Council approves fire code program
LANSDALE » A new fire safety inspection code is on the books, but borough businesses still have plenty of time to comply.
Borough council voted unanimously Wednesday night to adopt an ordinance establishing a new commercial fire safety inspection program, and said it’s a key first step toward making the town safer.
“We will work with every business owner to help them move through the process,” said Borough Manager John Ernst.
In December borough Fire Marshal Rick Lesniak presented his recommendations for a new system of fire safety inspections, to ensure businesses in town meet the latest fire safety standards. Those codes have been the subject of talks since 2018, when changes in state law required council discuss from March through May 2019 a new fire safety code update. The code update led to talks on whether Lansdale’s fire safety and emergency management jobs in town should be held by one or two persons, and Lesniak was hired in late 2019 to develop the fire inspection program.
Councilman Rich DiGregorio reported on Jan. 6 that council ‘s Code committee has vetted and voted ahead the ordinance establishing commercial fire safety inspections in town, and it includes several amendments to current fire safety codes, mostly pertaining to placards used to identify business addresses.
Under the new code, DiGregorio said, all placards must be made of metal or other weatherproof material, floor and roof truss construction must be identified by placards, and buildings of different construction types must be indicated by placards meeting certain criteria spelled out in the ordinance, which is included in council’s meeting materials packet for Jan. 20.
Once DiGregorio made the motion to adopt the ordinance on Wednesday night, councilman BJ Breish reiterated concerns he raised in December, about the impact of adding a new fee to businesses already hit hard by COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns.
“We have a lot of businesses going through some tough times here. It’s my understanding that we are going to be reasonable in terms of the fees associated with this process?” Breish said.
Ernst answered that staff intend to do so, and could “work with them to extend compliance timelines and deadlines” for complying with the new code.
“As long as they’re not major safety issues, we will continue to work with all business owners to make sure we don’t create any undue hardship for anyone in particular,” Ernst said.
Councilwoman Mary Fuller added that she “would hate to see” the fire inspection fees cause harm to any business, and solicitor Patrick Hitchens pointed out that the fee itself is not set yet.
“The ordinance actually sets the fees, or allows the fees to be set by resolution. That is not before you tonight,” he said.
After the ordinance adoption, Hitchens said, he and Lesniak will draft a resolution for a future vote that will set that fee cost, and will be meant to cover only the costs of the inspections and produce no profit.
“If, throughout the program, you decide the fees are onerous, or problematic, or anything you need to make changes through, you don’t have to go through the advertising process” for another ordinance, he said.
“We’ve designed this in a way that allows you the greatest amount of flexibility, to address those fee issues going forward.”
Councilman Bill Henning asked when staff expect the inspections to start, and Ernst said Lesniak has already started meeting with business owners, but has no timeline for the inspections and fees yet.
“Having conversations with them, helping them understand that this program is being discussed, and being talked about, potentially being approved,” Ernst said.
“He has been working with them, and showing them a checklist of some of the things he will be looking for in his inspections, and then having conversations to help them get prepared,” he said.
Those visits will continue in the near future, and no “hard start date for the program” has been set, but will likely be “a couple of months down the road,” according to the manager.
Council President Denton Burnell said he had fielded one public comment “expressing some concern” about the fees, and about how inspections would be handled for properties that change hands.
“Things change over time: fire codes change, the state of fire safety changes, the property itself could have, and it’s important to keep up with these things over time,” Burnell said.
“I understand the concerns, certainly about the fees. I think we can be sensitive to that, but otherwise I think this is a really important program that we need to move forward,” he said.
Council then voted unanimously to adopt the ordinance, and the fee resolution will be discussed in the code committee in upcoming months. Borough council next meets at 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 3, with the code committee at 6:15 that night.