City Council Planning, Development & Environment Committee · Tuesday, May 2, 2023 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of March 28, 2023

packet pp.5–6

▶ Watch from 1:32 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 03-28-23 City Council Planning, Development & Page (1) Environment Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Planning, Development & Environment Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. March 28, 2023 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

900 segments .txt ↗

0:04 ↗ foreign

0:08 ↗ welcome everyone I councilmember hunt

0:10 ↗ called the May 2nd 2023 city council

0:13 ↗ Planning Development and environment

0:15 ↗ committee meeting to order I am joined

0:17 ↗ with council president Walsh and Council

0:19 ↗ Deputy president Hall this evening

0:25 ↗ there are multiple public comments

0:27 ↗ opportunities at tonight's meeting

0:28 ↗ there's a general public comment

0:29 ↗ opportunity at the beginning of the

0:30 ↗ meeting or you can make comments after

0:32 ↗ the presentation and committee question

0:33 ↗ answer periods on tonight's agenda items

0:36 ↗ and the first item

0:39 ↗ on our business our agenda this evening

0:42 ↗ is public comment so members of the

0:45 ↗ public May address council at this time

0:46 ↗ and person or virtually and those who

0:48 ↗ are signed up in advance to make

0:49 ↗ comments will be called on first if you

0:51 ↗ are joining us virtually and would like

0:52 ↗ to make comments I will first check in

0:54 ↗ if there are any virtual attendees

0:56 ↗ cheer hunt we have no virtual attendees

0:58 ↗ at this time okay well as a reminder

1:01 ↗ written comments can be submitted at any

1:03 ↗ time to city council at issaquah.gov and

1:06 ↗ we do also have a public comment

1:07 ↗ opportunity to after our one agenda item

1:11 ↗ for today which is ID

1:13 ↗ 1411 adoption of 2021 building and fire

1:16 ↗ code so I will call for that public

1:18 ↗ comment opportunity later in the meeting

1:21 ↗ um

1:22 ↗ so with that I will move past public

1:25 ↗ comments as there are also new members

1:28 ↗ of the public in the room

1:29 ↗ and we will go to the first item which

1:32 ↗ is approval of the minutes we have

1:34 ↗ minutes of the March 28th meeting

1:36 ↗ I did not have any uh edits or comments

1:39 ↗ on those so I moved to approve the

1:41 ↗ minutes of the March 28th meeting as

1:43 ↗ they appear in our packet

1:46 ↗ those in favor please say aye aye

1:49 ↗ all right great and then we have our

1:51 ↗ first and only item which is

1:54 ↗ id1411 adoption of 2021 building and

1:57 ↗ fire codes and this will be presented by

1:59 ↗ James Gray Building official welcome

2:11 ↗ turn on your microphone

2:15 ↗ uh yes there's a button and then it will

2:18 ↗ yeah

2:19 ↗ all right apologies thank you through

2:21 ↗ the chair

2:30 ↗ just a moment

2:42 ↗ that

2:45 ↗ okay thank you again

2:47 ↗ super exciting building code stuff I

2:50 ↗ know everybody loves it as much as I do

2:51 ↗ this is um this year marks my 30th year

2:54 ↗ in this line of business so um this is

2:56 ↗ uh probably more exciting for me than it

2:58 ↗ is for most so what we're here to talk

3:01 ↗ about tonight first of all my name is

3:02 ↗ James Gray I'm the building official for

3:04 ↗ the City of Issaquah and we're here this

3:07 ↗ evening to present the 2021 Suite of

3:10 ↗ building codes and energy codes and we

3:14 ↗ say building code package that includes

3:16 ↗ mechanical electrical the the energy

3:19 ↗ which is a standalone ordinance with the

3:21 ↗ state and also the fire codes

3:26 ↗ so

3:28 ↗ adoption of these codes which includes

3:31 ↗ two new sections this time this is a

3:33 ↗ little different than the last time we

3:34 ↗ adopted the building code package we

3:37 ↗ have the contractor's code of conduct

3:39 ↗ which the council has already reviewed

3:42 ↗ and approved that's incorporated into

3:44 ↗ our title 16 which is part of our code

3:46 ↗ package but the big new one this time is

3:49 ↗ the Wildland Urban interface code so in

3:52 ↗ the staff report I provided a detail of

3:55 ↗ all of these codes I gosh I didn't count

3:57 ↗ I think there's about 14 maybe 12 or 14.

4:00 ↗ if I had them on the table here they

4:02 ↗ wouldn't fit on this dice so the actual

4:04 ↗ physical book so there's there's a quite

4:06 ↗ there's quite a bit to it but the biggie

4:09 ↗ is the Wildland Urban interface code so

4:11 ↗ what this code does is it provides for

4:15 ↗ hardening of structures for Wildland

4:17 ↗ fire events and we've seen the the

4:22 ↗ devastational Wildland events in

4:24 ↗ Colorado Nevada California regularly but

4:26 ↗ we're seeing more of those Inc Persians

4:29 ↗ into Washington the Eastern side for

4:30 ↗ sure and with global warming and our

4:33 ↗ climate changing we're we're just seeing

4:36 ↗ it more and more uh through

4:38 ↗ the state so the state has chosen to

4:43 ↗ adopt the Wildland Urban interface code

4:45 ↗ as a provision to to create some

4:49 ↗ structure hardening and I can get into a

4:52 ↗ little bit more of what that that detail

4:54 ↗ is about

4:54 ↗ primarily the you know in a Wildland

4:58 ↗ event the Embers are falling on the

4:59 ↗ structures probably have some folks have

5:01 ↗ seen the roof Catching Fire and then

5:04 ↗ also underneath decks the the Embers

5:07 ↗ blow up underneath the deck and it will

5:09 ↗ ignite the materials underneath the deck

5:11 ↗ so there's one an example of structure

5:13 ↗ hardening is mesh that goes under these

5:15 ↗ decks to keep of a certain size to keep

5:18 ↗ those Embers from igniting those if the

5:20 ↗ deck is at the right height

5:22 ↗ siding on structures is required to be

5:25 ↗ non-combustible so a lot of your new

5:28 ↗ construction materials are

5:30 ↗ non-combustible like the you may have

5:32 ↗ heard of the Hardy plank citing some of

5:33 ↗ those cementitious boards but the cedar

5:36 ↗ the cedar lap siding was is no longer

5:39 ↗ allowed

5:40 ↗ and this is for new structures got a

5:43 ↗ good question from Deputy council

5:45 ↗ president all about what structures

5:48 ↗ these apply to so this is new structures

5:50 ↗ and some significant remodels and

5:52 ↗ re-roofs

5:55 ↗ so every three years the codes are

5:57 ↗ nationally reviewed and published and

5:59 ↗ for those that heard my Spiel on this

6:01 ↗ three years ago I apologize but there's

6:03 ↗ a there's a national consensus process

6:05 ↗ at the International Code Council that

6:07 ↗ involves code professionals like myself

6:10 ↗ on the state and the local level and the

6:13 ↗ federal level and contractors Architects

6:16 ↗ industry Specialists there's many

6:20 ↗ different members of the public that are

6:22 ↗ peer groups that that are involved in

6:25 ↗ this process they take they take public

6:28 ↗ input for years before the codes are

6:31 ↗ published and then there's in-person

6:33 ↗ meetings and they come they finally end

6:35 ↗ up with this actual document that we

6:37 ↗ that we adopt

6:39 ↗ and then that that document is reviewed

6:41 ↗ by the State Building Code Council the

6:43 ↗ FB sbcc which is empowered by the state

6:46 ↗ and then we're required to follow suit

6:48 ↗ with their adoption in the RCW that's

6:51 ↗ listed on the page

6:54 ↗ so a direction that we're asking for

6:56 ↗ from a pde committee today and from

7:00 ↗ Council in June is uh to to adopt the

7:04 ↗ codes and while we we have some

7:07 ↗ Provisions uh that that are

7:09 ↗ discretionary the majority of it is

7:11 ↗ mandatory and the pieces that are

7:14 ↗ discretionary

7:16 ↗ um they there's there's a few different

7:18 ↗ things for example there are two new uh

7:21 ↗ recycling Provisions in the building

7:23 ↗ code and they have to do with um they're

7:27 ↗ kind of a replacement for an ordinance

7:29 ↗ that we that we already have so we chose

7:32 ↗ not to adopt those they go a little bit

7:34 ↗ further but we're we're not quite ready

7:36 ↗ for those yet the industry is not quite

7:38 ↗ ready for them yet they have to do with

7:39 ↗ they have to do with pulling lumber from

7:42 ↗ buildings and pulling the nails out and

7:45 ↗ reusing the reusing that Lumber

7:47 ↗ which a lot of develop uh well some

7:50 ↗ developers already do but our recycling

7:53 ↗ code requires that all those materials

7:55 ↗ are separated off-site and they provide

7:58 ↗ a certain certification to the building

8:00 ↗ inspector before the certificate of

8:02 ↗ occupancy is issued to show that that

8:05 ↗ actually has has been done

8:09 ↗ it's a little bit of background again

8:11 ↗ every three years we have this work

8:13 ↗ that's done at the federal level and

8:15 ↗ then at the St at the state level in the

8:17 ↗ state of Washington so we use technical

8:21 ↗ committees that include building

8:23 ↗ officials from across the state and the

8:25 ↗ primarily the western side of the state

8:28 ↗ and we have our professional code

8:30 ↗ Consultants also that assist us in this

8:32 ↗ adoption process these codes are

8:35 ↗ incredibly technical they're they're

8:37 ↗ just very specific it's like taking

8:40 ↗ apart an engine on a 1972 Pinto it's

8:43 ↗ completely different than a different

8:46 ↗ vehicle and every one of these codes has

8:48 ↗ has those kinds of pieces to it

8:51 ↗ so about a year ago this process started

8:54 ↗ with the State Building Code Council and

8:56 ↗ then the state legislature approved the

8:58 ↗ code adoption in April of 2022 effective

9:02 ↗ July 1st 2023.

9:05 ↗ so we began working on all implementing

9:08 ↗ all of these and bringing them into our

9:10 ↗ local code which is not maybe as simple

9:14 ↗ as it sounds because they have to

9:15 ↗ coordinate with many other codes

9:17 ↗ including Title 18 our Wastewater codes

9:22 ↗ there's there's interactions in all of

9:24 ↗ those pieces

9:25 ↗ so hopefully the the committee and the

9:29 ↗ council agree with this adoption process

9:31 ↗ and we will proceed with adoption on

9:34 ↗ July 1st

9:37 ↗ so that this adoption is made up of um

9:40 ↗ it's made up of a lot more than this

9:41 ↗ we've kind of broken it up into three

9:43 ↗ pieces the construction Administrative

9:44 ↗ Code the fire code and the construction

9:46 ↗ codes now the construction

9:48 ↗ Administrative Code deals with things

9:51 ↗ like code enforcement for instance or

9:53 ↗ fees that we charge or penalties for

9:57 ↗ work without a permit or how we deal

9:59 ↗ with things that are not required to be

10:02 ↗ permitted like fences under six feet as

10:04 ↗ an example are sheds those types of

10:07 ↗ things are in the construction

10:08 ↗ administrative code

10:10 ↗ fire code deals with what you would

10:13 ↗ expect sprinkler Provisions fire alarms

10:15 ↗ fire roads strangely enough it does not

10:18 ↗ deal with a Wildland Urban interface

10:20 ↗ code all of that falls on the building

10:22 ↗ side but um and then the last piece is

10:25 ↗ the construction codes which means

10:27 ↗ adopting the building code The

10:29 ↗ Mechanical Code the plumbing code the

10:31 ↗ energy code the property maintenance

10:34 ↗ code I there and they're all in the

10:36 ↗ packet that are provided

10:39 ↗ those adopt the specific technical

10:41 ↗ regulations

10:44 ↗ so I I wanted to not bore you with a ton

10:48 ↗ of summary of changes I've got

10:51 ↗ um I respond to uh Deputy Council

10:54 ↗ president's email with some specifics

10:58 ↗ and there's quite a bit in the in the

11:00 ↗ staff report but I've got a a really

11:04 ↗ detailed list on each individual code

11:06 ↗ about it's it's painful about what all

11:09 ↗ the what all the changes are

11:10 ↗ so the Washington State energy codes

11:12 ↗ probably are our biggest in terms of

11:14 ↗ changes the the Wildland Urban interface

11:18 ↗ code of course is brand new but the

11:19 ↗ energy code we've had so some examples

11:22 ↗ of the energy code for instance the

11:24 ↗ minimum r value in the roof used to be

11:27 ↗ r49 now it's r60

11:30 ↗ it makes a big difference in heat loss

11:32 ↗ in the roof

11:33 ↗ our values in the walls have gone up

11:35 ↗ there's a lot of technical Provisions in

11:38 ↗ the energy code that have to do with how

11:41 ↗ you how you measure the amount of air

11:45 ↗ that can leave the building so the

11:47 ↗ majority of buildings now are required

11:49 ↗ to be modeled and it means that you

11:52 ↗ can't just go in and say on a commercial

11:54 ↗ building I'm going to put R30 in the

11:57 ↗ walls or 49 in the lid and cover it with

11:59 ↗ plastic and we're done it means what

12:01 ↗ you're going to have to do is plug all

12:03 ↗ of these things into a computer model

12:04 ↗ and see how the building breathes how

12:07 ↗ much energy does it lose how much air

12:10 ↗ does it pull in and then all the air

12:13 ↗ that it doesn't pull in it's you have to

12:16 ↗ have breathable air and you have to have

12:17 ↗ building health so those are done with

12:20 ↗ certain types of fans and outside air

12:22 ↗ requirements

12:23 ↗ those are those are pretty specific

12:26 ↗ energy code requirements another

12:28 ↗ question that was asked was excellent

12:29 ↗ was about the heat pump

12:31 ↗ so heat pumps are a newer it's kind of

12:34 ↗ not new to us in Issaquah probably new

12:36 ↗ to the rest of the country but we we

12:38 ↗ have a pretty Progressive green code

12:41 ↗ here in Issaquah even in the state of

12:43 ↗ Washington we're pretty Progressive

12:45 ↗ which is something we're very proud of

12:47 ↗ the heat pumps are have been in the code

12:50 ↗ for a while but they're beginning to add

12:52 ↗ them in the code for water heaters and

12:55 ↗ that was the question that came up so um

12:58 ↗ a lot many of these units are

13:00 ↗ combination water heater and and heating

13:04 ↗ element and air conditioning units all

13:06 ↗ in one all in one unit now and you get

13:09 ↗ more credit for that when you build a

13:11 ↗ structure you have a certain number of

13:13 ↗ credits you have to have for a

13:14 ↗ medium-sized house or a large house you

13:16 ↗ pull your credits from these different

13:18 ↗ areas and if you use these types of heat

13:20 ↗ pumps you get more credits

13:21 ↗ so those are those are a few of the

13:23 ↗ examples and there's quite a bit more if

13:25 ↗ you'd like that detail I can certainly

13:27 ↗ share that with you

13:28 ↗ I talked about the contractor's code of

13:30 ↗ conduct we're really happy to get that

13:32 ↗ into title 16 uh city of Bellevue

13:35 ↗ amendments those are important because

13:37 ↗ they provide our firefighting support

13:39 ↗ this is not new from last time but

13:42 ↗ what's new is that we've locked them

13:45 ↗ into our code this time because

13:46 ↗ unfortunately bellev he's a little

13:48 ↗ behind and they don't have their codes

13:49 ↗ ready for July 1st but we will re-visit

13:53 ↗ that when that comes up

13:55 ↗ and of course the revisions to the

13:57 ↗ construction Administrative Code which

13:59 ↗ are pretty minor

14:02 ↗ so another good question that came up in

14:04 ↗ the email is what what do we have the

14:06 ↗ ability what do you have the ability to

14:09 ↗ change and to um to amend so if you dug

14:14 ↗ into the meat of any any individual code

14:16 ↗ you could there are certain things you

14:18 ↗ could do certain things the state won't

14:20 ↗ allow you to do like the residential

14:22 ↗ code is kind of hands off by state

14:25 ↗ regulation but the building code as an

14:27 ↗ example Let me Give an example so we say

14:31 ↗ by local amendment that footing in

14:34 ↗ Issaquah has to be at least 18 inches

14:36 ↗ deep and that's because our ground

14:38 ↗ freezes we've met it's been measured

14:41 ↗ many many years that it generally

14:43 ↗ doesn't freeze any deeper than 18 inches

14:45 ↗ in non-frost susceptible soils we don't

14:48 ↗ want the soil Frozen underneath the

14:49 ↗ footing it'll Jack the building up so

14:51 ↗ here in Issaquah we amend the code and

14:53 ↗ say you got to go at least 18 inches

14:55 ↗ deep all right

14:57 ↗ so as an example and I don't think the

15:00 ↗ council would do this you could say hey

15:01 ↗ we think the footings need to be 24

15:03 ↗ inches deep or 36 inches deep

15:05 ↗ um you probably need to have some

15:07 ↗ technical basis to make that kind of

15:09 ↗ recommendation but those those are the

15:12 ↗ types of things the council could do the

15:13 ↗ state would would be well that's fine if

15:15 ↗ you want to go 36 inches deep

15:17 ↗ to go less restrictive than the state

15:19 ↗ though is not permitted and that's where

15:21 ↗ it gets difficult figuring out what's

15:23 ↗ more or less restrictive and that's why

15:25 ↗ we have these code experts that do a lot

15:28 ↗ of that stuff

15:29 ↗ we we really feel that the package that

15:33 ↗ we put together with the code

15:34 ↗ consultants and also our peer cities we

15:37 ↗ have cooperated on this we we don't pull

15:40 ↗ anything out of the blue like uh you

15:43 ↗ know Greg Traders building official in

15:45 ↗ Bellevue called me up he's like what the

15:46 ↗ heck were you guys doing there that

15:48 ↗ doesn't happen because we generally know

15:51 ↗ what what each other are we're working

15:53 ↗ together on all of this through the

15:55 ↗ process through the last 18 months

15:58 ↗ again they would be they would be

16:00 ↗ enforced by default by the state if the

16:02 ↗ council chose not to do it and that

16:04 ↗ would be difficult because then we

16:06 ↗ wouldn't have our fees and our

16:07 ↗ construction administrative code and a

16:09 ↗ bunch of other pieces of it

16:11 ↗ so our recommendation to pdes that we

16:14 ↗ forward the codes for adoption at the

16:16 ↗ June 5th regular council meeting

16:20 ↗ and again this is the timing that I've

16:22 ↗ been through we're at the meeting pde

16:24 ↗ meeting tonight June 5th regular council

16:27 ↗ meeting for adoption if that is

16:29 ↗ successful then July 1st would be the

16:31 ↗ effective date and any projects received

16:34 ↗ after June 30th for permitting would be

16:36 ↗ designed to meet the new code

16:42 ↗ so once again there's our direction

16:44 ↗ we're looking for feedback on the on the

16:46 ↗ codes and amendments as presented

16:50 ↗ and with that I will leave it open for

16:52 ↗ questions thank you very much for the

16:55 ↗ presentation

16:56 ↗ do we have questions council president

16:58 ↗ Walsh thank you so this is a major area

17:02 ↗ for the Issaquah climate action plan so

17:06 ↗ I want to drill in in particular there

17:09 ↗ were two strategies within the buildings

17:11 ↗ and energy area

17:13 ↗ that asked for code changes so I'd like

17:17 ↗ your expertise on whether or not the

17:19 ↗ changes that the state and all of us

17:22 ↗ regionally have decided on or you're

17:24 ↗ presenting whether they meet those needs

17:27 ↗ so the first is be 1.3 which says

17:30 ↗ partner with regional collaborations to

17:32 ↗ strengthen City Energy Efficiency codes

17:34 ↗ to reflect best practices and meet

17:36 ↗ established targets so one of our

17:39 ↗ targets is a 25 decrease in energy use

17:43 ↗ on natural gas and electricity in new

17:45 ↗ and existing buildings Community ride

17:47 ↗ community-wide by 2030 from the 2017

17:51 ↗ levels we also have Net Zero greenhouse

17:54 ↗ gas emissions all of that so I think

17:56 ↗ that's a a pretty open idea but it's

18:00 ↗ saying are we

18:02 ↗ strengthening our city Energy Efficiency

18:04 ↗ codes to reflect best practices

18:08 ↗ thank you for the question council

18:10 ↗ president

18:11 ↗ um I think

18:12 ↗ the the the increases in R values alone

18:16 ↗ that are required for insulation in with

18:19 ↗ the walls is it gets us along way that

18:21 ↗ direction now whether it's 20 a 25

18:24 ↗ decrease that will probably it'll

18:26 ↗ probably take some time to see the

18:28 ↗ modeling and I think once we see the

18:30 ↗ models we'll know

18:32 ↗ uh we'll know exactly what that impact

18:34 ↗ is or closer to what that impact is I I

18:38 ↗ feel like the the changes in the energy

18:40 ↗ code are pretty significant in fact the

18:44 ↗ the

18:46 ↗ the the the this

18:49 ↗ we heard we heard rumors that there's a

18:51 ↗ lawsuit pending at the state level from

18:54 ↗ a builder's group about the energy code

18:55 ↗ wanting to block it and you may have

18:57 ↗ have heard some of this come up because

19:00 ↗ they feel like it's too restrictive

19:03 ↗ and um

19:05 ↗ so you can take that for what it's worth

19:07 ↗ but I think it's a it's probably a

19:09 ↗ pretty clear sign that the new energy

19:10 ↗ code is going a long way it's one of the

19:14 ↗ most Progressive in the country

19:16 ↗ yeah I've got just two others um the

19:19 ↗ second one is be 2.5 enact code to phase

19:22 ↗ out fossil fuel and infrastructure in

19:24 ↗ new construction while considering

19:26 ↗ possible exceptions so I assume the uh

19:31 ↗ rules about natural gas reflect that

19:34 ↗ idea

19:35 ↗ they do again thank you for the question

19:37 ↗ so in in Seattle they've written out

19:40 ↗ natural gas completely they have the

19:42 ↗ ability to do that they they predate the

19:44 ↗ State Building Code Council and the

19:46 ↗ state adoption so they can write their

19:48 ↗ own code like that

19:49 ↗ so the the energy code on the state

19:52 ↗ level what they in a nutshell it's a

19:55 ↗ little more complicated but they said

19:57 ↗ you can still use gas but you just don't

20:00 ↗ get credit for it with a high efficiency

20:02 ↗ furnaces which is a big deal

20:04 ↗ because for a medium-sized house

20:06 ↗ so so meetings medium-sized house if I

20:09 ↗ recall used to be you'd need four and a

20:11 ↗ half credits now you need something like

20:13 ↗ eight so they increase the number of

20:15 ↗ credits you need and of those credits a

20:17 ↗ big chunk of those credits was for a

20:19 ↗ high efficiency furnace well it was gas

20:21 ↗ you don't get it

20:23 ↗ so so that that is I I think it's the

20:27 ↗ foot in the door for probably removal of

20:29 ↗ gas from the from the state requirement

20:33 ↗ and then the last one is within the

20:35 ↗ materials and consumption MC 1.3 enforce

20:39 ↗ existing construction and demolition

20:40 ↗ code requirements update code to expand

20:43 ↗ the number of projects that comply with

20:45 ↗ waste diversion requirements so you

20:47 ↗ talked a little bit about the

20:49 ↗ construction do you feel like that meets

20:52 ↗ the goal of that

20:54 ↗ absolutely we we have a pretty

20:57 ↗ aggressive demolition recycling program

21:00 ↗ now and and I don't know how other

21:04 ↗ cities handle it exactly I haven't

21:05 ↗ researched it but you can't get a

21:07 ↗ certificate of occupancy until you have

21:09 ↗ proven that your uh your your waste

21:13 ↗ contractor has separated that way so

21:16 ↗ it's not just all going into the

21:17 ↗ landfill it's it's a it's a fairly big

21:19 ↗ deal now if if council at some point

21:23 ↗ wants to go further and actually require

21:26 ↗ these reuse of these materials that come

21:29 ↗ out of these structures so it affects a

21:31 ↗ small portion of of construction so a

21:35 ↗ little house down on Front Street that

21:37 ↗ gets demolished and then they put up

21:39 ↗ townhouses as an example that little

21:41 ↗ house for the pieces of it that weren't

21:43 ↗ asbestos Laden or have some other

21:45 ↗ hazardous material with it those studs

21:48 ↗ would have to come out of the walls and

21:50 ↗ somebody through some process would have

21:52 ↗ to pull nails from them and actually

21:54 ↗ reuse those in other projects it's um it

21:57 ↗ takes a little more coordination with

22:00 ↗ the recycling facilities and and there's

22:03 ↗ a little more piece to that but that may

22:05 ↗ be something that Council would choose

22:06 ↗ to do at some point in the future at

22:09 ↗ this point to rewrite our title at 6

22:11 ↗ 1940 is where our recycling is now it

22:14 ↗ did it didn't make a lot of sense to do

22:16 ↗ it on top of all the rest of this

22:19 ↗ Thanks James appreciate the question

22:26 ↗ Council Deputy president as well

22:28 ↗ um thank you for the presentation and

22:29 ↗ thank you for answering my questions

22:31 ↗ ahead of time I wasn't expecting that

22:32 ↗ before the meeting so it was good to

22:34 ↗ good to see that come through

22:36 ↗ um I guess then the only kind of other

22:39 ↗ higher level question that I had was

22:42 ↗ um

22:43 ↗ about how we communicate these kinds of

22:45 ↗ changes with the community especially

22:47 ↗ because some of them are are bigger I'm

22:49 ↗ thinking of the wui that were the

22:50 ↗ Wildland Urban interface stuff in

22:52 ↗ particular we have a lot of intersection

22:54 ↗ with Forest at lands here in Issaquah so

22:56 ↗ just because we haven't really

23:00 ↗ done um

23:03 ↗ a lot of Outreach and engagement in this

23:07 ↗ space before wouldn't necessarily

23:09 ↗ prevent us from being kind of targeted

23:10 ↗ and specific about maybe social media

23:12 ↗ outreach or something like that and

23:16 ↗ we could I mean do you see benefit in

23:18 ↗ that or maybe I'm maybe it's more for on

23:20 ↗ the developer side or something like

23:21 ↗ that sure Deputy president thank you uh

23:23 ↗ for the question in the comment um we

23:26 ↗ could always do more outrage I think

23:28 ↗ it's an excellent idea so uh for the

23:32 ↗ Wildland Urban interface code we have a

23:34 ↗ a web page started which I know a web

23:37 ↗ page is not the answer to everything

23:38 ↗ right but at least it would get us in

23:40 ↗ the right direction like hey we've got

23:42 ↗ this new thing and if you come to build

23:44 ↗ here we want to make sure that you know

23:47 ↗ the the vegetation that's around your

23:49 ↗ structure is of the right type that it's

23:51 ↗ not going to you know in the event of a

23:53 ↗ Wildland fire it's like ignite your

23:55 ↗ structure

23:56 ↗ so we're we're starting that process

23:59 ↗ probably a little bit late but we're

24:00 ↗ getting going on it and the same thing

24:03 ↗ for the energy piece we

24:06 ↗ we have a we have a process that's

24:08 ↗ available for that

24:10 ↗ um I I guess my other my other comment

24:13 ↗ is it's it's it's kind of it for this

24:15 ↗ body and and the public comment that

24:18 ↗ comes from this body that that folks get

24:21 ↗ some of that get some of that input the

24:23 ↗ State Building Code Council has a lot of

24:25 ↗ detail on their website

24:28 ↗ um yeah we could always do more Outreach

24:30 ↗ so I think it's a good comment and I

24:32 ↗ think we'll we'll bring that back to the

24:34 ↗ department and figure out what we can

24:35 ↗ what we can do to to get the word out

24:40 ↗ other than just a building permit comes

24:42 ↗ in and it's like a surprise you've got

24:44 ↗ all these new requirements so

24:47 ↗ really the code package I'm I'm making

24:50 ↗ I'm making light of it but the code

24:52 ↗ package um with the exception of the

24:55 ↗ Wildland code is is not significantly

24:59 ↗ changed so the energy Provisions are

25:02 ↗ significantly beefed up at the state

25:04 ↗ level but the rest of the code is

25:07 ↗ primarily coordination of numbering and

25:10 ↗ new standards and new uh new means of

25:13 ↗ construction that didn't exist three

25:15 ↗ years ago that we have available now

25:20 ↗ thank you

25:22 ↗ um and then just to clarify with regard

25:24 ↗ to Bellevue fire so there's not an

25:27 ↗ update coming out of Bellevue right now

25:30 ↗ um but you said at we'll monitor that

25:32 ↗ and eventually update our code to be

25:36 ↗ aligned with that are you expecting that

25:38 ↗ that would be when the next when we do

25:40 ↗ the next building an energy fire code

25:42 ↗ update or just whenever it's ready no it

25:44 ↗ would be before that as soon as as soon

25:45 ↗ as they do that we'll need to come back

25:47 ↗ to the council with that because it's

25:50 ↗ um

25:51 ↗ it's necessary right it's it's necessary

25:53 ↗ the

25:54 ↗ the the wording we're get we're getting

25:56 ↗ back is it's not like there's a bunch of

25:58 ↗ new stuff you know they they Bellevue

26:00 ↗ wants us to have room for ladder trucks

26:03 ↗ for high rises as an example and

26:06 ↗ um they they want to have Provisions for

26:09 ↗ um for instance they have this um

26:11 ↗ equipment that used to be called a a Das

26:14 ↗ which is a radio repeater system so when

26:17 ↗ firefighters go into some of these

26:18 ↗ buildings their radios don't work

26:20 ↗ because they've all the structure blocks

26:22 ↗ it so there's this equipment that needs

26:26 ↗ to be installed in the building that

26:27 ↗ repeats their radio system out to the

26:30 ↗ systems on the ground and those have to

26:33 ↗ match the city of bellevue's the word

26:35 ↗ we're getting back from Bellevue is that

26:37 ↗ it's not that there's a bunch of changes

26:38 ↗ it's just that this stuff all just

26:40 ↗ rolled on them so quickly they didn't

26:42 ↗ have time to they've got to redo their

26:43 ↗ numbering and their city code changes

26:45 ↗ and so we just locked in the stuff they

26:48 ↗ did from last time and uh Bellevue fire

26:51 ↗ is basically said yeah that's fine just

26:54 ↗ locked in it's going to get you most of

26:56 ↗ the way there

26:57 ↗ so we coded it into our code this time

26:59 ↗ last time we said

27:01 ↗ we hereby adopt Bellevue ordinance

27:03 ↗ number I think it was 2369 in 2018. so

27:06 ↗ this time we just took the language out

27:08 ↗ of that whole ordinance and just put it

27:10 ↗ right in our fire code

27:15 ↗ great great thank you and thank you both

27:17 ↗ for the questions and several of mine

27:19 ↗ were addressed in your questions so

27:22 ↗ um one one additional one is you

27:25 ↗ mentioned the recycling that there could

27:27 ↗ be more

27:28 ↗ um stringent rules around the recycling

27:31 ↗ of the demolition materials do you know

27:34 ↗ if there are other neighboring cities

27:36 ↗ that have gone above and beyond in

27:38 ↗ different ways like that that have

27:41 ↗ adopted stricter codes in either that

27:44 ↗ recycling or or other I'm thinking of

27:47 ↗ those environmental improvements areas

27:51 ↗ thank you for the question chair uh hunt

27:53 ↗ um I have not I I don't think that folks

27:57 ↗ are to that stage yet and I I think that

28:00 ↗ it's

28:01 ↗ it's it's not necessarily so much on the

28:03 ↗ cities but it's on the recycling

28:04 ↗ facilities do they have the

28:06 ↗ infrastructure to be able to do it

28:08 ↗ so

28:10 ↗ um I can put out some feelers and shoot

28:13 ↗ an email to to Council in the next

28:15 ↗ couple of days about that and find out

28:17 ↗ if other folks are adopting those those

28:20 ↗ two um

28:21 ↗ those two appendices

28:24 ↗ okay

28:25 ↗ I appreciate that it's always good I

28:27 ↗ think to this

28:28 ↗ neighbors are doing so I appreciate that

28:30 ↗ um that was I think I think my other

28:32 ↗ questions

28:34 ↗ um were addressed I did wonder if you

28:36 ↗ could Define the R value

28:38 ↗ um I think it's a measure of Energy

28:40 ↗ Efficiency but I thought since that came

28:42 ↗ out several times sure so we in

28:44 ↗ insulation we use two terms u-value and

28:47 ↗ R value and R is the inverse of U so it

28:51 ↗ just it has to do with a thermal

28:53 ↗ transmittance through the wall so if you

28:56 ↗ think about a

28:57 ↗ um like I know my parents home had two

28:59 ↗ by four walls and whenever I cut open

29:02 ↗ the wall there's a little bit of

29:03 ↗ insulation in there and usually you know

29:05 ↗ it was 50 years old so it was crunched

29:07 ↗ down and gotten wet and and you could

29:09 ↗ feel the cold on the walls but the new

29:12 ↗ new walls were doing you know are 21

29:14 ↗ it's going up higher and higher so we

29:17 ↗ have two by six thickness of walls and

29:21 ↗ that bad insulation is really filling up

29:23 ↗ that space so that that R value which is

29:26 ↗ just the transmittance of heat or cold

29:29 ↗ the the other piece that's really

29:31 ↗ important to that and I you know I can

29:33 ↗ talk about uh building codes all night

29:35 ↗ long bore you with it but um there's

29:37 ↗ there's pieces it's something called the

29:39 ↗ thermal Bridge so in commercial

29:41 ↗ buildings like these metal doors

29:43 ↗ um this is a this is a thermal Bridge so

29:45 ↗ when it's really cold outside you might

29:47 ↗ even see frost on that door so we're

29:50 ↗ much more concerned about thermal

29:51 ↗ bridges in commercial buildings now than

29:54 ↗ we were before we don't these metal

29:57 ↗ windows need to have thermal brakes and

29:59 ↗ thermal bridges in between them it's new

30:01 ↗ emerging technology

30:05 ↗ great thank you

30:06 ↗ um any more questions

30:08 ↗ no okay I will uh note that for public

30:12 ↗ comment we do not have any members of

30:13 ↗ the public in the room and I will check

30:15 ↗ in with

30:16 ↗ city clerk if there are any members of

30:18 ↗ the public online

30:19 ↗ chair hunt no no virtual attendees all

30:22 ↗ right thank you and we'll move past

30:24 ↗ public comment on this item and we will

30:27 ↗ go to council discussion and um the the

30:31 ↗ question before us is if we want to

30:35 ↗ recommend any changes or if we would

30:37 ↗ like to move this forward to full

30:39 ↗ Council for adoption

30:40 ↗ um on the proposed schedule is that

30:43 ↗ accurate correct okay

30:55 ↗ Chancellor Deputy president Hall

30:58 ↗ um okay thanks well um I guess I see

31:01 ↗ this as a fairly cut and dry issue

31:03 ↗ largely mandatory as you've explained to

31:05 ↗ us some minor and but also some major

31:08 ↗ changes coming through

31:10 ↗ um a good idea to Think Through the

31:13 ↗ climate action plan so good to see that

31:15 ↗ very largely aligned with the goals that

31:18 ↗ we've expressed as a council with regard

31:21 ↗ to building into energy goals would

31:23 ↗ definitely appreciate kind of thinking

31:24 ↗ through where are our opportunities to

31:27 ↗ engage with impacted communities that

31:30 ↗ might be more impacted than others some

31:32 ↗ opportunities it just might make more

31:33 ↗ sense to wait until a permit comes in

31:36 ↗ the door

31:37 ↗ and you'll definitely know that much

31:39 ↗ more than I

31:40 ↗ um so thank you for your answer to that

31:43 ↗ question for thinking that through

31:45 ↗ also would be interesting at some point

31:49 ↗ I know we're super busy as a council as

31:52 ↗ a city for the next couple years but at

31:54 ↗ some point it would be interesting to

31:56 ↗ explore what those areas of

31:58 ↗ consideration might be for going above

32:00 ↗ and beyond I this is I don't I think

32:03 ↗ we've adopted this once before since

32:04 ↗ I've come on Council and I don't know

32:06 ↗ how common or uncommon it is to go above

32:09 ↗ and beyond but it might be worth if we

32:11 ↗ ever find ourselves in the future with

32:13 ↗ an empty plate to consider what are

32:16 ↗ those things that we might consider but

32:18 ↗ other than that I'll

32:19 ↗ um I'm fine with it as presented and I

32:22 ↗ think it should go to the Council on

32:24 ↗ consent

32:27 ↗ yeah and I will Echo toward that idea I

32:32 ↗ think

32:32 ↗ um you know if we start to hear

32:35 ↗ murmurings that other communities have

32:38 ↗ decided to go above and beyond in

32:40 ↗ different ways I think we would love to

32:41 ↗ hear about that I think the

32:43 ↗ environmental board would love if there

32:47 ↗ were areas to go above and beyond that

32:51 ↗ we had heard about in other areas to

32:53 ↗ evaluate that but beyond that I think

32:56 ↗ the fact that the state level already

33:00 ↗ takes into account a lot of the things

33:03 ↗ that we work contemplating at the icap

33:05 ↗ level

33:06 ↗ um is really heartening and I I think

33:10 ↗ you know it will probably get pushback

33:13 ↗ from developers but I like the approach

33:15 ↗ of looking at points and using that as a

33:19 ↗ way to de-incentivize rather than

33:22 ↗ necessarily outright ban

33:25 ↗ um it gives us an opportunity to

33:27 ↗ potentially Bridge so I I appreciate

33:30 ↗ that this that the state have taken

33:33 ↗ these actions and that we don't have to

33:35 ↗ sit here disappointed and go oh another

33:39 ↗ three years where buildings can get

33:42 ↗ built that you know don't have the

33:45 ↗ incentive to make the adjustment so I'm

33:48 ↗ excited about some of these changes I

33:51 ↗ think that

33:52 ↗ just going along with the flow at this

33:55 ↗ point makes the most sense so I would be

33:57 ↗ comfortable with it going to Council on

33:58 ↗ consent

34:01 ↗ I agree with my fellow committee members

34:05 ↗ I think

34:07 ↗ especially interesting to see the

34:09 ↗ Wildland interface

34:11 ↗ um

34:11 ↗ fire Improvement or improvements to help

34:15 ↗ prevent against fire at those Wildland

34:17 ↗ interface areas I I like the idea of

34:21 ↗ making sure that um

34:22 ↗ our communities as know about those

34:25 ↗ changes the community is

34:28 ↗ concerned about

34:29 ↗ fire and as you mentioned the climate

34:32 ↗ change is increasing the risk of fire

34:34 ↗ for communities at this interface and so

34:36 ↗ I think making sure that we all know

34:39 ↗ what we can do to to prevent fire would

34:42 ↗ be important whether you are doing a

34:45 ↗ major Remodel and then you have to

34:46 ↗ interact with that code or whether maybe

34:49 ↗ you just wanted to take it upon yourself

34:51 ↗ to improve your your home so to harden

34:55 ↗ your home against

34:57 ↗ so um appreciate those improvements also

35:01 ↗ appreciate the

35:02 ↗ continued Greening of the building code

35:06 ↗ I was on Council three years ago when we

35:08 ↗ also saw this and so I appreciate the

35:10 ↗ improvements to those

35:12 ↗ um those

35:14 ↗ Energy Efficiency and

35:17 ↗ um

35:18 ↗ and associated

35:20 ↗ climate

35:22 ↗ related changes so I think that that's

35:26 ↗ great um

35:28 ↗ and as my fellow council member said if

35:30 ↗ there are cities that are going above

35:31 ↗ and beyond in our region and and finding

35:33 ↗ success uh you know for with the

35:36 ↗ recycling as the example that was put

35:37 ↗ forward if they are able to successfully

35:39 ↗ Implement that for example that would be

35:42 ↗ great to know about so we can consider

35:45 ↗ that information but I generally

35:49 ↗ very supportive of this appreciate all

35:51 ↗ of the information and and all of your

35:53 ↗ hard work on making

35:56 ↗ all of these changes and presenting it

35:58 ↗ in a presenting it to us this evening

36:02 ↗ so with that

36:04 ↗ um I think we all agree we will be

36:07 ↗ recommending this to council for

36:09 ↗ adoption on consent at the at on the

36:13 ↗ schedule that was recommended so

36:16 ↗ do you have what you need

36:19 ↗ from us I think we do thank you so much

36:21 ↗ uh any other comments all right great

36:24 ↗ then I think we're done with that item

36:25 ↗ and we only had this one item tonight so

36:27 ↗ the only other thing would be

36:29 ↗ announcements do we have any

36:30 ↗ announcements

36:33 ↗ no announcements then we are adjourned

36:35 ↗ at 707 pm

36:38 ↗ thank you

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (3)

Victoria Hunt

Lindsey Walsh

Zach Hall

Staff (2)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Chris Grabowski, Deputy City Clerk

Recommendations & actions (2)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

a) Minutes of March 28, 2023. – Chair Hunt moved to approve the minutes as presented.
Committee consensus was to forward the item to the full Council for adoption on the timeline recommended by staff.