Building Inspection Commission
BUILDING INSPECTION COMMISSION (BIC)
Department of Building Inspection (DBI)
SPECIAL MEETING
Wednesday, January 31, 2001 at 1:00 p.m.
ADOPTED February 21, 2001
City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 408
MINUTES
The special 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 Bobbie Sue Hood, Vice-President
Denise D’Anne, Commissioner Esther Marks, Commissioner
Rodrigo Santos, Commissioner Debra Walker, Commissioner
Roy Guinnane, Commissioner - excused
Ann Aherne, Secretary
D.B.I. REPRESENTATIVES:
Amy Lee, Assistant Director
Jim Hutchinson, Deputy Director
William Wong, Deputy Director
Taras Madison, Manager Administration & Finance
2. Report, discussion and possible action on the proposed budget of the Department of Building Inspection for Fiscal Year 2001-2002.
President Fillon stated that the Budget Committee had met on Monday, which was actually the second meeting of the Committee, and reviewed the fourth quarter report prepared by staff. The fourth quarter report was discussed by the Committee and at the end of that meeting, the Committee unanimously moved to recommend that the Commission as a whole approve the budget. President Fillon asked if there was any discussion or questions about the recommendations or if there was any staff report.
Assistant Director Amy Lee introduced herself as representing the Department as Director Frank Chiu was out for minor surgery. Ms. Lee stated that there was no full report to present because several Budget Committee meetings were held, but Ms. Taras Madison, Manager of Administration and Finance was present to answer any questions. Ms. Lee said that she did want to emphasize to the Commission that this budget was brought forth by the staff; there were some preliminary reductions from both the Executive Management and the Managers. Ms. Lee said the Department believes that the budget that is being presented includes things that the Department needs, but is a very tight budget that would help DBI respond to the needs of its customers in this new fiscal year. Ms. Lee stated that Ms. Madison was available for any questions and Ms. Lee suggested that the meeting proceed with questions and answers as the Department did a preliminary presentation at the last meeting.
President Fillon said that the only difference in the budget since the last meeting was that money was being added for training in Housing Inspection Services. Ms. Lee said that the recommendation for that item was incorporated into the budget. Ms. Taras Madison, Manager of Administration and Finance, said that the Commissioners had received additional paperwork from her that showed a revised expenditure summary and a revised training summary. Ms. Madison said that at the last Committee meeting there was a discussion and Commissioner Marks was interested in making sure that the Housing Inspectors get as much training as possible, just as all of the other inspectors receive training. Ms. Madison said that this resulted in the budget going up by approximately $10,000.
Ms. Madison asked the Commission to compare the summary received today to the one received on January 23rd or 25th and noted that training went up by $10,000, but the overall figure went down a little and because DBI is continuing to receive its work orders from other departments. Ms. Madison said that where the Department may have budgeted for a 3% increase or the same amount as last year for a specific department, the department has actually sent a work order and the cost has been reduced. Ms. Madison stated that one in particular had gone down from $45,000 to $20,000, so although training was increased, some other items have gone down. President Fillon asked if there were any questions.
Commissioner D’Anne said that in reading the draft minutes from the Budget Committee she had a question. Commissioner D’Anne said that she noticed that the Department was going to increase staff. Commissioner D’Anne proceeded to read from the minutes. "Vice-President Hood said for things like plumbing, inspectors were doing 75% within 48 hours but, there was a very numerical kind of thing and they added three more plumbing inspectors and it got better and it was 80%." Commissioner D’Anne said that she was curious to know if hiring three new people increased the workload by 5% and stated that she didn’t get it because how many people were doing 75% of the work. Assistant Director Lee said that she believed that the response time was within 24 hours. Ms. Lee said that three new positions added were because the Department started a new boiler program and those three positions reflected the increased demand; the increase response time as well as the beginning of the boiler program. Ms. Lee said that the Department needs to start registering all of the boilers in the City. Commissioner D’Anne asked if the Department increased the inspection program. Ms. Lee said that the three staff persons that Commissioner D’Anne was looking at from the prior year were not only used to increase the inspection turnaround time, but were used for the new boiler inspection program. Ms. Lee said that this is a State mandate that requires the Department to start registering all of the boilers in the City and maintain a log to send out notices for inspection; those three staff persons were used to start that program. Commissioner D’Anne asked if this was going to be a continuing program. Ms. Lee said yes, and that was why those positions were hired. Commissioner D’Anne asked how many Plumbing Inspectors there were now. Ms. Lee asked Deputy Director Jim Hutchison to come forward to answer questions. Deputy Director Hutchinson stated that there are currently fourteen Plumbing Inspectors, three Seniors and one Chief. Commissioner D’Anne asked if the Seniors were supervising the fourteen, but soon there will be three more so that will be seventeen. Deputy Director Hutchinson said that the three were already included in the fourteen. Ms. Madison said that she was not sure what Commissioner D’Anne was referencing as last year the Department only added one Plumbing Inspector and that was for the boiler program and in looking at her list for this year, Ms. Madison said that she did not see any new Plumbing Inspectors added. Commissioner Marks said that she wanted to ask about this, as she believed that division only had requests for materials and equipment, but no additional staff. Secretary Aherne said that she believed that Vice-President Hood was using the scenario as an example; for instance to say if plumbing is doing 75% of their inspections within 24 hours with so many people, and Vice-President Hood was talking in terms of looking at the budget and saying, if three more people were added they are now doing 80%, so this increases the goals and objectives. Secretary Aherne said that Vice-President Hood was just using this as an example. Vice-President Hood said that this was correct and in some years back there was a lack of Plumbing Inspectors and they were really delayed with inspections. Vice-President Hood said that the year before they did add Plumbing Inspectors in order to cut down the time that people were having to wait for inspections; so there is a direct correlation between the number of inspectors and the goals they had for how long between when someone called for an inspection and when the inspector actually went out there. Commissioner D’Anne said that means there was no increase in staff. Ms. Lee said that there was no increase and she thought Commissioner D’Anne was referring to last year. Commissioner D’Anne said she was just reading the draft minutes.
Commissioner Walker said that she had a question as a result of something that came up in the Litigation Committee and also said that she was aware that the Planning Department is adding some enforcement personnel to their staff. Commissioner Walker said that the issue is one that currently there are some situations where it is DBI’s assertion that the Department is doing work that is part of the Planning Department’s job task. Commissioner Walker said that this would be in enforcement of zoning and planning issues, and the question came up if it would be possible to bill the Planning Department for that. Commissioner Walker stated that there isn’t a process right now for that to happen, but said that it makes sense to her that since DBI Inspectors are out there routinely doing inspections it would be wise to work with the Planning Department to get some sort of program where the two departments work together on enforcement. Commissioner Walker said that if the issue is one of money, the Department should work out how to bill the General Fund or the Planning Department budget for that. Commissioner Walker said that she knows this is not in effect now, but can the Department tolerate some sort of study of this, or process of implementing this kind of cooperation within this budget or if not, is there a way to add funds to facilitate this program. Ms. Lee said that this is an excellent idea that the Department has looked into, but it has been problematic. Ms. Lee stated that in the background DBI Inspectors have always worked well with the Planning Department staff to make sure that zoning problems are referenced back. Ms. Lee said that recently the Department is looking into using some of the temporary salaries, but right now because of DHR requirements, it is difficult for DBI to get a permanent planner. Ms. Lee said that everyone had to keep in mind that DBI cannot enforce zoning laws, but are only charged with enforcing the Building Code. Ms. Lee said that this would be difficult, but the Department could look into doing a work order. Commissioner Walker said that it could be a referral. Ms. Lee said that it could be a referral and the Department is looking into hiring a temporary planner right now to work on such problems. Ms. Lee said that the Department might want to increase its temporary salaries because with the downturn in the economy, the City will not want to hire more permanent employees. Ms. Lee said perhaps this year the Department could increase temporary salaries by the amount of a planner and then if the program is successful, a work order for a permanent employee could be done at a later date. Ms. Lee said that right now Planning is trying to finish up their budget and this might be the best solution. Vice-President Hood stated that two factors that greatly complicate the issue are that Planning’s funds come out of the General Fund and they are generally funded for less than they need for their goals. Vice-President Hood said that this prohibits them from doing long range planning and there are ongoing problems in reviewing permits because of shortages of people. Vice-President Hood said that the other thing that is very complicated is the job descriptions and in the past people have had to be very careful about not crossing over their job descriptions. Commissioner Walker said that she agreed and said her question was one of making sure that lack of finances doesn’t preclude DBI from trying to work out a process with all of the parties involved. Commissioner Walker said that she thought this would be a good step in getting the departments working together. Commissioner Walker said that it makes sense that since DBI is out there more, the Department should be the eyes, as the Planning staff is only going to respond to complaints because they don’t have the personnel like DBI has. Commissioner Walker said that she wanted to have some way to make this happen. Ms. Lee said that the Department could try to increase salaries by the salary of a temporary planner and then see how that goes. Commissioner Walker said she would like to see it pinpointed and she did not want to increase temporary salaries necessarily, but maybe the Commission could talk about this. Commissioner Marks said that at the Budget Committee meeting the past Monday, she did get a memo from Local 21 that identified three specific issues. Commissioner Marks said that one of them was the possibility of working closer with Planning on Code Enforcement. Commissioner Marks said that it was explained that there have been previous attempts that just never seemed to happen and nothing came of it. Commissioner Marks said that she would like this issue followed up and it was suggested that the memo be entered on the calendar of letters received by the Commission so that it could be agendized for a regular meeting of the Commission. Ms. Lee said that financially, with the budget, if a solution was found mid-year, the Department could find something creative to take care of this issue.
President Fillon asked if there was a motion to approve the budget.
Vice-President Hood made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Santos that the Commission approve the proposed budget for forwarding to the Mayor for the fiscal year 2001-2002.
President Fillon asked if there was any public comment on the motion.
There was no public comment.
The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC 012-01
3. Public Comment: The Commission will take public comment on matters within the Commission’s jurisdiction that are not part of this agenda.
Mr. Robert Pender introduced himself as a representative of the Park Merced Residents Association. Mr. Pender said that Park Merced is a great big place out on the Southwestern corner of San Francisco. Mr. Pender stated that there are 3500 apartments and he said that he was sure a lot of people knew about it. Mr. Pender said that there were two reasons why he was at today’s meeting; one was to distribute copies of his newsletter and the second reason was that he would like the Commission to make an inquiry. Mr. Pender said that what the new landlord is doing out there at 3711 - 19th Avenue is that he has taken the administration building, which is at the corner of Holloway and 19th Avenue and remodeling it. Mr. Pender said that the owner said that the newly remodeled building is going to be a physical fitness center. Mr. Pender said that he wanted to be sure that the owner had the proper permits and was paying the right amount of money and that everything is going by the book. Mr. Pender said that, in his opinion, the owner likes to cut corners. Mr. Pender said that the second reason he was at the meeting was because all of the bushes along 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra have been cut down. Mr. Pender said that they took them all down, every single one of them. Mr. Pender said that now there is a great big open expanse. Mr. Pender stated that down at the little shopping center that is in Park Merced, the rain comes down and on the flat roofs of the shopping center and there are pools of water. Mr. Pender said at the supermarket there are pools of water coming off of the roof and the roof had to be propped up by great big two by fours, more than two by fours, great big planks. Mr. Pender said that this had to be propped up just to hold the roof up and he wanted to be sure that things were being done right. Mr. Pender said that he would like an inspection made of this property. Mr. Pender said that there were a heck of lot of things out there and he would very much appreciate it if the Department could check some of these things out. Mr. Pender said that there is an organization, a post office box, a telephone number and a resident’s organization with a Board of Directors that is an active organization. Mr. Pender asked if the Department could please help with the changes that are being done and check to make sure that they are being done in the right way. President Fillon let Mr. Pender know that he could directly request this information from the Department. Deputy Director Lee informed Mr. Pender that he could go to the Building Inspection Division to check if there are permits out there. Ms. Lee said that Mr. Pender could call Customer Service and they will take any phone calls and complaints or he could call the Director’s Office at 558-6131 and they will always forward a customer to the right division. Ms. Lee said that she would follow up on the two items that Mr. Pender discussed. Mr. Pender asked if Ms. Lee could put this in writing, as he wanted to bring something back to his organization. Ms. Lee said that she would. Mr. Pender thanked the Commission. Vice-President Hood said that if Mr. Pender called the Department, he would not have to wait for a hearing, but could call when he noticed a problem.
President Fillon asked if there was any other public comment.
Ms. Lois Scott introduced herself as being with Planners Chapter of Local 21, Professional and Technical Engineers. Ms. Scott asked the Commission to put on a February agenda a discussion and report on the building annex project. Ms. Scott said that the Planners Chapter has been doing a lot of thinking about what is possible and a very creative idea has come up about using the roof of the adjacent DPW building. Ms. Scott said that this building is at about the fourth floor level of the proposed annex. Ms. Scott said that she understood that now an additional elevator is being included in the project, or is proposed for the project, that could certainly service that fourth floor level. Ms. Scott said that this might involve a parcel map between the two lots. Ms. Scott said that the Planners Chapter thinks that this could be a very beautiful space and the cost would enhance both the DPW building and the DBI permit center building. Ms. Scott said that it looked to her like the cost might be similar to the loges that were previously pointed out as taking away from floor area. Ms. Scott said that the Planners Union would like to have a chance to have a discussion about this and would very much like Steve Young to be directed to talk with the group so that details could be worked out and a report could be brought back. Ms. Scott stated that she really regretted that the Planners Union had to file a discretionary review request to hold up the project further. Ms. Scott said that this was done because the Planners Union really hasn’t had the chance to have the discussions that they want to have and explore something that would make the building a really good design for everyone. Ms. Scott said that she would like to get a report at one of the meetings in February and would like the Department to ask Steve Young in Special Projects to please open the communication process with them where they can really look at this idea. Ms. Scott thanked the Commission.
Commissioner D’Anne said that she was concerned about what Local 21 was proposing and wondered if a motion needed to be passed to move this issue on. President Fillon said that this was not part of the agenda and he would like all parties involved to have enough time to prepare for this item. Vice-President Hood asked if the next meeting were the following Wednesday. President Fillon said that it was possibly next Wednesday. President Fillon asked if Commissioner Walker was going to be around for the next meeting and Commissioner Walker stated that she would be out of town. President Fillon said that he would like to continue this item until Commissioner Walker was present as she was very involved with this issue. President Fillon asked for a motion to adjourn.
5. Adjournment.
Commissioner Walker made a motion seconded by Commissioner Santos that the meeting be adjourned.
The motion carried unanimously.
RESOLUTION NO. BIC-013-01
The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.
_______________________
Ann Marie Aherne
Commission Secretary
SUMMARY OF REQUESTS BY COMMISSIONERS | |
Letter from Local 21, Planners Union to be agendized for future meeting. - Commissioners Marks & Walker |
Page 4 |
Prepared by Ann Aherne