City Council Committee Agendas

Mount Vernon Fire Department Public Safety Meeting June 1, 2016 Minutes Approval of the Minutes Commissioner Fiedler made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted. Motion was seconded by Commission Raegan. Motion passed. FIRE  2015 Code Updates o Group I (hospitals). The Fire Department will work with the hospital using a survey process to bring them up to code. o Construction permits for marijuana stores will be required. o Construction permits for underground piping of sprinklers will be required. o Chapter 4 – Emergency Preparedness - the City will need to provide drills – times and locations o Chapter 9 – Roof top assemblies – Group A2 occupancies over 100 people will require the entire building to have a working sprinkler system. o Type A buildings (churches) with an occupancy of over 300 people will require a sprinkler system. o Non-required systems must have signage indicating that this is a “non- mandatory system”.  City Municipal Code changes o The angle of approach in new construction will be addressed – it is imperative that a fire truck is able to make turns in new, tighter developments. o Hydrant ownership language has been removed after further discussion with the City Attorney. The hydrant life expectancy is 40 years and the replacement cost is between $5,000 and $6,000. Currently PUD does the repair work on all hydrants as it is their water line. In the event PUD is upgrading the waterline, they will replace the hydrant at their cost. Existing hydrants that are replaced are at the cost of the City. The Fire Department will bring project outline to Council on the replacement of hydrants with costs. o Solar Photovoltaic Panels (Solar Panels) – the Fire Marshal is requesting a requirement in which allows access to the roof (panels not covering the entire roof) and a secondary means of egress is maintained. Consistent labeling and powerlines along the ridgeline will be required to maintain Firefighters safety (remembering that solar panels are always hot).  o Recent Significant Fires  Trinity Lutheran (8/5/12) – Incendiary fire with a high loss value due to damage to the organ.  Alf Christiansen (1/19/14) – Incendiary fire due to transients.  N 26th Street (7/1/14) – Accidental fire with over 200 occupants. The alerting system was manual pull stations.  Pho Fire (5/21/15) – Electrical Fire. Three businesses were lost with two additional buildings damaged. A delay in response was caused by not having an alerting system.  Denny’s (8/3/15) – Kitchen Fire – delay in response due to staff using the wrong extinguisher.  Draper Valley Farms (2/11/16) – Accidental fire. We received early detection and the building has a partial sprinkler system.  Meadows House Fire (4/27/16) – Accidental fire with a delay in response due to education on smoke detectors.  Craft Store (5/1/16) – Accidental fire with a delay in detection due to no fire alarm system and early morning fire. ** Early detection of a fire would have made a difference. o Proposed Fire Alarm systems (basic system) for all new construction or renovated commercial buildings 2500 sq. ft. or larger. o Special Events – proposal to not allow outdoor cooking in tents. FM Riggs to work with event planners on the impacts to City events and a plan to transition all future events to eliminate cooking inside tents. o The Fire Marshal has provided Council and updated fee schedule with minimal changes. POLICE  Vagrancy Impact Reduction Plan (262 homeless citizens identified) o Impacts include unlawful camping on public and private lands, squatting, public health issues, trespassing, aggressive panhandling and sense of community fear. o The Plan:  Address properties used for camping ./ squatting  Address public health issues for homelessness and vagrancy  Effectively use trespassing laws  Enforcement of crimes relating to disorder and public peace  Transient camp population tracking and maintenance o Creation of a dual approach to a complicated problem – an embedded social worker.  2 year Pilot Program  Paid for by the Behavioral Health Sales Tax Funding   Tentative hire date is August 2016  Requesting Council action in two weeks. Meeting was adjourned at 7:34 pm