke in looking at page four of the proposed legislation, line items #15 and 16, exceptions one; woodburning appliances that are designated primary for food preparation in new or existing restaurants. Commissioner Guinnane said that if the Commission approves the ordinance as written, the Commission is defeating what he wants the Commission to do. Commissioner Guinnane said that obviously there are some problems with this legislation and not just strictly on houses, but including restaurants. Vice-President Hood said that was an excellent point. Commissioner Walker asked Supervisor Daly for comment. Supervisor Daly said that he could not get the votes in the Housing Committee. Supervisor Daly stated that he could not, politically on his board, get the votes to ban new woodburning fireplaces in restaurants. Vice-President Hood said that is one of the major problems because they go a lot longer, they go every night, and they are in very dense areas because that is where the housing is. Supervisor Daly said that he would agree with Commissioner Hood and said that she could come and lobby some of his colleagues on that matter, as he was sure they would love to hear from her. Commissioner Walker asked if there was a proposal that the woodburning fireplaces be excluded within a certain range of residents so that they are not affected by the smoke or was this even discussed. Supervisor Daly said that staffs had discussed it privately. Commissioner Walker said that it was a concern. Supervisor Daly said that what the BIC had before them today is something that can pass right now at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which will improve air quality in San Francisco. Supervisor Daly said that if the Commission wanted to put this off to talk about something that won't pass at the Board of Supervisors because the restaurant community takes this issue very seriously for some reason. Vice-President Hood said that perhaps there could be something put on the ordinance that would be required of restaurants and stated that she knew they had a problem because a lot of pizzas are baked by wood oak fired ovens, but this is replete with problems. Vice-President Hood said that she noticed that one of the prohibited fuels is treated wood and asked if that included duraflame logs as that is treated wood; did it include presto logs which are also treated wood. Supervisor Daly said that in talking about treated woods, it was specifically arsenic. Vice-President Hood said that everyone had an interpretation, but the language has to say what is meant. Supervisor Daly said whatever, and said that he knew Vice-President Hood was holding up his item because she did not like him. Supervisor Daly said that if Commissioner Hood let him have this he would pass it at the Board of Supervisors and would work with her to pass additional restrictions on restaurants. Supervisor Daly said that he could guarantee that it would pass, but if Commissioner Hood would throw her weight and the Real Estate Industries weight behind passing an ordinance that would normalize restaurants with other folks, then he would work with her on that.
Commissioner Guinnane said that in response to Vice-President Hoods question and the EPA about sizing and measuring the actual fumes and flames and stuff, a lot of this comes out of restaurants and asked how this could be attributed to homes. Commissioner Guinnane said that on the actual cooking of pizzas and all that, he did not believe that duraflame and that kind of product would get enough heat to cook the food. Vice-President Hood said that she was not suggesting that as an option for the restaurants, but was just saying that especially in getting into food preparation it is dealing with industrial devices not like those in a home. Commissioner Walker asked if the Commission could call the question. President Fillon said that he supported this ordinance when Supervisor Becerill brought it before the Commission a year or more ago and stated that he still supported it even more so now because the CAC has had a chance to look at it. President Fillon said to him it was not that difficult of an issue because woodburning stoves do cause harmful particulates in the air. President Fillon said that he did not personally believe that this was as big a problem in San Francisco as it is in other places, however this was a chance for San Francisco to take a lead on this particularly because it is a problem in the Bay Area as a whole. President said that he supported this and said that he did believe that there was a lot of holes in the language not being specific enough to be part of the Code at this point because in looking at the actual Code it is extremely specific on what someone is allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do. President Fillon said that there is quite a bit of short falling in that specificity and stated that this is what he felt Vice-President Hood was responding to and said that he agreed with her in terms of that. President Fillon said that he was prepared to support the motion, but would like to see it amended to make sure that the Commission is able to forward more specific language to make it a real Code that is enforceable, and not going to be abused in a lot of different ways. President Fillon said that this abuse has happened in the past with this kind of ambiguity. Vice-President Hood said that she supported the goals of the people who are proposing the legislation. President Fillon said that he was absolutely against holding this up any longer as it has been floating around for a long time. President Fillon said that he would vote to support the motion and asked if there were any more comments from the Commission. Commissioner Marks asked Commissioner Walker to add an amendment. Vice-President Hood asked Commissioner Walker to repeat the motion. Commissioner Walker said that the motion was to pass back to the Board of Supervisors recommending approval with some agreed upon clarification of the definition regarding appliance, repairs, reconstruction and treated wood. Vice-President Hood said that separately the Commission wanted to look at commercial kitchens. President Fillon said that did not have anything to do with the motion. Vice-President Hood asked if the Department could take a quick look at scrubbers under the Mechanical Code and see if those are available. Commissioner Marks said that was separate from this motion. Ms. Boyajian said that treated wood was defined in the ordinance and is actually defined in the model ordinance and the definition has not been changed. Ms. Boyajian said that it means wood of any species that has been chemically impregnated, painted or similarly modified to improve resistance to insects or weathering. Ms. Boyajian said that it was not determined whether duraflame or other types of logs were covered. Vice-President Hood said that insects were never going to eat duraflame. Commissioner Walker said that she was just concerned if in her amendment it concerned appliance, reconstruction and repair. President Fillon said it should include treated wood. Vice-President said that she would like to add to the definition that it does not include duraflame and other logs because it was said that they were better than wood so she did not want to see them banned. President Fillon said that he would like to see a technical definition based on particulates that are emitted and asked if that were possible. Commissioner Walker asked President Fillon to explain his request. President Fillon said that he would like a definition of the amount of particulates allowable to be produced because new products may come out next year and they will not be included. Ms. Boyajian said that it was in the ordinance. Commissioner Walker said that it should be clarified and reiterated and her amendment would include those four things. President Fillon asked for a roll call vote.
Ms. Weiss asked if she could ask a question. President Fillon said that public comment was over. Ms. Weiss said that she just wanted to know if scrubbers could be put into the Code or some sort of filters because that would stop the particulates from escaping. President Fillon stated that he was afraid of going that far at this time because that was adding more expense. Commissioner Walker said that the Commission made a commitment to deal with this and Supervisor Daly has agreed to carry it as quickly as possible and asked if Ms. Weiss could work with Director Chiu to come up with an addendum. President Fillon asked the Commissioner Secretary to take roll call.
The Commissioners voted as follows:
Commissioner Marks Aye
Commissioner D'Anne Aye
Commissioner Santos Aye
President Fillon Aye
Vice-President Hood No
Commissioner Walker Aye
Commissioner Guinnane No
The motion carried at a vote of 5 ayes to 2 nays.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 069-01
President Fillon asked the Commissioners to follow up with any concerns. President Fillon said that he wanted this included on the agenda for the next meeting to see what the language changes were.
4. Director's Report. [Director Chiu]
a. Report on Supervisor Yee's draft Ordinance to require publication of neighborhood notices in multiple languages and requiring posted notices to advise the public in multiple languages how to request information about the notices in multiple languages.
Director Chiu said that Item #4a was just to give the Commissioners a heads up that Supervisor Yee has been drafting an ordinance requiring, particularly with neighborhood notification, in multiple languages. Director Chiu said that as part of the duties of the Department of Building Inspection plans approval process or permit approval process the Department is required to notify the adjoining property particularly if the building has been proposed for demolition. Director Chiu said that the Department notifies other properties within a 300 foot radius, and particularly if somebody is changing the use of a property, notice is posted and also for a vertical or horizontal addition. Director Chiu said that Supervisor Yee is not only looking at DBI requirements for notification, but also for the Planning Department notification as well. Director Chiu said that the Department has been working very hard to determine how many types of languages. Director Chiu said that so far the Department has identified only three languages that would be required, which are English, Chinese and Spanish. Director Chiu said that the other languages, such as Vietnamese or Korean do not trigger the requirement. Director Chiu said that this would have some impact on staffing, but it is not a big issue for the Department. Director Chiu said that hopefully, this would be for the neighborhood requirements, but DBI does notice other things such as NOVs and said that he did not believe that this was required at this time. Director Chiu said that if this did become a requirement or if such things, as Director's hearings were included, this would have more of an impact on the staffing. Vice-President Hood said she wondered because there are so many dialects in languages such as Chinese if it would be possible to just have a sheet that would be the same for every single Notice of Violation or whatever, just as the disability sheet is always attached to the Department's notices. Vice-President Hood said that this could be in a number of different languages that says that if people could not read the notice in English there would be a translation available by calling a certain telephone number. Vice-President Hood said that in that case a translator could translate the notice for the person. Vice-President Hood said that she felt that the Department could almost do an environmental study of how many trees were going to be killed if all of this noticing was required. Vice-President Hood stated that she was concerned about good ideas, but said that when she thought about how hard it is to make sure that the person who needs to understand is given the information in the correct language. Vice-President Hood said that this would be for people who do not have a family member to translate into English or whatever. Vice-President Hood said that the Department wanted to serve that person, but did not want to waste resources on people who don't need to be served. Commissioner Santos said that this would affect the Unlawful Demolition Committee as it is talking about notifying more people more frequently. Commissioner Santos said that he would agree that staffing would be an issue just for notifying people in general due to new procedures and now this ordinance is talking about notifying and translating. Vice-President Hood said she was concerned about how long it would take to get the notices transferred into several languages. Director Chiu said that he just wanted to say if the Department kept the notification to three or four languages that would not be a big deal because these notices are pretty standard and it would be a matter of changing the location or address. Director Chiu said that he was worried that this requirement would expand to other notifications such as NOVs or other things than it would be a problem. Director Chiu said that he was objecting to having people who have to post a notice of demolition or the large notices that have to be posted on a building translating them into other languages because the notice would be bigger than the actual construction. Director Chiu said that he was trying to encourage the Supervisor and the Deputy City Attorney that is working on this legislation, to do what Vice-President Hood was saying, to put the brief description in Chinese or whatever if a person is concerned about understanding a notice there is a number that they can call. Director Chiu said that by legislation the Department is mandated to have staffing be made available to translate for these languages anyway and DBI has been taking a leadership role in having staff dedicated to help people who need help with translations. Director Chiu said that for instance if the notice gives a number for a person to call and speak to someone who understands Chinese, if that staff person is not available the customer will be able to leave a voicemail in that particular language. Director Chiu said that this is still a minor issue and just wanted to let the Commission know that he is working with the Supervisor. Director Chiu said that there was no action necessary.
b. Report on Proposed Resolution No. 011-01-COE regarding Arsenic-Treated Wood.
Director Chiu said that this item was to give the Commission information about what the Environmental Commission is proposing regarding arsenic treated wood. Director Chiu stated that this ordinance would prohibit City, particularly Rec and Park and another department that has something to do with treated wood; for example, if the City was constructing a City project or City owned property this ordinance would prohibit the use of arsenic treated wood. Director Chiu said that arsenic treated wood is usually used on decking or plywood sheeting and in some cases fire treated wood for high rise buildings where typically regular wood is prohibited. Director Chiu said that at present this ordinance does not ban the use of arsenic or treated wood for privately owned property, but this ordinance does prohibit the sale of these types of wood in the City and County of San Francisco. Director Chiu said that this may have some impact on the type of wood that could be used in construction, but this ordinance does not prohibit the use of treated wood for the public and would have some impact on the sale of these materials in San Francisco. Commissioner Santos asked what implications this ordinance would have on repairing playgrounds in Golden Gate Park or throughout the City. Director Chiu said that it was his understanding that if this ordinance were to pass it would prohibit the use of any treated wood for public facilities such as playgrounds. Director Chiu said that this particular issue would have a major impact on Rec and Park. Director Chiu stated that Laurence Kornfield had been assigned to continue to do analysis to determine how much impact this ordinance would have on City property, because as he previously stated, this ordinance would not have an impact on privately owned buildings, but it would be harder for people to purchase these materials in the City. Director Chiu said that his understanding of Laurence's brief analysis is that the alternative method would be to use pure, original redwood and that material usually costs 80% more than treated wood. Director Chiu said that if in the future this ordinance would include more stringent restrictions, he did not know what sort of impact this would have on the industry. Vice-President Hood said that there were some wonderful renewable woods that are tropical, but they come from sustainable sources and they are more expensive, however, they last longer than the treated wood structures. Vice-President Hood said that they would also be very beautiful so there would be the side effect that would be highly desirable and they don't have as many splinters in them. Vice-President Hood said that she felt that there are options available and it would be notable to look into some of these options and it would be a "green" kind of thing to do. President Fillon asked if this ordinance was talking about the wood that is used when looking at any outdoor condition and asked if it all had arsenic in it. Director Chiu said that was his understanding. Vice-President said that it also has copper sulfate in it. President Fillon said that this was a big deal because this is an extremely widely used product. Vice-President Hood said that this ordinance was just talking about when this is used in public parks. Director Chiu said that right now it would prohibit any City department from using this wood, but also would prohibit the sale of treated wood in San Francisco. Director Chiu said that his understanding, in talking with the Director of this newly created Environmental Department, is that in the near future this department will be looking into other restrictions. Director Chiu said that he was just giving the Commission a heads up and alerting the Department to look into other alternatives. President Fillon said that these other options would not be financially feasible in comparison as the price difference would be phenomenal. Director Chiu said that from the Environmental Department's standpoint their interest is in building greener and cleaner and that is their mission. Director Chiu asked if Laurence Kornfield had any comments that he would like to add.
President Fillon asked how much arsenic is in this treated wood and how has it been shown that it is dangerous to people. Mr. Kornfield said that, just like the fireplace issue, he could not speak to the health issues as the Department has gotten a lot of references in the ordinance, but stated that he did not have the basic information to determine what the actual level of hazard is. Mr. Kornfield said that in checking with the EPA website and EPA reports there is no Federal or State mandate, nor is there any research at the Federal or State level, which says that arsenic treated lumber is at this point considered to be a health hazard. Mr. Kornfield stated that the exceptions were the workers who were cutting this wood on a regular basis or if it is burned. Mr. Kornfield said that there are a lot of studies that say that this could be a problem and people are worried about it, but at this point the EPA has not issued any notices or advisories, nor has the State. Mr. Kornfield said that there are a whole bunch of issues related to this and one is that it is expensive to use other materials; a tropical hardwood that is a wonderful material costs about 80% more than pressure treated wood. Vice-President Hood said that it would probably come down if there were a greater demand. Mr. Kornfield said that redwood is getting harder and harder to get, to use and to justify the use of. Vice-President Hood said that redwood doesn't work as well any more because it is third and fourth growth and it rots. Mr. Kornfield said that it does not have the same structural qualities. Commissioner Santos said that many people are now using metal materials for decking. Mr. Kornfield stated that there are uses of other materials such as plastics and metals, which are reasonable to consider for replacement of pressure treated wood if it is ever prohibited. Vice-President Hood said that these other materials are coming along because now there are deck woods that are made out of recycled carpet and said that she thought the time would come when there will be better products. Commissioner Santos said that there was a product that was a combination of plastic and wood. President Fillon said that this should be agendized for a subsequent meeting.
c. Update on meeting with Civil Grand Jury regarding outdoor advertising signs.
Director Chiu said that this item was to give the Commission an update on a meeting that DBI had a few weeks ago with the Civil Grand Jury concerning outdoor advertising signs. Director Chiu stated that recently there were articles in the newspaper about the concern that a lot of these outdoor advertising signs had been installed without permit. Director Chiu said that many sign may have been installed without permit, but many of those signs are probably painted signs or signs glued to a building where DBI normally does not get involved. Director Chiu said that the Civil Grand Jury is really focusing on Planning and DBI to see how the departments could better enforce these types of outdoor advertising signs, mainly the types of signs that cover an entire building wall. Director Chiu said that there was neighborhood concern about why DBI or Planning was not properly enforcing these signs, but Director Chiu said that the Department was trying to educate the Civil Grand Jury to let them know that typically if the sign is a structural sign that is attached with nuts and bolts then DBI gets involved, but if it is just painted or glued on, it is out of the Department's jurisdiction. Commissioner Santos said that the Department's primary concern would be the proximity of the sign and the three percent overhang. Director Chiu said that these signs may violate the zoning code, but it has nothing to do with DBI. Director Chiu said that from the neighbor's standpoint they could not differentiate between the different types of signs and felt that the advertiser was in violation and DBI and Planning should enforce the Code. Director Chiu said that the Department had not gotten any report back from the Civil Grand Jury, but stated that he wanted to inform the Commission of this issue.
d. Update on Asthma Task Force.
Director Chiu reported that this was another task force being created by the Board of Supervisors and stated that one of DBI's Senior Inspectors is sitting on this task force to look at ways that the Department could minimize the health risks to youngsters with asthma. Director Chiu said that once again this was information that he wanted to pass onto the Commission and this was a brand new task force that was created a couple of months ago. Director Chiu said that Louise Kimbell, a Senior Housing Inspector, has attended a couple of meeting. Vice-President Hood said that she wanted to pass on some questions that she had about the increasing prevalence of asthma. Vice-President Hood said that she had read that it is becoming much worse and the number of people with asthma is increasing rapidly, but particularly increasing rapidly in the African American community. Vice-President Hood said that because, through land use patterns, these people live in a different part of town she would be interested in knowing if there are any sorts of connections with code enforcement or anything of that sort. Vice-President Hood asked if the Department could keep a lookout for this sort of pattern as she felt this is a very sad statistic and stated that she did not know if it had anything to do with buildings, but if it does or something that is within DBI's jurisdiction, she would like to know about it. Director Chiu said that according to the Health Department part of the asthma problem could be traced back to mold and mildew and stated that he had spoken to the Senior Inspector involved to work closely with the mold and mildew issue. Director Chiu said this had been a particular problem at the AIMCO buildings in the Bay View and Hunters Point apartment buildings. Director Chiu said that he would be happy to report as the task force progresses. Commissioner Marks said that she did not hear the discussion clearly and asked what was there a connection to. Director Chiu said that according to the Health Department mold and mildew triggers these type of symptoms.
There was no public comment on the Director's reports.
5. Public Comment: The BIC will take public comment on matters within the Commission's jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda.
There was no public comment.
At 2:40 p.m. the Commission took a recess.
The Commission reconvened at 3:05 p.m.
6. Discussion and possible action to set meeting date for Building Inspection Commission Committee to recommend appointments to the Code Advisory Committee and UMB Appeals Board.
President Fillon stated that he was on this Committee along with Commissioners D'Anne and Santos and said that the Committee had not yet met. President Fillon said that the Committee had several candidates and suggested that a meeting be scheduled for the following week to review the applicants. President Fillon said that the Committee would meet at the Department and a meeting date of Thursday, December 13th at 11:00 a.m. was agreed upon.
Mr. Zachary Nathan introduced himself as the Chair of the Code Advisory Committee and said that he wanted to thank Director Chiu for putting this item on the agenda. Mr. Nathan said that this was something that was troubling him for a number of months because there is a shortage of people on this committee. Mr. Nathan said that only eleven of the seventeen positions were currently filled and stated that the committee was deficient particularly in the areas of construction experience as there are two positions for a remodeling contractor and a contractor who primarily does single and multi family housing. Mr. Nathan said that the committee did not have a person with a disability or a person who is knowledgeable about disabled access. Mr. Nathan said that he had some knowledge about disabled access, but did not fill that seat, as he is the small project architect's seat. Mr. Nathan said that there was someone who was disabled that worked on the committee and that person served as sort of a liaison with the disabled community. Mr. Nathan said that he wanted to emphasize that on the last Code cycle there was criticism of the Department for not having enough neighborhood input in the Code development process; at that time, the committee said that there should be some people on the Code Advisory Committee who are neighborhood activists or representing neighborhood organization. Mr. Nathan said that he would look to the committee that was going to help find people for the CAC to put that as a requirement or a goal. Mr. Nathan said that the committee needs people that come to the meetings because there have been people that show up for the first meeting and then they are never seen again. Mr. Nathan stated that when the committee are thinking about their selections, he would hope that they would choose people that are not coming just to have this on their resume, but will be people who will actually be attending the meetings and participating because it really hurts the CAC not to have a quorum at their meetings. President Fillon asked how many people were needed for a quorum. Mr. Nathan said that there needs to be half of the total members and right now there are eleven members so six members would have to be present. Mr. Nathan said that if the membership is increased there would have to be more people accordingly, or more than 50%. Vice-President Hood said that the BIC actually changed the quorum requirements because when it was measured against the seventeen seats the committee could never get a quorum. President Fillon asked where the committee met and how often. Mr. Nathan said that the committee meets once a month at the regular meeting at 1660 Mission Street, Room 2001. Mr. Nathan said that he would encourage any of the Commissioners to attend a meeting and said that the regular meeting is the third Wednesday of each month from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Mr. Nathan said that there are various other sub-committees that meet as scheduled. Mr. Nathan said that previously there was a liaison from the BIC as Sig Freeman would attend the meetings on a regular basis. Mr. Nathan said that this was wonderful because he would then understand, first hand, the issues that the committee was discussing and relay the information back to the members of the Commission; Mr. Freeman would also give information to the CAC about BIC issues. President Fillon asked when the next meeting would be held. Mr. Nathan said that it would be on the third Wednesday in January, which would be January 16th at 9:00 a.m. Commissioner Santos asked if more than one Commissioner could attend. Mr. Nathan said that he was not sure according to the Sunshine Ordinance. Secretary Ann Aherne said that President Fillon and Commissioner Santos were both on the committee to review applicants for the CAC so that would be a majority of that committee and perhaps the two interested Commissioners could alternate months if they wanted to attend. Mr. Nathan said that the CAC was hoping to have a joint meeting with the BIC to give a report of what their activities have been for the past year or two. Mr. Nathan said that it would be helpful to have more people on the committee so that they could take action on some of the issues such as woodburning fireplaces by getting a broad range of views from people with different expertise. President Fillon said that it has been his responsibility for the past two years to fill these positions and said that he felt that given the change in the economy it would be difficult to get a wide range of people, as it was very difficult to get applications. President Fillon said that he felt that the CAC could get a full committee for the next year. President Fillon asked Mr. Nathan to ask people to send in applications and Mr. Nathan said that one of the main problems is that applicants have to be a resident of San Francisco and many candidates are disqualified because of that. Mr. Nathan said that he had heard from people with disabilities who say that they can't attend meetings in the morning because it takes them all morning to get ready and they can't get to something at 9:00 a.m. Mr. Nathan said that if the meeting time is changed to the afternoon that presents problems for other people. Mr. Nathan thanked the Commission for their time. Vice-President Hood asked if it would help if the Department offered coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts as an incentive. Mr. Nathan said that it couldn't hurt as people often go out and purchase coffee during the meeting and come back with treats. Commissioner Santos asked if the meetings could be held anywhere or did they have to be held at 1660 Mission. Mr. Nathan said that was a good question and said that there have been meetings held elsewhere such as next door to 1660 Mission.
7. Discussion and possible action to adopt a resolution in support of Operation Self Reliance, a campaign to enlist disabled people and frail seniors in the DPH Disaster Registry and in the free Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) training offered by the San Francisco Fire Department.
Director Chiu said that at the last meeting Mr. Ron Lopez appeared and worked with Ann Aherne, the Commission Secretary to come up with a resolution. Ms. Aherne said that at the last meeting it was agreed that the BIC supported this issue, but it needed to be put on an agenda in order to actually get a resolution to say that the Commission was in support of this effort to register people this week through the different fire departments. Commissioner Walker made a motion, seconded by Commission to adopt the resolution to support this effort.
The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 070 -01
8. Update on Unlawful Demolition Committee meeting. [Commissioners Hood, Santos and Walker]
Vice-President Hood said that she wanted to say that thanks to the documentation of Laurence Kornfield to the many revisions and thanks to the leadership of Director Chiu, the participation of other members of the staff, Commissioners Walker and Santos, members of the neighborhood group and all of the different constituencies that are represented, the Committee is getting close to having a consensus on what needs to be done. Vice-President Hood said that there was a very successful meeting held the previous Friday morning and most of the goals of the Committee have been realized and the Committee has now asked Secretary Ann Aherne to set up meetings in the neighborhoods throughout the City because just as it has taken the Committee six months to get sufficiently into depth in these issues and how they evolved to get language that works to deal with them, if neighbors get this all of a sudden they wouldn't understand what it is doing. Vice-President Hood said that it looks simple, but it has a very complicated impact. Vice-President Hood said that various Supervisors are being contacted and neighborhood groups in different segments of the City to have night meetings to hear about examples where zoning changes were needed and to explain how the proposal might help citizens to deal with this in the future in a way that would be more successful. Vice-President Hood said that these meetings would be in the nature of workshops, but also a kind of training session as to what this means. Commissioner Walker said that the reason for taking this to the neighborhood is to see if the language that is being proposed really will help in certain real situations and this would further refine the proposal that will be made to the full Commission. President Fillon said that if there was a meeting that one of the Commissioners on the Committee could not attend he would like to be present in their place. Vice-President Hood said that she wanted everyone to know that the Committee has been working very closely with the Planning Commission, particularly Larry Badiner the Zoning Administrator has been very helpful. Vice-President Hood stated that there was a joint meeting scheduled between the BIC and the Planning Commission for January 24th. Vice-President Hood said that the Committee would present its proposal to the BIC so that when the joint meeting takes place; the BIC will be on the same page. Vice-President Hood said that it seems as if the Committee is trying to go forward on a number of different levels, but it is a fluid thing thanks to the word processing skills of Laurence Kornfield. Vice-President Hood said that it was an evolving document. Vice-President Hood asked that the Commissioners mark the 24th of January on their calendars.
9. Update on Litigation Committee Meetings. [Commissioners Guinnane, Santos and Walker]
Commissioner Santos said that the Committee is running quite smoothly as the Committee goes through several of the outstanding litigation items and reviews referrals. Commissioner Santos said that significant progress has been made and the Committee is assisting the Department in attacking the bad apples and making sure that there is no effort wasted in cases where there is no chance for recovery of funds. President Fillon asked when the last meeting was held. Commissioner Santos answered that there was a meeting on Monday. President Hood asked how often the Committee was meeting and Commissioner Santos reported that the Committee meets once a month.
Vice-President Hood asked if the Committee anticipated any changes in how the Committee works because of upcoming changes in the City Attorney's Office by the resignation of Louise Renne. Commissioner Guinnane said that he hoped to go over and meet with the new City Attorney and get better cooperation with this Department and the City Attorney's Office. Commissioner Guinnane said that he hoped to work with some better individuals over at that office as the problem he finds right now is that if the Department wants to draft a complaint, it takes forever to get a complaint drafted. Commissioner Guinnane said that the complaint is drafted, reviewed and redrafted and stated that he did not know why it takes so long to get a complaint drafted. Commissioner Walker agreed. President Fillon said that he felt that the Committee would be dealing with a completely different department and it would be hard to know what the changes would be at this point. Commissioner Guinnane said that he would wait to see who the new City Attorney would be and would then work with the new administration at that time.
10. Discussion and possible action for the Commission to confirm by a roll call vote its approval of the shuttle service contract for 1660 Mission Street. [Assistant Director Amy Lee]
Assistant Director Lee said that she was before the Commission once again to discuss this matter. Ms. Lee said that the Department was heard about a week and a half ago before the Civil Service Commission and they raised a substantial amount of concerns about providing the shuttle. Ms. Lee stated that one of the issues was that the Civil Service Commission wanted a roll count to know how many of the BIC Commissioners approved of the shuttle service. Ms. Lee said that she explained that it was a unanimous vote and this was also stated in a letter written to the Civil Service Commission by the BIC secretary. Ms. Lee said that the Civil Service Commission still wanted her to come back to the BIC and ask for a specific roll count on whether or not the BIC Commissioners support providing a shuttle service to the employees. Ms. Lee said that the Civil Service Commission's concerns hinge upon the Department providing this service and whether it is a general benefit to BIC employees that other City agency employees do not have. Ms. Lee said that she explained that this service was per the variance that was required when the building was first purchased. Ms. Lee said that the Zoning Administrator Larry Badiner spoke before that Commission and explained the need and why decisions were made. Ms. Lee said that she felt that the Civil Service Commission was going toward having DBI do another environmental impact report because they were not confident that the shuttle service would be utilized or is necessary; they were concerned because 1660 Mission Street is only one block from Market Street to Muni and BART is just three blocks away. Ms. Lee said that she did explain that there are a lot of safety concerns from staff and stated that recently in tailgate meetings staff expressed concern about walking to and from the BART station as well as to Market Street. Ms. Lee said that she emphasized that the reason that DBI is providing the shuttle is solely because of the variance and that the Department cannot propose to move forward on any other project and that it is embarrassing for the Planning Department, as well the Department of Building Inspection, to impose this kind of regulation on contractors and developers when DBI is not in compliance with it. Ms. Lee said that she was here before the Commission to ask for a roll count. Commissioner Guinnane asked what was the cost. Ms. Lee said that the cost was $108,000 and said that she explained to the Civil Service Commission that DBI had received a lower bid of $67,000, but unfortunately that person did not comply with all of the regulations, such as the 12b and domestic partners, so they were not a qualified contractor. Ms. Lee said that the only person that came in as a qualified provider was the bid of $108,000. Commissioner Guinnane asked if the $108,000 was an annual cost. Ms. Lee said that was correct. Commissioner Guinnane asked how long the contract would be. Ms. Lee said that initially it was for a nine month period, but the $108,000 covers a whole year. Ms. Lee said that now this is into December and the process would probably go into January, so it would only be a six-month contract to be renewed after that time. Ms. Lee stated that it would be prorated down depending on the time. Commissioner Guinnane said that he would like to do six months as he did not want the Department to lock into something long term and then the employees do not use the shuttle. Ms. Lee said that, at this point, she could not even do the six months because Civil Service has not approved the contract. Ms. Lee said that is why she has to come before the Commission to ask for a roll call to verify that the Commission support providing a shuttle service to employees of 1660 Mission and that it is part of the variance requirement. Commissioner Guinnane said asked if Ms. Lee got approval today from the BIC, how long would it take to get this shuttle up and running. Ms. Lee said that she believed that it was going to be heard before the Civil Service Commission on January 7, 2002. President Fillon said that right now, the Civil Service Commission is for some reason, which is a mystery to him, against this 100% and are trying to stop it. President Fillon said that sending this back to the BIC is sort of an intimidation tactic as they want to know which Commissioners, by name, support this. President Fillon said that he did not understand this. Commissioner Guinnane said that he would move to support the shuttle. Vice-President Hood seconded the motion. President Fillon said that it is not up to the Commission to create new policy as this was done a long time ago and is in the contract with the Department. President Fillon said that this is the only reason that the Commission is supporting it, as there really is nothing for the Commission to decide. Commissioner Guinnane said that if this was a five or six month contract that was great, as he did not want to go for a full year. Commissioner Guinnane said that at that time the Commission could see how it is going and if it is working out the contract could be renewed for another year. Commissioner Walker said that she did not know if there was a scope requirement for the terms that are applied by the Planning Department, but if the shuttle is not being used, maybe it would be possible to scale it back so the Commission could reassess the frequency and the number of runs. Ms. Lee said that would be something that would be managed internally at DBI. Ms. Lee said that the Civil Service Commission was not satisfied with the survey that the Department provided, as it was outdated because it has taken so long to approve. Ms. Lee said that the survey had been conducted back in January. President Fillon asked if the Civil Service Commission had a problem with the fact that there was only one certifiable contractor. Ms. Lee said that they had issues with that, but said that she explained that she had no control over that because she can't make people do business if they don't want to. Vice-President Hood said that she felt that the Civil Service Commission was just being extremely negative about everything. Commissioner Guinnane asked what vehicle was being used. Ms. Lee said that it was a bus that would fit about twenty to twenty-four people sort of like the shuttle buses to the airport. Commissioner Guinnane asked if the Department had ever looked into the idea of just trying to purchase the vehicle and getting an employee to drive it. Ms. Lee said that she did talk to other departments that have this situation and the only department that does this is the City Administrator's Department and they said that they have a lot of problems and urged DBI not to have it in house. Ms. Lee said that the van would have to be purchased outright, then hire a full time employee and if that employee was out sick there would have to be backup. Ms. Lee said that the City Administrator's Office was having difficulties in managing this in house. Ms. Lee said that the Department did approach Muni and asked them to do the service; Muni said that they couldn't because under Federal and State legislation they can only do certain things and they cannot compete with another business that would provide such a service. Commissioner Guinnane said that this Department would be named as additional insured on the liability of this particular vendor. Ms. Lee said that no, it would be the vendor carrying everything, so in fact by doing business with a vendor what the Civil Service Commission also did not understand was that DBI would reduce the City's liability because it would not be a City employee driving the vehicle. Commissioner Walker asked if this motion could be amended that the Commission was going to reassess the scope of the service after the initial six months. Commissioner D'Anne asked what the potential rider ship might be. Ms. Lee said that she did not have those numbers off hand, but stated that the Department did do a preliminary survey and there were over twenty-five employees in the morning and that was why two morning times were needed and two afternoon times. Ms. Lee said that another survey was being done and she would provide the Commission with more detail when that survey is completed. Ms. Lee said that up to forty employees were interested and this was another issue raised by the Civil Service Commission; the Civil Service Commission said that if $108,000 were divided by forty it would give a benefit to those employees who used the shuttle. Ms. Lee said that she explained that this was a requirement by the variance and the Department has no control over issues such as choosing vendors. Ms. Lee said that the Civil Service Commission were primarily concerned whether or not the Department still needed the shuttle service as they believe that 1660's location is very accessible to public transportation. Ms. Lee stated that she explained that this would go to BART and Trans Bay Terminal, and stated that there is a very real concern from staff that it is dangerous to walk to the nearest BART station, which is at Sixteenth and Mission after 4:00 p.m. Ms. Lee said that she thought that the Civil Service would head in the direction of having the Zoning Administrator do another environmental impact study. Commissioner D'Anne asked what stations the shuttle would be servicing. Ms. Lee said that the shuttle would drive to City Hall and Trans Bay, Muni and Bart. Ms. Lee stated that she was not sure of the route, but said that there were going to be several drop off points. Commissioner D'Anne said that if there were forty people using the shuttle, it would be about $250.00 per year, per person and said that was not too bad. Ms. Lee said that due to the fact that parking may be removed from the Construction Center within the next six to eight months, there may be an increase in the need for the shuttle service.
Vice-President Hood made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Santos that the Commission adopt the proposed shuttle service as described by Commissioners Guinnane and Walker. Ms. Lee said that the Civil Service Commission actually wanted a roll call vote. President Fillon said that the agenda item was to confirm, by roll call vote, the previous approval of the shuttle service. Commissioner D'Anne said that she had one more question. Commissioner D'Anne asked if there were forty interested in this shuttle service would the shuttle keep going back and forth. Ms. Lee said that there would be two trips in the morning and two trips in the afternoon. Ms. Lee said that the first drop would be at 7:30 a.m. as some people start that early and others start at 8:00 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. The Secretary took a roll call vote. The Commissioners voted as follows:
Commissioner D'Anne Yes
Commissioner Santos Yes
President Fillon Yes
Vice-President Hood Yes
Commissioner Walker Yes
Commissioner Guinnane Yes
Commissioner Marks Absent
There was no public comment on this item.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 071-01
11. Discussion and possible action to form a taskforce to review alternative materials for decking in San Francisco. [Vice-President Hood]
Vice-President Hood said she was sure that the Commissioners had noticed that there have been several highly publicized cases of deck failure in the City. Vice-President Hood said that one of the things she noticed in her work and places that she has visited that were for sale, or in her own home when she was repainting, was that she discovered that there was quite a lot of wood in the railings of these decks that are fifty feet in the air that had to be replaced. Vice-President Hood said that she thought that this was a more serious problem in San Francisco than in other drier areas or places where there is no fog during the summer. Vice-President Hood said that she has mentioned before that the quality of wood that is used for outdoor purposes has deteriorated over the years, so that now that when redwood or treated wood is installed there is no assurance that it is going to last as long as it was previously thought that redwood or treated wood would last. Vice-President Hood said, in addition, it is typical in the City to paint the wood and that makes its condition even more invisible. Vice-President Hood stated that she knew there was concern about the relationship of these deck problems with enforcement, but the question she wanted to deal with is does the Department have the right Code; for example, if there is a deck that is forty or fifty feet in the air on a wood frame building that is constructed of wood whether it is a two family or a one family home, and there would not be the same number of people involved if it were a three or four unit building. Vice-President Hood said that she thought that the Commission should form a task force to look at this issue. Vice-President Hood said that on the Commission there is a builder, a structural engineer who is very involved and stated that she felt that this was something that the Commission needed to look at because this problem in happening in our City and said that she gets very upset when she reads articles such as the recent article about the young woman who is now paralyzed. Vice-President Hood said there were other people who were injured and one person who lost her life a few years ago and stated that she would like to look into this and come up with some recommendations. Commissioner Santos said that this issue came up at the Litigation Committee meeting and said that the main fear, as usual in the well-intended world where the Code issue is purely structural, is that other issues will come into play. Commissioner Santos said that people will be absolutely willing to do any sort of structural retrofit as long as they know that is the only thing that they have to do and most stairwells and fire escapes are at property line, so other Codes would be triggered such as a one hour wall condition or a new foundation and that is the type of situation that was discussed. Vice-President Hood said that like all Code issues it has all of these little tentacles that go out. Commissioner Santos said that just as in the UMB Code there is no such thing as a structural exercise only, as handicap issues will be raised. Commissioner Santos said that he would be delighted to participate in any such task force. Vice-President Hood asked if Commissioner Guinnane would be willing to look at this also and stated that she would be happy to be on this task force. Vice-President Hood said that this has been a long term concern of hers and said that she felt that these decks were just accidents out there waiting to happen. President Fillon recapped to say that there was a task force set up with Commissioners Guinnane, Hood and Santos serving.
There was no public comment on this item.
12. Review of Communication Items. At this time, the Commission may discuss or take possible action to respond to communication items received since the last meeting.
a. Thank you letters received from the public commending DBI employees and Director Chiu's response letters to the public.
President Fillon said that there were letters of commendation for several DBI employees and said that he wanted to state their names for the records. President Fillon said that the following DBI employees received very positive response letters from members of the public: Evelyn Karcs, Neil Friedman, Rich Wilkins and Spencer Gosch. President Fillon asked Director Chiu to express the Commissioners' thanks to those people in the Department.
There was no public comment on this item.
13. Review and approval of the Minutes of the BIC meeting of October 3, 2001.
Commissioner Santos made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Guinnane to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 072-01
14. Review and of approval of Minutes of the BIC meeting of October 17, 2001.
Commissioner Guinnane made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walker to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 073-01
15. Review and approval of Minutes of the BIC meeting of November 7, 2001.
Commissioner D'Anne made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Santos that the minutes be approved. President Fillon and Commissioner Guinnane excused themselves from the vote as they were not present at the meeting. The motion carried unanimously by the four Commissioners who were present.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 074-01
16. Review Commissioner's Questions and Matters.
a. Inquiries to Staff. At this time, Commissioners may make inquiries to staff regarding various documents, policies, practices, and procedures, which are of interest to the Commission.
b. Future Meetings/Agendas. At this time, the Commission may discuss and take action to set the date of a Special Meeting and/or determine those items that could be placed on the agenda of the next meeting and other future meetings of the Building Inspection Commission.
Commissioner Guinnane said that going back to the audit by the Controller's Office there was discussion about taking cars home and the Department sending 1099s to the employees for usage back and forth. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted to talk about that, as he understood that there is a problem with the lot for the cars, but the Controller is having a problem with the cars being taken home.
Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted to look at conflicts of interest for all the employees at DBI, if they are a City employee and doing any work or outside business or if they are building. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted to discuss this issue. Commissioner Santos asked if Commissioner Guinnane was talking about moonlighting. Commissioner Guinnane said yes, he wanted to look into, as examples, a Building Inspector who is building a building in the City, a computer person who has an outside business going or an engineer drawing plans outside and checking them inside. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted to touch on all of those items.
President Fillon said that he would like City Attorney to take a look at the addendum to change the language on wood burning fireplaces and present it at the next meeting. Deputy City Attorney Judy Boyajian said that there was some confusion on this issue as she felt that Supervisor Daly left the meeting thinking that he had the Commission's recommendation. Ms. Boyajian said that there was another Committee meeting close to the end of the month and said that the Committee may proceed. Ms. Boyajian said that she would propose that she would draft something up quickly and perhaps the BIC would have a meeting before the Board of Supervisors took any action. Vice-President Hood said that maybe the changes could be faxed around to the Commissioners and the Commissioners could then call Ms. Boyajian with any comments. Commissioner Walker if this was okay according to the Brown Act. Ms. Boyajian said that as long as all of the Commissioners were not communicating with each other it would be all right. President Fillon said that the Commission needed to strike while the coals were still hot.
Vice-President Hood asked when the next meeting would be. The Secretary said that the next scheduled meeting would be December 19th. Director Chiu said that most people would be away for Christmas. Vice-President Hood said that she would not be able to make it on the 19th. Commissioner Walker asked if there were anything pressing that couldn't wait until January. Director Chiu said nothing except the wood burning stove issue. Vice-President Hood said that there was a way of handling that by fax. Commissioner Walker said that the Commission voted to approve it and then offer recommendations. Commissioner Guinnane said that he wanted to keep it with the Commission. Ms. Boyajian said that she did not think that it was kept with the Commission and said that she would come up with something as soon as possible and work with the Supervisor's Office and give it to the Commission Secretary. The meeting for December 19, 2001 was cancelled.
17. Public Comment: The BIC will take public comment on matters within the Commission's jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda.
There was no public comment.
18. Adjournment.
Commissioner Guinnane made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Guinnane to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 075-01
The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
_______________________
Ann Marie Aherne Commission Secretary
SUMMARY OF REQUESTS BY COMMISSIONERS
Agendize for future meeting - alternatives for arsenic-treated wood. - President Fillon Pages 18-20
Department sending 1099s to employees for the usage of cars, taking cars home and lack of parking. - Commissioner Guinnane Page 29
Conflicts of Interest - employees moonlighting, such as inspectors building, plan checkers doing plans or a computer person having an outside business. - Commissioner Guinnane Page 29 - 30
City Attorney to furnish changes to woodburning fireplace ordinance. - President Fillon Page 30