Committee of the Whole Meeting 02/09/2026
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsr8ANsE7gw
Automatic captions; not audio-verified.

[4:36] City Council Committee of the whole for the city of Highland Park February 9th, 2026. Will cler call the role.

[4:43] Council member center present.

[4:45] Council member Buffman here. Council member Ross. Council member Tapia present.

[4:49] Council member Little here.

[4:51] Council member Bloomberg. Mayor Roer here. We have a small but mighty quorum.

[4:55] Uh may I have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held January 12th, 2026 and the minutes of

[5:02] the closed session held also January 12th, 2026. So moved. Second. All in favor say I.

[5:10] I. None opposed. The minutes are approved. We have two items of scheduled business. Uh the first one is regarding the pedestrian bridge design and

[5:18] reconstruction options and I turn it over to city manager Newkerk.

[5:23] Great. Thank you, mayor, council members. Um well, with us this evening, everybody knows um our esteemed director of public works, Ron Bannon. Um and then

[5:31] to his right um is Dwayne Olaflin representing the Sorba Group. Um we've been working um with the Sorba Group on

[5:40] doing an analysis of the pedestrian bridge over Route 41. So, we have a presentation this evening just to provide you an overview of the project.

[5:48] Um, present some new information to you as it pertains to um possible maintenance that could be conducted of the bridge and then share information

[5:57] about total reconstruction and exactly what does that look like. Um, so for the purpose of this committee, the whole discussion, um, we are looking for your

[6:04] feedback, but please know that no final decision is going to be made this evening. Um what we want to do is just make sure to present you with all this

[6:13] information. Um we are planning to come back at our March 30th committee the whole meeting um for two purposes. One

[6:21] is at that time we will have some preliminary cost estimates for the public service center and fire station

[6:28] 34 project which right now is tenatively scheduled for the fiscal year 27 budget.

[6:34] And then as part of that committee the whole we will also have a capital budget workshop. And so at that time we will

[6:41] share information with you about what are some of the major projects that are set forth in our 10-year capital plan.

[6:48] Um what are those estimated costs and then what does different financing strategies look like um to accomplish

[6:55] any or all of that. Um so with that I'll turn it over um to the team to present this information and then happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, Gita.

[7:05] Good evening, everyone. As Gita said, my name is Dwayne Olaflin. I'm uh from Seora Group. I'm the COO of Seora Group.

[7:11] I've also been intimately familiar with this project, been working on it since we uh since the city requested us to take a look at it. And uh so we're here

[7:19] to talk about like have a discussion about what's the future of this bridge.

[7:24] Um so, first of all, this just a real quick agenda. We're going to go over some of the history along with the uh what's some of the what could be the

[7:32] excuse me the potential improvements and then any discussion that you might have.

[7:36] So as far as the project history goes as you see here the project is located just south of Deerfield Road um uh or central

[7:44] depending on how you want to look at that um and and uh in in Highland Park and aerial [snorts] view of it you can

[7:52] see where what it looks like. It's a very basic bridge in this form. And then the bridge itself, it's almost as old as

[8:00] I am. I'm a I'm a year older, [laughter] but uh it uh it's a built in 1964.

[8:08] Reinforced concrete bridge. Um and you can see here that it says here that it's historically eligible. Now, the city of

[8:16] Highland Park did not consider it to be eligible, but IDOT did say it was historically eligible. And what we had

[8:23] to do is we had to go through a process called uh that there was a historical analysis done and it's called a section

[8:30] 106 what ID do calls it and uh we passed through all of that and there was certain commitments that was made if a

[8:37] new bridge was constructed and there's a memorandum of agreement that was signed by the city of Highland Park and now

[8:44] we're waiting for the FHWA and IDOT to sign that agreement as well. uh there's nothing that's going to stop the agreement from being signed, but these

[8:52] were certain commitments that was made if a new if if we tore down this bridge and put up a new bridge.

[9:00] Um the other thing is too is about this is that when I say that there's no safe cycling or or pedestrian crossing over

[9:07] US 41, you know, that can be kind of that depends on the user, of course. Um, as I as you can see here on my previous

[9:14] slide up here, like Deerfield, there's no sidewalks there. So, no one can cross no one can cross there. If you want to

[9:22] look to the north, the further the closest north you can go would be Park Avenue West, which is a mile. And again,

[9:28] there are sidewalks there, but cyclists some depending on the maturity or the sophistication of the cyclist may not

[9:36] want may not be desirable. And then you have Clay Road that's a mile and a half to the south. There's sidewalks there.

[9:42] Um there, uh Clay, as with the recent Clay Road project, east of that location, there is the multi-use path

[9:50] path now on the south side. Um but again, it's like I said, it's a mile and a half from this location itself.

[9:57] Um the the uh bridge itself, we have been doing uh when I say we, Siorba Group does do inspections of this bridge. We have to do these inspections

[10:05] every two years. And uh the bridge deck itself that that take that for the people is in the worst condition of of

[10:14] of anything. The the substructure the peers and the abutments what you see here and you look at that that that

[10:22] picture in the bottom and it looks terrible. That's actually cosmetic. Okay. That that is actually cosmetic.

[10:28] But when we say minor localized small areas and exposed rebar on the peers, we do mean that it's it's minor. it it can

[10:35] it can take the beating. And then continuing on, like I said, this portion right here, this is what's in the worst

[10:43] condition of the bridge. It's it's really narrow. You can see these drains in the middle. These drains are a maintenance nightmare. They they pop up.

[10:51] They fall. It's a twist. It could be a ankle twist hazard. Um the drainage system is actually failing in a lot of locations. So, water will pond in these

[11:00] areas. And as you can see, it's really narrow and uninviting. And as someone who is a cyclist and taking my bike up all over this thing, it is kind of

[11:07] scary. So, um, but as I said, we do inspect this bridge every two years. And the last time it was inspected was May

[11:15] of last year. So, it was a recent inspection.

[11:19] And if you do nothing at all, you don't don't do any more maintenance, don't do anything to this bridge, we estimated it could last about 5 to 10 years. It all

[11:28] depends on what happens on certain things with that with the bridge portion that goes over US41. If things start to spall and fall down, you know, potential

[11:36] for things to fall on cars or whatever, we might have to do some some sort of emergency netting or things like that or

[11:44] maybe even just take the bridge down, but estimated 5 to 10 years.

[11:49] And as far as the infrastructure goes, a little bit bigger uh look at that. You can see here all the existing trails or

[11:57] proposed trails that are here uh for pedestrians. And you can see that again you got the you show the uh the bridge

[12:04] going over US 41 uh to provide access for pedestrians.

[12:09] And then on the bicycle again there's really nothing there. Um if you look you see Clay Road it shows the dash there that has actually been

[12:18] built now. the the the the uh trail on the south side of on the south side of Clay was constructed here a couple years

[12:25] ago uh with the Clay Road project. And so so again, you can see there's really not a lot of connectivity on each side of 41 for bicyclists.

[12:36] So as far as the improvements when we were asked to take a look at what would take what would it take to replace this bridge? Um, so you can see

[12:45] here we're showing what we came up with geometrically that's been approved by IDOT.

[12:51] Um, you can see that the bridge itself involves uh a loop ramp and then a

[12:58] bridge to carry the uh uh structure over US 41 and then some uh MSE walls, some

[13:06] retaining walls and then a touchdown there on Frederick's in place. Uh there would be a proposed sidewalk,

[13:13] proposed stairs there uh near Skoi Valley Road there on the uh on the west

[13:19] side and then uh we would also have to work with the property owners there on the east side because of the trail

[13:28] coming down in front of their house. Um the [clears throat] reason why the geometry of this is so complex the US

[13:35] the original bridge was built very steep 12 it's a 12 plus percent steep uh uh

[13:44] slope going up and the the current standards are in order to meet uh the American disability uh accessibility

[13:51] guidelines they cannot exceed 5%. So that loop ramp and that long ramp going down is what's getting us to be able to

[13:59] achieve that. The other thing that's complexity that's complexity with this project is the current structure is currently uh vertical constrained over

[14:08] US41. It's currently 16'3 in IDOT's guidelines are 17 foot three. So, not

[14:16] only do we have to go up at four at, you know, 5% or a little less than that, we also have to go up another a foot higher

[14:24] than the existing bridge. So, again, that kind of comp it it uh complicates the uh the geometry there.

[14:32] Here's a little this is a real quick rendering that we did to kind of give you an impression of what it would look like on this end. Uh again, there's uh

[14:39] there's there would be retaining walls on the outside. The retaining walls could be aesthetically pleasing. As you can see, like a lot of retaining walls,

[14:47] you can have uh the inside. In order to save cost, we were going to grade it down. It can be landscaped in that area

[14:54] for the users to see. Um and then again, like I said, the uh the bridge goes over uh US41.

[15:04] So, uh so you can see here that the existing bridge, it's 6 feet. It's really narrow. So, we're talking about this this new bridge [clears throat]

[15:12] would be 14 ft wide. So, being 14 ft wide provides adequate space for bicyclists, pedestrians uh to coingle.

[15:22] Um and then the uh as I mentioned, there's the loop ramp and uh as an engineer, I never like designing

[15:29] anything to the minimum or the maximum because there's construction tolerances.

[15:34] So that's why we said we designed this to 4.9% and not the 5% max that I had mentioned earlier.

[15:44] We were also asked to take a look at what it would take to rehabilitate the existing structure. And so what we would do is we took a look at it. We looked at

[15:53] a life life cycle cost analysis of the bridge itself. What would it take to repair that that bridge deck itself? The one that it's like I said it's really

[16:01] narrow. The drains are failing. And we concluded it's best to just take the whole bridge deck off

[16:09] uh construct a whole new bridge deck and then and then the peers all that cosmetic that I told you about on the peers and the abutments we would repair

[16:17] those. And so that's what it says right here. We would put put a new 10-ft wide bridge deck on there. It would no longer be six. We could put it we could accommodate a 10- foot wide bridge deck.

[16:28] uh and we would put on ID do standard uh bicycle railing.

[16:34] Now to give you an idea what that would look like, this is this is a similar bridge. I don't know if anybody knows uh Roselle Road and Central Road in uh

[16:42] Shamberg. There's a there's a bridge that goes over Central Road. This is a bridge that we did. Uh we had to work concurrently with Shamberg and uh the

[16:51] Forest Preserve. This is this is a view of that bridge as it's gone over us as it's gone over Central Road and now it's

[16:58] coming back down to touchdown. This could be what this what this would look like on that that new deck for the user.

[17:07] Now, as far as the comparisons goes, the bridge bridge rehabilitation versus the construction,

[17:13] [clears throat]

[17:14] uh approximately $2.4 million for the construction versus the 10.3 you see here for reconstruction. Um the local

[17:22] the funding for that would have to be 100% by the city for the uh rehab for because the reason for that is is uh the

[17:32] grant funding the ITP grant funding you have there's $2 million that the city was awarded uh for that because the bridge would still not be ADA compliant.

[17:42] The federal funding would be disallowed.

[17:45] So, uh, and that federal funding does expire on November 30th of this year.

[17:51] Uh, the new the old bridge, the rehabilitation would still not it would not be bicycle friendly because and it would also not meet the ADA uh

[17:59] guidelines. Um, if we were to do that, it would be again about 25 years later, you'd have to go back and revisit the

[18:07] bridge, probably do some more uh inspections and re and do some repairs on the pair on the on the peers, the abutments, as well as the bridge deck.

[18:16] By then, the bridge deck's going to have to have something done to it. So, about 25 years, you would you'd have to take a look at that. Whereas on the other side,

[18:24] the bridge reconstruction, [clears throat] again, it's going to be uh ADA compliant. It's going to it's going to provide that bicycle connectivity

[18:32] uh and 75 years of service life but again at at a cost of 10.3 million of

[18:39] which 2 million of that will be offset by the ITIP funding grant. Uh the other thing is you note in there is I know the

[18:47] city was wanting to do some aesthetics with this because you wanted to kind of be a gateway have Highland Park branding on it and things like that. So again,

[18:55] depending on how little or how much you want to do, the architect that I was working with said it it's a pallet

[19:02] anywhere from $100,000 to maybe $500,000 was the estimate that we came up with.

[19:09] Now, the work that the architect has because of of some of this like not knowing the way the city was going to go, we have not been working on that

[19:16] portion. So, I know that there was there would be uh if we did go this way, there would be a lot of work we would have to do with the city as far as selecting

[19:24] pallets and with plants and aesthetics and things like that and we can do that if necessary.

[19:32] So, that's uh that's the entire presentation. I uh leave it to any questions that you have.

[19:38] Thank you. Um, one question I had, if you could go back in terms of the 10.3 cost of construction of the new one,

[19:45] would that be in addition to the 2 million for engineering that we seem to have from ITAP or would the ITAP be included in that 10.3?

[19:53] The the uh 10.3 uh is the total cost.

[19:57] So, your your $2 million you have would be would offset that. So, the city the city's cost would be 8.3. And

[20:04] [clears throat] are there are you aware of state funds that would be available in addition to federal funds for the bridge?

[20:11] We have been see ever since we've been aware I know your previous city engineer Manny Gomez and I any grant that was available we went after it.

[20:20] We we chased after uh three or four other grants. Okay.

[20:23] And and some of them we can't we came close. other ones.

[20:29] I hate to put this it Highland Park the average there are average income of Highland Park it kind of these certain

[20:36] thresholds on some of these grants and so that's what kind of helps what what's hurt on some of those those grant funds um but unfortunately up to this point

[20:45] we've we've not been any been able to secure additional funding.

[20:48] Okay. So, in essence, there's a potential for an $ 8.3 million deficit on the reconstruction versus the 2.4 for the rehabilitation.

[20:59] Okay. Thanks. Um, Annette, I know you had something you wanted to ask. Thanks. Um, so a couple quick questions.

[21:05] Um, the seven point the seven feet on either side. Um, if you were doing the bridge,

[21:14] the new bridge, I believe that was that. What do you mean seven feet? Oh, the 14 ft wide is pedestrian.

[21:22] The new the Yeah, the new bridge. The new bridge for a reconstruction would be 14 ft wide.

[21:28] Under the rehab option, we we can only do it 10 ft.

[21:31] Is that for ADA compliance or for federal requirements?

[21:33] Oh, the 14 ft. The 14T because of the multi-use path being a bicycle and pedestrian, that is what garers the the

[21:41] need for the additional width. That's why I'm asking because I was wondering if we could get it down to 12 feet, would it still be compliant and would it cost less?

[21:49] Yes. The other the other reason for the additional width is because of this of this loop of the ramp that ramp because of that ramp. It's it's tight. We're

[21:58] very limited on with the footprint that we have available with the two roads two roads there. We had to make that curve really tight. And in order to be able to

[22:07] get away with uh having a curve that tight, we had to make things a little wider.

[22:12] Okay. So I I I asked that question as well when I first saw this. I go, can we go down to 12 feet?

[22:18] You know, because again like 10 feet is your normal multi-use path.

[22:22] So if that's 10 plus two and two, which is a shoulder, right?

[22:26] Can we go 12? And again, like I said, the loop ramp itself. Okay. So that was one question.

[22:32] New bridge up here. So and I I already got the answer for that. It wouldn't qualify for the federal dollar. Oh, that was what I was going to ask. If we took

[22:39] off the bridge and and just the bridge but not the pilings.

[22:44] Would that qualify as a new bridge so that we could still use that toward federal dollars to if just take the

[22:52] if you took off the top the top.

[22:54] It's like like a new bridge. Is there any way that that would qualify for the 2.3 grant?

[23:00] Uh because of the ADA comp not ADA compliance.

[23:04] You know also isn't high enough right for new I do regulations.

[23:08] Okay. So because it can't comply with certain federal mandates, it doesn't call anti. The biggest thing is the ADA compliance.

[23:15] Okay, great. And then I had one more.

[23:18] Um, so on the reconstructed bridge, I know it's not ADA compliant and I know

[23:26] it's not multi-use friendly from standards that we'd optimally love to have, but considering I've written on

[23:34] that six foot wide thing. I mean, I'm in fear for my life, but I do it because I got to get to the other side. But if it's 10 feet wide, that would be better.

[23:43] Could you take bikes there? It just wouldn't be like a recognized user friendly bike or do we have to ban bikes on it?

[23:52] You are you are correct about that. Now I want to clarify. You said reconstruct but you meant the rehabilitation just take the deck off. Okay. Yes.

[23:59] Uh I just want to make that clear. Uh so yes so with this option the steep ramps would still be there. The 12% ramps would be there.

[24:07] Um it would uh because of that it would not be the ADA compliant. So therefore, the ITP grant funding would still not be

[24:14] used. And as a cyclist, I would rather go over something like that than what I've gone over on the existing bridge. Right.

[24:22] So yes, again, it's it's it's up to the user. Some some people some of your right normal cyclists probably wouldn't appreciate a 12% grades a grade. Right.

[24:33] Um and the same way with people that that are that need uh that are special needs, a 12% grade would not it's tough.

[24:43] Yeah, it would be tough. But yeah, but yes, it it would you would still have the access to across, but again, like I said, for that it's the cost of

[24:51] the $2 million grant. You can't you wouldn't be able to use it. Okay.

[24:55] What are the maintenance costs if we redid it and had the 75 year like if the rehabbed bridge? Do you know what the annual maintenance costs would be?

[25:04] The maintenance cost, like I when uh when I said the the lifespan, we're we're thinking like it would be like 70 uh uh your lifespan for this bridge

[25:12] would be 75 years. You would still have to go back and do maintenance uh every 10 to 20 years depending on on what

[25:19] happens. Again, like I mean things happen. You're going to have rust stains or or things come loose and have to get tightened. Uh eventually uh because of

[25:27] the salt intrusion, you know, rebar could start being potentially popping and you have to fix those concrete. But I'm not going to lie to you, you're not

[25:35] going to you're not you're not going to walk away and not do anything for 75 years, right? You definitely have to do some maintenance.

[25:40] Given that the current bridge is 62 years old, so how come you're saying [clears throat] 25 years if we fix it?

[25:50] Like I mean, I understand it's not great, but it's not collapsing. So why would it not have also close to 80 years of service life or 75 years of service.

[25:58] Well, because because of the peers themselves, the peers themselves are already 64 64 years old. Okay.

[26:05] Um well, excuse me, 62 years old. And they are uh and and because of that, they are showing those cosmetic that I

[26:13] was telling you about. Then we'll repair those, but eventually they will exceed their life life expectancy of 75. I mean, if you you could potentially get a

[26:21] hundred years out of them with with really good maintenance, but I'm I I didn't want to over forecast the 25 years and tell you 50.

[26:30] So, it's like a knee replacement.

[26:32] It's like a knee replacement. [laughter] Sometimes you need it, sometimes you don't. [laughter] Talk about the surface.

[26:39] Which Which one?

[26:40] The surface that you put down for walking in the bike. Yes. What What is that? Uh that's concrete.

[26:47] It would be concrete. I think it just looks that way because the sun's shining.

[26:51] Yeah, you're seeing Yeah, you're seeing the a shadow cost across the uh the railing.

[26:57] Okay. And then and what kind of concrete? I mean, would it be like a smooth concrete or or rough concrete? It it would be a textured concrete because

[27:05] because you don't want it to be a trled smooth concrete like a basement floor because it would be slick. Yeah.

[27:10] Like sidewalk with brush like a sidewalk. A broom a broom finish.

[27:15] Yeah. I mean it's It's a really important bridge, right, relative to the connectivity of the city. Um, particularly with potentially increased population over there.

[27:25] Yeah.

[27:25] Um, and as a gateway to this, you know, to to downtown. I think this signage is its own thing, but like an opportunity

[27:34] to sort of refresh the the way people the way the town looks because people are are driving into it.

[27:41] Um, you know, when you look at the dollars, it's obviously a significant investment today, but when you look at the

[27:48] incremental dollars of needing to spend every 25 years or what you'll need to spend in 25 years to replace it anyways, you're actually going to end up spending

[27:55] more. Um, so it's a it's a tough pill to swallow today. Um, but you're theoretically um more prudently

[28:03] utilizing those resources now versus um costing yourself more later. So the question is and this is to Christie in

[28:11] the back row. You know, do we have an estimate of what this kind of that will come on 30th?

[28:17] Yeah, that'll be on the because that is to your point if it's amateurized over 15 or 30 years and what that cost is annually, you know.

[28:27] Yeah. So that conversation and this project and the totality of the complete capital plan will come on the 30. Perfect.

[28:32] Right. But I think that's an important question because to your point, if we're looking out 75 years, but it's only 50 cents a household for the next

[28:41] whatever it is, then it's like, okay, then we do it. I don't know what the math is. It's not 50 cents a house.

[28:48] Okay. [clears throat] Bissa, do you have any questions?

[28:50] Um, no. I mean, I think I'm torn because I also think [cough] rehabilitation looks nice, especially if you could use it as a bike path like unofficially,

[28:59] too. So I mean I think and that's you know given where we're at in terms of the budget that's you know a lot less I I I don't know what the answer is right

[29:07] now but that's kind of where I'm leaning but based on looking at the numbers you know next month too because that would give us 25 critical part of the conversation question.

[29:17] Yes. So but yeah since we're a small group we'll just u say my my point of view here is I'm in favor of the new build of the new

[29:25] bridge. Uh, I think the financing thing makes sense and also it's just who we are. I mean, we're walking, biking

[29:33] community. We that's part of our plan and we're doing a lot of things and it would one of the most important connectivities is from east to west. And

[29:42] if we didn't do anything, you know, and then if we rehab still would be rehabbing something that is kind of, you know, iffy. I mean, look at all those not nos not no. Yeah.

[29:52] [laughter]

[29:52] and and and you know, we got to be modern and we're upgrading so much of our city. We have to kind of keep the brand of the city consistent across the

[30:00] board. And I agree with John that um it is a visible marker, you know, for entrance to our city. And given other

[30:08] conversations we're having about branding the city in certain ways, this could be a really good uh place to to, you know, elevate that that messaging.

[30:18] So I I think yeah it's a tough pill to swallow but this other one is going to cost us a lot and we're going to get little for it over and over again

[30:26] and get little for it in terms of the elevation right and I think we want to not only fix and be safe but we also want to elevate our image or maintain a

[30:34] certain image and I don't see how the one on the left maintains our image.

[30:38] It'll be important to look at the full capital improvement plan over the next 10 years and where this fits in terms of the priorities of what this council

[30:46] wants to move forward on and what the costs are.

[30:49] But but I would just underline that I think you like the idea of No, it's I think it fits it we'll have that debate, but I think it does fit one of our main priorities in the city.

[30:58] Thank you. Any other question?

[31:01] Sure. I I'm sorry to bring this up, but you know, Lake County has been talking about the east west connectivity and the

[31:08] bridges and going over the highway and it's really difficult and that's one of the reasons that project was stalled for the what seven

[31:16] years because they couldn't decide how to get over there and this goes over the highway, right? Is there any thought to perhaps

[31:25] talking to Lake County about maybe Oh, I think we should talk to everybody, the state, the county, and the federal.

[31:31] And it's so the itch funds come through the organization called CAMAP,

[31:38] and I'm on the board of CAMAP representing Lee County. So, we can certainly, you know, find out what other funding they'd be willing to go to back for us.

[31:47] Yeah. because I think they're, you know, they just had their workshop about the bridge over Lakeook over Lake Cook or Clay or all the other

[31:56] options that they propose and um there was a lot of what are we going to do here if or what are we going to do? Yeah.

[32:04] So, this might be a really good time to talk.

[32:06] No stone will go unturned. [laughter] Anybody else? No.

[32:11] Okay. Well, really appreciate the presentation. This has really been enlightening. Right. Thank you. Thank you.

[32:43] So it Okay, Joel. Thank you for uh coming to talk to us about the building code update.

[32:50] Yes. Thank you. Very cool.

[32:58] [clears throat]

[32:58] What? Yeah. Okay.

[33:07] Um thank you mayor and council. Um this evening the second presentation will be about our building code update. um a

[33:14] major project the city that um we undertook last last year and is uh finishing up in this fiscal year 26 and

[33:23] I'd like to just go through an overview of that and some of the key changes that we're making.

[33:30] Um so just to start off I want the council to understand the collection of codes just at a very high level that are

[33:37] involved in development and construction. Um we have codes that are mandated to us from the state. Um those

[33:47] include the energy conservation code, the accessibility code, and the plumbing code. And then we have um what we would

[33:54] refer to as the ICC or the international code council's code families. Um those

[34:01] are adopted by reference by localities throughout the United States and internationally. We do that now. We have

[34:08] what's referred to as the 2018 code family with local amendments. Um, this

[34:14] update proposes to upgrade our uh building code to the 2024 version which is the latest available version of the

[34:23] international code council's model codes. You'll see there that we have building existing building and

[34:30] residential codes. We have fire, fuel, gas, mechanical codes. All of these are part of that international code council

[34:38] code family. Um we have property maintenance, swimming pool and spa codes as well from the international code

[34:45] council. We also recommend adopting the national electric code. [clears throat] We currently have the 2017 version. This

[34:53] recommends 2023 essentially bringing us up to date with the latest the latest materials used and methods used for um construction.

[35:05] So let's talk a little bit about how these codes come about. The state has its own code development process. Um the

[35:12] international code council um has a a process as well and I'll talk about that in just a minute. Um the building code

[35:21] update project that the city's undertaken consists of two main projects. um one updating uh from the

[35:28] International Code Council's 2018 code cycle to its latest the 2024 cycle as I had mentioned. It's often referred to as

[35:36] a code family because there's a number of codes that are involved in that as I mentioned just a moment ago. Um [clears throat] and then the second part

[35:44] of the project is assessing the Illinois stretch energy code. Um the 2023 version is now available or has been available

[35:52] since January 1st, 2025. We had a conversation last year about that. The council asked some very important policy

[35:59] questions and um we have as a city obtained a grant uh to assess the

[36:06] Illinois energy stretch code um to advise the council as to whether or not it uh makes sense to adopt and what

[36:14] trajectory it takes us on in terms of our net our goal of ultimately achieving net zero. Um, I want to thank uh Erin

[36:23] Jason and her team and sustainability division um for obtaining this grant and it's really instrumental to the work

[36:31] we'll be doing this year to assess that for you and come back with uh interesting and important information to help you make that that decision.

[36:39] That does not have to happen before or concurrently with number one. So number two is a separate project. Number one is

[36:47] all self-contained. You do not need to do number two. I just want to make that clear. The city last updated its building code in February of 2020 uh to the 2018 model codes with amendments.

[37:00] [clears throat and cough]

[37:01] Okay. So, talking about the ICC model code development process. So, the International Code Council, otherwise known as ICC, uses a three-stage

[37:10] process. Um code starts out with a it's a three-year process all in and they

[37:17] start out in a rolling basis. So they they just don't stop. They they they issue a code and then they begin developing the next set of codes. Takes

[37:25] about three years. So they start with development code development committees and they have stakeholders from the building industries, government, academia, design professionals,

[37:34] insurance, builders, contractors, manufacturers, distributors, and other development professionals all around the table with these code committees. They

[37:42] um examine and and go through what's called a code change submission and review process. So, okay, what do you want to change? Um, you know, every 3

[37:51] years is things change in construction, the materials used, the methods to achieve the goals of building safety for

[38:00] everyone. And so, they review changes and then they also look at things like that didn't work so well. How about changing it as we all do with all of our

[38:08] codes uh at all levels. Um so it's a concerted effort that then goes into stage two where they have uh committee

[38:16] action hearings where they talk about it and they debate and they saym what about this what about that stakeholder group this stakeholder group that if you do

[38:24] this that's not going to work if you do that it costs too much. All those types of conversations happen.

[38:31] They then go to public comment and review. They see what the public has to say. Um you find very interesting things come up from that as well. Um, and so

[38:38] those are taken into account and consideration as the council well knows from their work. Um, and then they have public hearings. So they talk about it

[38:46] through public hearings process. Stage three then goes to a consensus vote uh by eligible voters. Um, council, some

[38:55] council members may not recall, but I'll just refresh council's general collective memory from my presentation last year. In 2019, we did participate

[39:02] in the code council uh vote with regard to encouraging the international code council to develop a base set of model

[39:10] codes uh that will be on a glide path to net zero by 2050. So just give you a local example of how we had participated

[39:18] at one point time. Um and then you know a new edition is published every 3 years and so this this three-stage process

[39:27] ends in that and then those become available in print electronic form and training sessions start to occur from there.

[39:35] There's [clears throat] also code commentary that follows that where folks uh where the code council further explains things where there are questions that they find through

[39:44] training uh of of folks bringing them up to speed.

[39:50] Okay. So to step back and say okay so what are we doing? Okay the city's building code

[39:58] adopts by reference with various amendments certain state and international model codes as I said at the outset. So specifically what we're

[40:07] looking to do, [clears throat] what we have right now, excuse me, is the 2024 Illinois Energy Conservation Code that's

[40:15] promulgated by the state of Illinois and that became effective this year, actually the end of last year. It was available, I believe, at the end of November. Um, we do that by reference.

[40:25] So there's nothing that this council has to do. In 2020, we made sure that all of our codes did by reference the state uh

[40:32] uh codes that are required so that the council doesn't need to worry about adopting amendments quickly and things like that. Um we also have by reference

[40:41] 2018 accessibility code, also an Illinois state code. So that's the latest edition of that. And lastly, the 2014 state plumbing code with local

[40:49] amendments [clears throat] sparingly there with the local amendments. Um we also look at um in terms of by reference

[40:59] the um where we would like to go is to the 2023 national electric code. Right now we're on 2017.

[41:10] So we've adopt by reference that code and so we need to change that to 2023 is our recommendation. Um we also adopt by

[41:18] reference the model codes from the international code council. our references to the 2018 versions. We'd

[41:25] like to change that to 2024. Again, here's the code family that we that how it's referred to as a code family because it consists of a number of codes

[41:34] as you see there. Building code, existing building code, fire code, fuel, gas code, mechanical code, property maintenance code, residential code, and

[41:42] swimming pool and spa code. So, it pretty much covers the full gamut. Now, I just want to make a a a note here. Um,

[41:50] all those are are building codes but one. The um property maintenance code isn't really a building code. And in our code, it's chapter 174, not chapter 170.

[42:00] It's just a nuance to let you know that.

[42:02] But nonetheless, the ICC or the international code council produces a code for property maintenance. And we do use it and we have used it for many, many years.

[42:11] Okay. So, so what did this project accomplish? Well, it's accomplished a number of code uh improvements. It

[42:19] aligns more closely with model building codes which makes them more accessible to users. This is an initiative, an [clears throat] ongoing initiative that

[42:27] council had set forth uh a while ago during our last code update and we further do that alignment through this code where we look at the 2024

[42:35] [clears throat] close and say, "Hey, why are we doing this differently? Why not align?" Why is that a better way to approach it? Well, because there's a

[42:43] common set of training and experience that design professionals have and staff have relative or employees have relative

[42:50] to codes. This if you have particular code amendments in your locality sometimes those are the most uh difficult to make sure that design

[42:59] professionals know and and that staff are know as well. Um so that alignment helps. Also, it helps in the sense that

[43:07] code council does a very good job at developing code and so sometimes they got it better than we had it or would have it and therefore hey let's adopt

[43:16] the model code. Often what happens is there are code local code amendments that uh ultimately eventually get

[43:23] adopted by uh the IC in future code cycles. They're things that just didn't make it in the committee, right? But

[43:32] nonetheless, governmental regulators really do value and want to have. And so those are some amendments that you adopt

[43:39] locally, right? Um we eliminated redundancies, unnecessary provisions, and improved clarity. Um address uh the

[43:48] code improvements address local environmental conditions, building and life safety, and streamline operations through the elimination of certain

[43:55] deposits. Now, although these deposits are related to permits, they actually exist in different parts of our code,

[44:02] uh, chapter 93 in this case, um, with regard to driveway and sprinkler systems. Um, working with public works

[44:09] director Bannon, um, to review the deposits that we collect, um, we determined that those two deposits don't

[44:16] add value to the process or the outcomes and instead just create work. And so it

[44:24] doesn't there's no value to the customer and the city has not utilized them. Nor do they really represent a significant

[44:31] enough value at $250 to incentivize anything. So you could say, well, what would you do and why do we collect and

[44:39] what would you do if they don't do the drive or sprinkler system properly?

[44:43] Well, these things exist in our rightway and so we own the rightway. We know where the person lives. It's the house

[44:50] right there. And so we feel confident that without a deposit we could use our administrative hearing system [clears throat] to make sure that things

[44:58] are done properly with regard to their driveways and sprinkler systems. And thus we eliminate administrative burden that the collection and refund of

[45:07] deposits creates and also just the absolute zero value it's seen by customers saying so it's like the eighth

[45:14] grade punish assignment. You're saying I didn't do anything. What do I need to give you this money so you could give it back? Well, yeah. Okay, let's not do

[45:21] that. Now, we did we do keep and and we intend to keep uh street openings and uh

[45:28] water connections. Now, those uh happen in the rightway out in the street. So, someone digs up the street and let's say they don't do what they're supposed to

[45:37] do. Public works would need to jump in potentially and fix that hole. Now, we could still find folks and all that, but we want to be able to act quickly and we want to have some money to do it with.

[45:46] And so, those two we're going to keep.

[45:48] But that has to do with our water systems and our streets so that we don't have holes in our streets and water system is done properly. Okay.

[45:58] So let's get to the key uh local amendments. Um so with regard to private septic

[46:05] systems, our our proposed amendments prohibit any expansion or new private sewage systems regardless of the size of

[46:13] of lot size consistent with past practice.

[46:17] um public works and and and community development um recommend against septic systems. They are not something that

[46:24] that you want to have in your city. Uh those that exist can remain and be maintained, but we don't want any expansion or new ones.

[46:33] Um amendments regarding prohibition of uh prohibited locations for toilet facilities. So, this is this gets down a

[46:43] little bit in the weeds, but it just gives you an example of how we try to fill gaps where we see them. And so, we

[46:48] have the state uh plumbing code, but it covers pretty much everything except there's one provision in the

[46:56] international building code, the model code that's not addressed in the state planning code. And so, we're going to maintain that provision so that we

[47:04] essentially close a loophole in the state law. eventually, you know, that would be uh rectified through the state, you know, enabling but through their

[47:12] update process and uh but it hasn't yet and so we recommend that that be included. Um regarding backflow

[47:19] preventtors on boiler systems, okay, so backflow preventers are very important.

[47:25] We operate a water system. They're important whether or not you operate a water system, but you know, we have particularly acute uh interest in in

[47:33] this as we are a water purveyor. Um, and this requires backflow preventers on all boiler systems used for heating a

[47:41] structure. It's important to protecting the water supply. You don't want the water to become contaminated and thus

[47:48] the backflow prevention uh uh prevents that.

[47:55] Um there are several miscellaneous provisions as I refer to them here. Um they they have to do with climatic and

[48:03] geographic design criteria. This affects all municipalities and you know you have to kind of pick your path, right?

[48:09] Depending on where you're located and what these things need to be for your community. So you have snow things like snow loads, wind speed, frost line,

[48:19] design day meaning for your heating systems. What is the design date? What is the situation outside that you're designing for? Termite infestion, ice

[48:27] barriers, and flood hazards. As we know, we have lots of uh flood zones in our our community. Um so we used the um so

[48:35] what we did is we updated to make sure that it reflects our community and

[48:40] [clears throat]

[48:40] we we based it on the American Society of Civil Engineers hazardous hazards hazards report which is for the uh ICC

[48:49] code uh model code and we conferred with the international code council on this matter so to make sure that we got it right. So those are being set. Existing

[48:58] chimney height, we removed this uh because the model code addresses this without specifying who pays for what, which is a private matter. So we had a

[49:07] local amendment that is essentially taken care of by our uh existing model codes that we'd be adopting and there's

[49:15] no need to interject oneself in that. Um gates on construction sites. Now you're going to say, boy, geez, really? Yeah,

[49:23] we need to make sure we we're adding to the code that they be locked. So, in 2020, we included that, yep, you need to

[49:30] have those construction fences. We got over the fact of, well, do I need one or not? We just said all construction sites need them unless otherwise said not. So,

[49:39] that the default was correct. And so, here we're saying, yeah, you need to lock them when you're not on the site. I know it seems possible. We want to be

[49:47] able to hang our hat on something if we need to take someone in for citation.

[49:51] The goal there is to keep kids and people out of construction sites. They are very attractive. People like to look around. Hey, let me see how this Let me

[49:59] look at these houses. You shouldn't be in there. You're trespassing technically. We don't want you to get hurt. We don't want kids messing around in there. Unfortunately, in other parts

[50:07] of the country, we haven't had this here to my knowledge, but you know, kids kids party and sometimes are very destructive

[50:15] in in homes than new homes and buildings and they use them as a venue, which you absolutely do not want. they are not occupiable at that time and should only

[50:23] be uh professionals in the construction trades and others uh around and on those

[50:29] sites. Okay. Vacant lot standards. Um so we've had a number I shouldn't [clears throat] say this. We have from

[50:37] time to time fires in our community and unfortunately there's a loss of property and and god forbid life but loss of

[50:44] property u sometimes significant that requires the demolition of a home. And so we want to provide enough time for

[50:54] folks to make arrangements for what they're going to do after. And this might seem like, well, what do you mean? Don't they just

[51:01] want to rebuild? It's it's more complicated than that and often involves a lot of planning and wrangling [clears throat] with your insurance company before you could just go ahead

[51:10] and build a new house. Um, often folks don't have the means to just pop and do that. there's a lot of work to do both

[51:17] in terms of who you're going to hire to what the money where the money's coming from bank loans etc. So what this does

[51:25] is it says hey it allows sufficient time to comply with the vacant lot standards or if

[51:33] redevelopment is proposed for the property owner to apply within 180 days that should be in brackets uh for a building permit and obtain one within 270. So, why the 180 and 270? 180 days.

[51:45] Believe me, after a big fire and a loss like that, those days go by fast. I've talked with folks and, you know, we try to have as much empathy as we can while

[51:55] making sure the site's safe and that the community knows, hey, something's going to happen here, right? So, we go from you need to knock down this home to what

[52:02] are you going to do with this after you knock it down? So, there are times where people say, listen, I'm going to raise the home, but I want to keep the foundation because I want to rebuild on

[52:11] that foundation. You could do that by zoning, but the the question is is when, you know, so this ties to, okay, we're with you. We understand. We don't want

[52:19] to make you incur more cost than you have to by removing the foundation and all that. You need to get us something in 180 days. Okay? What are you going to

[52:27] do with this? And then we give ourselves time to review those plans because when somebody applies for a building permit,

[52:35] well, some are better than others. And so we don't want to we don't want to have a situation where we have to approve something uh in in any amount of

[52:44] time that would be unwise. So this gives plenty of time for review and revisions from the customer. Okay. To get there

[52:53] because we know that sometimes depending on the team that they use it could be more or less in terms of the number of revisions. Having said that, we set this

[53:02] end date so that it's like, look, you you supplied us a building permit, but these plants are not approvable. Well, you don't get to just leave the lot like that. After 270, we're like, that's it.

[53:12] It's a violation. You got to find a design professional to get this to meet the code. This isn't some secret game.

[53:18] The code is there, published. You can meet the code. You just haven't yet. So, it gives belt and suspenders.

[53:24] Okay. Retaining walls. Another area where there uh where uh our improvements um focused on clarifications. Okay,

[53:34] specifically how to measure the height of a retaining wall. Okay, so we're proposing from finish grade to top of wall. That is what people can see. The

[53:42] way the current code is is it talks about the footing and the footing is below the ground and nobody knows how far and all this you can't measure.

[53:50] Well, that's not four feet, that's three feet. Yeah, above the ground, but what about below? So, we just said, you know what, we're doing everything from above

[53:57] ground because then it's universally able to be seen and not this game of where the footing is and how deep is it.

[54:03] Um, so that clarified one thing because this does get touchy with neighbors at times. Um, and what we're trying to do here is small retaining walls aren't

[54:12] generally a problem. So, you have little landscaping walls and things like that, not not the things we're really worried about, right? But when they get higher

[54:20] than 3 feet, you need a design professional. and in certain circumstances where they're supporting a sir charge or impounding. So if there's

[54:27] some weight behind them uh that this is actually holding back the earth as opposed to decorative with very light

[54:35] charge you know you have the ability we have the ability to require a professional to to design that so that

[54:42] we don't have unfortunate collapses or other things that happen. People sometimes put their vehicles on driveways that are being retained by

[54:49] retaining walls. You see what I'm saying? that's a different kind of a wall then I got a bunch of Aelas here, you know, and it's not really a big deal.

[54:56] So, we clarified that. [clears throat] Okay. Elevator inspections. Um, we're

[55:04] proposing aligning with state regulations that require one instead of two as our local code does elevator inspections per year. This is in

[55:13] recognition of just the acute shortage of qualified elevator inspections to perform them.

[55:18] um our third party consultant to the best of their ability has has struggled as has previous uh third party

[55:25] consultants. Um the you may have read you know it's in the popular news that one of the most lucrative and in demand professions is elevator inspectors.

[55:34] There's a real shortage and the way the law is written state level in the administrative code there are only

[55:42] certain people that can do that. So we do not have those staff members. It's it is not cost-effective for us to develop a person internally to do that work.

[55:51] They are specialists and they are required by state law to be those qualified experts to do that. And so um

[56:00] we're recommending that this align with state code. Other municipalities do the same. I don't view this as a problem. I just view the problem as being the acute

[56:08] shortage of qualified elevator inspectors. And hopefully that will change. Although given the pending retirements of many, it's it's going to get more interesting rather than less.

[56:19] We'll see what the younger generation uh whether they take a shine to this field or not. Hopefully, they do or at least

[56:26] in sufficient numbers. Uh elevator car uh changes. Um we're recommending elevator cars to accommodate ambulance

[56:34] stretchers. So, in all new buildings that provide elevators, okay, so that's the qualifier. There are alter buildings

[56:42] that require that provide elevators. At least one elevator that accommodates an ambulance stretcher must be provided.

[56:49] Okay. So, it does expand the scope uh of the requirement to include buildings four stories or less above and below

[56:56] grade plane. So, we have um we have this need to uh accommodate stretchers and it

[57:03] avoids it avoids fire department staff climbing stairs, lifting and and not being able to uh get in and out as

[57:12] quickly as they otherwise would be able to.

[57:16] Definitions. Um we have made some changes to definitions um to align with the model codes with regard to substantial improvement and substantial

[57:25] damage. These are important definitions as that they drive what's required in terms of uh how you're addressing things

[57:34] when you're doing a substantial improvement or when you're addressing substantial damage. And what that means is you'll have to bring more things up

[57:42] to code. Okay, current code. This goes this goes to fire sprinklers etc. which we'll talk about in a moment. We also

[57:50] changed definition of recreational fire that we have. we add the fire distance requirements and allowance. Um, in terms

[57:59] of the distance, you see here, we prohibit open flames to be located within 10 ft from a structure unless

[58:07] otherwise allowed by the manufacturer specifications. So, this is a general rule. Um, manufacturer

[58:17] has incorporated certain safety measures can be used differently. If they have not then the 10 ft is the rule.

[58:25] Okay. Sprinkler systems.

[58:27] [clears throat and cough]

[58:31] So as I mentioned before we we are using the model codes um definition base uh for substantial damage and substantial

[58:39] improvement. And we use those those are triggers for requiring automatic sprinkler systems throughout existing buildings. when an improvement is 50% or

[58:48] more of the market value of the structure. Okay, it's real important.

[58:52] So, what we used to call a substantial uh renovation is now in a substantial improvement. Is this a big change from

[59:00] what we currently have? No, it is basically some different words, but essentially what we're doing when you have a substantial improvement, you need to include sprinklers.

[59:08] Um we specify there are three exceptions to sprinklers required to be installed throughout in new buildings and additions. Um one is

[59:17] relating to a tension membrane system or the dome as you will our dome. Uh small additions and small detached accessory structures. Okay.

[59:29] Sprinkler systems are important in terms of fire and life safety and property

[59:35] damage reduction. And so these are important provisions. So really what we're doing is aligning with our model

[59:42] code from the ICC on the definitions and the 50% more market value of the structure. Okay.

[59:51] There are several amendments that help the fire department access buildings quickly, avoid delays and associated

[59:59] damage during an incident. So we through this amendment package we require key

[1:00:06] boxes, master key systems, fire alarm zone maps and initiating device identification. So what [clears throat]

[1:00:14] is all this up? Fire department needs to get into the building quickly without bashing in the front door or side [clears throat] door or whatever door.

[1:00:23] Um so we require two boxes at the main entrance of the ground level tenant space of multif family buildings.

[1:00:31] Um, master key systems require key master key for each floor of a multi-tenant building. Fire alarm zone

[1:00:40] maps requires fire alarm zone map and building floor plan for fire alarm system installation.

[1:00:46] And initiating device identification requires fire alarm device identification for all new buildings. So

[1:00:53] together this reduces the time it takes to address an incident. It's very important. Seconds matter. Um, so of

[1:01:02] course existing fire alarm systems can be repaired and parts can be replaced without having comply to comply with the new building requirements.

[1:01:12] Okay. Private fire hydrants. So when we have private fire hydrants on properties, we requiring them through

[1:01:20] this amendment um to be visually distinguishable and identified in the same manner. Okay? So it's to paint them

[1:01:28] a certain color and such. There are various ways to deal with fire hydrants and understanding this numbering systems and such and so forth. Um this amendment

[1:01:36] talks about the actual color of the hydrant. Okay. Um energy storage systems

[1:01:43] particularly in specifically in utility closets, basements and storage spaces.

[1:01:48] Now, we're all very excited about going green and moving to electric in all sorts of things, cars, you know,

[1:01:56] everything that we do, stoves, even things like that to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. But they do

[1:02:02] pose a risk. Um, these energy systems can store quite a bit of energy, your vehicles, and then also what are called

[1:02:10] these, you know, whole house battery systems, if you will, for lack of better terms. um where they're located matters.

[1:02:18] Outside the home or away from the structure is one thing, but when they're in these locations, um this amendment requires additional

[1:02:26] life safety measures be employed. It ensures them that that if they're installed in a building that these additional measures to protect the

[1:02:35] structure and other surrounding structures and properties include early detection systems, increased fire rating, protections of walls,

[1:02:42] sprinklers, etc. So, um, it's not that folks can't do them in their home or or or a business couldn't do it. It's that

[1:02:50] when they do, we need additional provisions.

[1:02:57] Okay. And just to just one other thing on that and you know, I know chief is is here and and you know, he is he has emphatically said, you know, how how

[1:03:05] there is concern about ESS systems um and runaway um chemical reactions that they then incur. So these types of it's different type of fire than is typical.

[1:03:18] Okay, they are they essentially it's a it's a chemical reaction that can self sustain which is pretty scary. It can

[1:03:27] produce its own oxygen if you if you know what I'm saying. So the fire can just keep going. So what happens is you have to burn out the fuel. It's just you

[1:03:34] know it it's not you can't put it out before it's done with its chemical reaction. Now the way that you could do

[1:03:42] it is you cool it. It reduces the chemical reaction. The faster you could do that the better. But these are very hard to put out and thus we want

[1:03:51] additional safety measures so that the fire department can get there to address them before they get out of control.

[1:03:57] Okay. Um local amendments in one and two family dwelling and town houses. Um this is called the IRC. IRC is international

[1:04:05] residential code. Okay. So, okay. So, what we're looking for here is

[1:04:12] a set of of provisions that amend the the code.

[1:04:18] Um, one, heat detectors. Um, requires affordable early fire detection in garage and

[1:04:27] mechanical rooms. These are not expensive anymore. Um, and so we think this is a reasonable amendment and should be included.

[1:04:34] um alarm systems requires a blue lens strobe fire indicator for all town houses. This will help firefighters

[1:04:42] easily visually identify the unit with the fire incident and reduce uh response time. So this is just for town homes. So

[1:04:50] we don't need the blue light for a single family detached home. We have an address. We know where it is.

[1:04:55] fire department in their operations wants if they're going to a townhouse development wants to be able to run down the roll down the street and see which

[1:05:04] unit within the building assemblies that have those town houses are okay just again reduces response time energy

[1:05:12] storage systems well we just talked about that those in closets basement and other storage spaces previous slide we talked about that

[1:05:20] um household alarm systems okay this aligns this This amendment aligns with the model code by no longer requiring household fire alarm systems. Okay.

[1:05:31] Chief and and staff have worked long uh and hard. Our fire prevention staff uh has has looked at this and chief um

[1:05:40] automatic fire sprinkler systems is sufficient and fire [clears throat] alarm system is can be optional. And so all of our single family homes are

[1:05:48] required to have including town houses sprinklers. And so this is a an amendment that removes that as a

[1:05:55] requirement. Doesn't stop someone from doing it, but nonetheless removes that.

[1:06:00] Okay. So talking about additional requirements, um fire sprinkler systems.

[1:06:06] So we talk about the we already require that that sprinklers are included in new homes. Okay. Now we're talking about

[1:06:13] what if you do a significant improvement. Well, this amendment sets the threshold at 75% of the market

[1:06:21] value. You'd have to go through the house and do the whole house, not just the addition, not just the Okay, so this

[1:06:28] is important. Um, we're largely a builtout community. We do have lots of new homes, but when you look at the portfolio of homes we have, it's a small

[1:06:37] portion. And so, the fire department and life safety initiatives of of local governments have a real conundrum. How

[1:06:45] do we get the existing up to the safety of today? It's it's it's lagging, right? And so this is how we propose to do it.

[1:06:54] It's based on a significant improvement to the to the property. Now, unlike commercial, this is 75% of the

[1:07:02] structures value. So, if you're going to gut renovate your home, 75% of its value is your project. You're going to have to

[1:07:10] add sprinklers in. So, that will be an incremental cost. can be like $12,000 for a 3,000 ft home.

[1:07:18] Um, but what it does is it brings this is an opportunity with that much investment in a renovation to just pass that up is a real missed opportunity.

[1:07:28] And how will we ever get our community up to the standard that we now require for new homes? If we're going to wait

[1:07:35] for everything to be rebuilt, that's a really long time. However, with a significant improvement like this, we

[1:07:41] can get those major improvements to do this, and we think it is worth doing.

[1:07:46] The damage to the property and the saving of lives that adding sprinklers can lead to is is very important. Um,

[1:07:55] and so that's our recommendation. This amendment also requires one sprinkler head and attached garages as well as a

[1:08:02] bell alert system to be installed on [clears throat] the supply duct for each HVAC system installed in the residence.

[1:08:09] Again, we're trying to give people time.

[1:08:13] These things give people time to get out the fire department to get there and the fire to be as minimal as possible.

[1:08:20] Um, terms of deleted amendments, um, we're aligning with the 2024 model code with regard to concrete foundation

[1:08:29] walls, stud size, height, spacing, and top plates. City of Highland Park had different requirements than the model codes.

[1:08:38] An interdep departmental team of staff reviewed this. We don't think this is something that we need to do. the the

[1:08:44] code is sufficient and that's why we would recommend removing those shed anchorage.

[1:08:52] Um this requires sheds to be anchored to the ground to prevent displacement during severe weather conditions. We keep talking about all these severe

[1:09:00] storms and climate change and other things. Part of being resist resilient is to minimize damage that's caused.

[1:09:09] These these types of things help do that. You don't want your shed flying off the the foundation going elsewhere hitting into things. It just causes more

[1:09:18] damage. And so we recommend it. Now, not sheds do not need foundations. You can build a foundation in which case you don't need the anchoring. It will be

[1:09:26] anchored to the foundation. But where you don't, there are these what are called screwin anchors that you can screw into the ground. You may have seen

[1:09:33] them for tents and you can anchor your shed down so that it won't go away. Now you say, "Well, when could this happen?"

[1:09:41] Well, when you have really severe wind storms and god forbid tornadoes and other things like that, the damage caused from things flying can be

[1:09:49] tremendous, including loss of life. And so, trying to keep that in safe position there. Okay. Wiring methods. Now, we're

[1:09:58] talking about the National Electric Code here. So, we're recommending uh some amendments to wiring methods. Um,

[1:10:05] Inspector Mike Bill has been a working electrician for 50 years. It's not an exaggeration. Um, and he reviewed these

[1:10:13] codes and and reviewed uh our standards and has enforced them for the years he's been here. And we recommend maintaining higher standard in City High Park

[1:10:22] similar to other Northshore communities related to metal conduit raceways. Um, it makes future repairs and upgrades more efficient and cost effective. And

[1:10:30] so we think that is in the best interest of the community to do that. Um and so that we recommend keeping [clears throat] but it is an amendment

[1:10:38] from the model code. Um emergency disconnects. This requires an emergency power disconnect to be installed on the

[1:10:46] exterior of all commercial and multif family buildings. Okay. So when the fire department rolls up to a a situation, it enables the fire department to quickly

[1:10:55] turn off the power to the entire building from the outside to avoid, you know, the potential risk that they they

[1:11:02] face when uh buildings are are having an incident and the power is on and how to get that off and where are we going to

[1:11:09] get that to turn off. So this just again reduces response time.

[1:11:17] Okay. ISPC.

[1:11:21] What is that? Well, it's the International Pool and Spa Code. Okay.

[1:11:25] Um, so barriers regarding barriers uh for pools. So, all in this requires this amendment that

[1:11:34] we're proposing requires all inground pools to have a 4ft high fence barrier around them regardless of whether they have a lockable safety cover installed

[1:11:42] that would otherwise make them exempt from fence requirements. This eliminates reliance on pool owners to use their

[1:11:49] pool covers when not in use. Okay, let me explain what's going on here.

[1:11:56] From an enforcement standpoint, the city is in a tough spot. There are folks that are very concerned about pools and pool safety, abudding pools. They have little

[1:12:05] [clears throat] children, other things like that. Become acutely aware of pools as a danger. And I'll tell you that pools are a danger. It's one of the most

[1:12:13] dangerous things in a residential household, a pool, particularly with little children. And so teaching

[1:12:21] adults and children how to swim in it as soon as possible is really recommended.

[1:12:25] However, there are other things that you could do that can can help. And this is one of them. So over the years, the code has changed.

[1:12:34] This was in the model base code a while ago, but then came the lockable safety covers. Now, these, you know, these

[1:12:42] automatic collapable safety covers, you can it, you know, [clears throat] hit the button and it covers the pool and great, no one could fall in. It's [cough] wonderful. But do people

[1:12:50] actually do it? Okay. So, there's the knowing and doing gap, right? So, great, you got this lockable pool cover. It's wonderful. But it's open. So, we get the

[1:12:58] calls, oh my god, there's no one at the pool and it's open. So, vice versa, people don't want to put up fences

[1:13:06] around their pools. So, then you get I don't want to do that. So whichever way we go on this, there's a constituency

[1:13:13] that doesn't like it and we do spend time dealing with that. Okay. And so, you know, we seek feedback from council

[1:13:22] on that. Um if if we want to maintain that the lockable uh safety cover is sufficient, that's fine. We'll be

[1:13:29] involved in, you know, enforcement related to use of that, which is very hard to do. It's very easy to see that there's a fence up that meets the code.

[1:13:39] it's much harder to know how people are operating their uh pool cover. Um so um

[1:13:46] regarding inground pool ladders and steps um with no barriers. So these are essentially this is a provision related

[1:13:54] to above ground pools. Okay. And so what we're saying here is that if it's unattended please all ladders and steps shall be removed and secured or locked

[1:14:02] to prevent access. There are little things you could put on your staircase that prevent people from climbing it.

[1:14:07] you could take staircases away from the pool. Again, really trying to save those kiddos who are interested in everything from getting in the pool um without uh someone attending it.

[1:14:19] All right. And then International Property Maintenance Code, IPMC. So, this is about avoiding nuisances.

[1:14:26] So, there's a few amendments that we're looking at here. Um temporary roof coverings. Okay,

[1:14:33] we have lots of roof permits. Uh people are doing their roofs all the time.

[1:14:38] Sometimes people get uh some damage from storms. Other times they find they have a leak in their roof and they need to like, hey, I got to get a tarp on this right away. I can't get a guy just yet.

[1:14:48] Fine. We get all that. Important to be able to use a tarp. But when it goes on for too long, it becomes a nuisance and

[1:14:56] it just is unsightly. And so what we're setting here is that you can use a chart but not for more than 90 days during a

[1:15:03] roof during roof work. We think this is reasonable. We want some end boundary.

[1:15:08] Now you're going to say, Joel, well, how do you know when they use the tarp? When we get the complaint, that'll be day one. That's how we know. Okay. So 90 days from that complaint. I, you know, we're not running around looking for t.

[1:15:18] Now, if we see a tarp at drive by and it's months and months, sure. But this is more of a complaint-based system

[1:15:26] whereby people say, "I got a leak. I'm putting up a tarp." Great. But then they don't get a permit. And you're like, "You know what, guys? It's been up for

[1:15:33] over 90 days. You need to get a permit or get this, you know, fixed." So, regarding feeding wildlife, we prohibit

[1:15:41] feeding wildlife, not including birds, folks. And yes, you could still have your chicken coops. the law. That's that's not a wildlife. They're they're different.

[1:15:50] Okay. Um you could say, well, what's this about? You know, folks are concerned about rodents and and raccoons

[1:15:57] and skunks that really get attracted to uh places. Once you start feeding squirrels, even squirrels could become very aggressive, climbing in windows,

[1:16:05] climbing on windows. Once you start feeding them, they're they're not pets.

[1:16:09] You do not want them in your home. And so, it does become a problem for neighbors, even if you do like it.

[1:16:14] Um some people really do some pump discharging. Um we're essentially referring to other city code so as not to cause a you nuisance uh to others.

[1:16:24] Okay. Next steps. Um we we have adoption scheduled for council's February 23rd

[1:16:32] meeting um with an effective date of March 1st. Um the transition to the updated code package is already

[1:16:39] underway. We've noticed notices to design professionals, state office of capital development and the city clerk

[1:16:47] have occurred. General contractor license has been upgrade updated uh to reflect the new code. Um and staff has

[1:16:54] completed training in the uh international code council 2024 code family. Um, as an aside, but should be a

[1:17:03] a different type of bullet there, but as an aside, staff recommends the next building code update be to the 2030 ICC model code family in winter of 2032.

[1:17:13] This allows time for staff and customer training and ICC guidance publication.

[1:17:18] And so that's that's what's happened and that's what we've done this time as well.

[1:17:23] [clears throat]

[1:17:23] And that's yes. [snorts] I was just about to introduce a num

[1:17:31] several people. Not introduce but thank several people. Archana Mohan Chandra is the building division manager. She headed up the building code update

[1:17:39] process and she coordinated amongst uh inter departmental staff from public works, fire as well as our own in the

[1:17:46] building division, the inspections uh unit, uh the plan review unit and front counter unit. So we really do appreciate that effort and it was tremendous

[1:17:55] effort. Chief Shagi uh and his team also really appreciate the guidance that

[1:18:02] you've provided and and the hard work that we all did with the fire prevention unit and in community development works very closely with the fire department.

[1:18:10] And so Chief Shagri, our fire official was integrately involved in the fire code update parts of this code update

[1:18:18] and then public works as well. And thank you, Ron, for your staff participating in this as well. And um that's presented to you uh this this code amendment with

[1:18:27] that contribute, you know, contribution from all those staff and much appreciated.

[1:18:32] That was amazing. Like I think you need to like put that out on the internet for people to best understand like why this

[1:18:39] is so important. And so I'm going to echo your thanks first to you. Thank you.

[1:18:44] And to participate really and to Joe. I mean, this is insanely detailed and so

[1:18:52] important in terms of life safety, in terms of a healthy environment, in terms of storm water management. I mean, in terms of getting people to invest in our

[1:19:00] community more efficiently because [clears throat] we used to have like what 700 other code amend it there was like the Highland Park code is another

[1:19:07] 700 things you need to comply with and people are like, yes, how do I even build in this community?

[1:19:12] So, and I will say to you that there are still a number of code amendments that aren't changing that we're carrying over. There's just no change. So um but

[1:19:19] we have reduced that and um we've added where we've mentioned right but I think this just speaks to

[1:19:27] you know our values our mission of what we're trying to achieve here both in terms of a healthier environment in terms of giving people more safety um to

[1:19:35] your point about the storage units um I think that's you know new technology that people want to embrace and how do you make sure that their homes don't

[1:19:44] blow up in the process while they're trying to keep the world greener so That was such a great presentation. I just can't say enough about it.

[1:19:51] It represents a lot of work from staff and you know our fire prevention unit was was involved in the development of these these codes as well. Work very closely achievement.

[1:20:01] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I know Annette had her hand up with a tiny Nope. Maybe not. That was the last one. And also then Andre and then John. So yep.

[1:20:11] Okay. So the question I actually had a question about whether certain things were grandfathered in and I didn't know if that was more for you Steve like you

[1:20:19] were talking about if there's a 75% renovation of a home or whatever. So um

[1:20:26] you know obviously there's new code requirements so if you do more than 75% of a home or

[1:20:33] anything it's not just a home. Just wondering if there's a grandfather provision or if when I'll answer what triggers it.

[1:20:41] So what triggers it is the 75% sprinklers would be required then for the the existing home. That's correct.

[1:20:48] Your grandfather if you're not doing 75%. If you do less than that I think I understand your question. The the answer is in building code life

[1:20:58] safety code we can make these effective immediately. We are not legally required to put a grandfather provision. So the

[1:21:05] provision as drafted would apply immediately. 75% would apply immediately to all ho all homes who pull a building permit. Now

[1:21:13] the where the grandfather could come into effect is if somebody had a completed application

[1:21:20] um a building permit application that that was completed uh before the date let's say before the date of the next

[1:21:28] meeting. we may say that that building permit application or if they're in the process of construction um we may say that those can continue to operate

[1:21:36] pursuant to their complete application but it is not a completed application on or before the effective date and we'll add a provision

[1:21:44] it's the second line here for new building permits.

[1:21:48] So, if we have a building permit application, that's under the old code.

[1:21:52] We'll add a provision um that expands on that that makes clear if you're if you've been talking midway through an

[1:21:59] application that it's it's too bad. It it is a completed application as of the date of adoption of the ordinance.

[1:22:06] So, that was the actual question. So, thank [clears throat] you both and and thanks to all of the staff for this.

[1:22:11] This is in my estimation a really good beginning to the whole revision that we're looking at for ordinances. So, we got to get all the stuff in up to snuff, too. So, great job.

[1:22:22] Great. Thank you, Andre.

[1:22:24] Yeah. I um I have just some big question picture questions. Um given that we're relying so much on these

[1:22:31] these other [clears throat] codes by other organizations.

[1:22:34] Y So, just a few questions here. Um how do you feel about the quality of the codes that come out of this very involved

[1:22:42] process? I mean it's very there's a lot of stakeholders a lot of checks and balance and stuff but obviously I can infer that you feel good about it

[1:22:49] because of the presentation but given all the complexity and given that we're putting a lot of um weight on receiving

[1:22:57] these codes and taking them on and studying them rather than having our own just your level of confidence in your team's confidence very high [clears throat] I could say

[1:23:04] unequivocally there is no way we could do this on our own these these code books are this big for each of those

[1:23:12] codes that I specified. Look at them all up there. There's no way that could be replicated with the capacity that we have at the local level or pretty much

[1:23:20] any municipality except perhaps for the largest cities in the United States which do sometimes develop their own codes. Having said that, they also

[1:23:28] borrow from the ICC. The ICC, this is what they do. This is their mission standard and and it's what they've done for for

[1:23:36] years and years and years. So this is an iterative process that's welldeveloped, mature and functions well. All 50 states

[1:23:45] state codes not just local but states model their code after this as well as you know when you look at the state of Illinois and the stretch code and the

[1:23:54] state of Illinois energy conservation code that's an ICC base that they're using. Right. Okay. A couple other questions.

[1:24:01] uh given uh some of the roll back at least at the headline level on you know

[1:24:08] net zero or you know reducing uh green u you know gas emissions and things like that given all this there's a lot of green still in here.

[1:24:19] Oh yeah. So what is what is your assessment about how well those regulations or the ability to keep green

[1:24:27] code embedded or added to here despite the assault on on to all things green?

[1:24:34] Well, I will tell you that the grant that we received as a city with regard to the energy stretch code that we're analyzing and assessing, we're going to

[1:24:43] look at what the trajectory of the base model code is. The base model code has gotten more and more efficient over the

[1:24:50] years. Some code cycles less so than others depending on how things go back and forth. These are hotly debated

[1:24:57] topics. There's certain nuance things that are in or out because oh that was an overreach. Then they take it out, they may put it back in. But general

[1:25:06] trajectory of the base model codes is more efficiency, more pollution prevention. Okay.

[1:25:14] On top of that, we're looking at the Illinois Stretch Energy Code. That's going to get us another level. The ICC

[1:25:21] codes also have amendments that you could choose to adopt that would take you to a different level and require

[1:25:29] more things too. We're going to analyze all those things, come back with like a policy package so that you can see those trajectories. Where are we going? What's that end point for each of these paths?

[1:25:40] knowing that each code cycle is its own cycle. They shoot for more efficiency, but whether or not it gets there, what level, it's ultimately a vote, right?

[1:25:50] So, yeah.

[1:25:50] Okay, last question. Uh, and you kind of infer this, but you know, there's these codes and these binders. Mhm.

[1:25:57] And then there's the supplements or the optionals within the the package that you're saying, "Hey, we're going to adopt this."

[1:26:04] Do we pick and choose? Also, we say, "Oh, we like all this, but not that one, that one, that one." Or if you're going to take the code, you take it all.

[1:26:12] You take by you adopt by reference and then amend locally. So, our local amendments amend specific things in that

[1:26:19] code. We just talked about some of them that our local amendment does. Yes.

[1:26:23] And given that a code is not the same as uh a regulation. So in other words, what

[1:26:30] happens if we don't have abide by the I mean I know that we the city has to abide by it right but is there anybody

[1:26:37] enforcing it on top of us? No, I mean so the state promulgated codes, right? The

[1:26:44] state has the authority on the on the energy conservation, accessibility, employment codes. Okay. Those are state codes. We adopt by reference. So we enforce them as well.

[1:26:55] We enforce them.

[1:26:56] Correct. So you can't so you you wouldn't adopt a code contrary to the state's plumbing code for instance. So

[1:27:03] ICC has a plumbing code. We could adopt it. We choose not to because our state says this is the state plumbing code. So we get rid of that, delete that and say

[1:27:12] the state code is it. So that we need to do and we do adopt by reference the energy conservation code because the state said thou shall municipality shall

[1:27:20] do that when we update them. So we do that. Um and yes, the state can enforce its own codes. So yeah, if if we adopted

[1:27:28] the ICC's code, the state department officials could say, "Hey, no, I'll just add the [cough] the reason why we have the ability to ignore some of

[1:27:35] these codes is pursuant to our home rule authority." There are instances though where the state has said even home rule

[1:27:42] units are not exempt um from our state code and therefore even home rule units must follow it. The instances in which

[1:27:50] Joel has identified where we're deviating are instances where we're exercising our home rule authority to do it differently. Correct. All right.

[1:27:58] The majority of the plan reviews and then the inspections are done by our our staff. That's correct.

[1:28:04] Okay. And so we did we did get input from our our third party um consultants as well that we've worked with for years

[1:28:11] who work with lots of communities and we said what do you think of this and what they participated our chenna coordinated and facilitated those conversations as

[1:28:18] well. So this is the benefit of years of experience from staff enforcing our code and just who have years of experience.

[1:28:25] As I mentioned our electrical inspector has 50 years of experience as an electrician. He's worked here for years as well. We have our fire prevention

[1:28:32] unit who looked at the fire parts of things. Um we have a plumbing inspector looked at the plumbing parts of things.

[1:28:38] So um I think that it's a a very strong recommendation and I feel very strongly about the ICC codes as as a national and

[1:28:48] best practice standard as a model code and like I said all 50 states there.

[1:28:52] This is not something peculiar or particular to us and internationally have have adopted these codes. Yeah.

[1:28:59] Cool. Thank you for asking that. It's an important question. It really is. Thank you.

[1:29:02] Thank you, John. [clears throat] Thanks so much. Incredibly thoughtful and detailed presentation and for the

[1:29:08] entire staff's work. Um I think many of us saw the sprinkler demonstration by the by your department. And so it's

[1:29:17] clear how beneficial it is to have those in in in homes. We also heard how costly it is, right?

[1:29:24] $12,000 for 3,000 foot home to That's just an estimate.

[1:29:29] and and I assume sort of similar cost to uh put conduit for electrical, right, for homes that have knob and tube or

[1:29:38] existing [clears throat] electrical infrastructure. My question is, has the city ever thought about providing some type of incentive to

[1:29:46] those who want to voluntarily improve the safety of those type of things, electrical to

[1:29:54] sprinkler house to reduce the risk of of of catastrophic fire or loss of Not to my knowledge. No,

[1:30:03] give money some type of some type of Yeah.

[1:30:07] financial incentive, right? Like I I know like I can speak for myself like it would be something I' as a as a owner of a very old home

[1:30:15] with enhanced risk. It'd be something that I'd be really interested in and I'm sure [laughter] and I'm sure others would as well given

[1:30:24] given the cost of trying to open up walls and deal with some of this stuff.

[1:30:27] Right. I think one would make the argument that that's your private asset, your private property. You stand to gain from upgrading it. your insurance cost

[1:30:36] presumably would go down and and this is as someone who bought a home and then paid the same amount to bring in safer

[1:30:44] electric and safer plumbing and all of that. So, I understand what you're saying, but let's step back a second and say if it's the city that's providing

[1:30:52] that funding, it's coming from the taxpayers. And so, if you have people who live in old homes who are on fixed incomes and you're saying to them, you

[1:30:59] know, in my house, I I want to do the work, but I need your money. I think people might have a problem with that. I understand what you're saying and I

[1:31:07] understand, you know, we've been providing incentives for businesses, but presumably we're getting a return on investment on that.

[1:31:14] Fair enough. You could you could argue that there's a benefit to the safety of the fire department and it takes other other public benefits from that. But I

[1:31:23] [laughter]

[1:31:23] think I would start with educating people and and the chief has been doing that. I mean, we love pancakes at the firehouse, but the best part of that is

[1:31:31] seeing all the kids who are like, "This is how I keep my house safe." And the parents going, "Oh, wait a second. I need to do this for my house." But I hear what you're saying. It would

[1:31:38] be great if we had unlimited funds. We could start helping people upgrade their homes. I think there's going to be an argument made in terms of use of tax dollars for that, not to come in too.

[1:31:51] Um, anything else you want to add? No, I'm good. Okay.

[1:31:55] Okay. Um, so two quick questions. So I know you're did this whole review now and thank you for this presentation. So how often do you do this? Every 3 years?

[1:32:05] Every four?

[1:32:06] No. So um very good question. So I was like yeah that's not [laughter]

[1:32:13] do. So the code council the code council is on a three-year cycle. So they're already developing the 2027 codes. All right. They're already

[1:32:22] midcycle. Right. Um we the last bullet here is what we recommend future. Okay, this is this is typically what we do.

[1:32:30] And so we're looking at um two code cycles before upgrading again. So 2027 there'll be a new code cycle. We're

[1:32:38] saying skip that one, do the 2030. It is a lot of work. Our team have been working on this. It's a multi-year

[1:32:46] project as you know we're in 2026. We did a [snorts] lion share of the work at 25. It is it is not a light undertaking and so right

[1:32:54] we also think the following as well. So, you know, sometimes being cutting edge isn't always the best place to be,

[1:33:02] right? You don't want to get ahead of your own staff's capacity, right? They need time to train. This is why we're doing 2024 because it's the latest

[1:33:11] cycle, but we're doing it in 26. So, we had some time to train. If you do it right away, it's like, what's going on?

[1:33:17] Everyone's [clears throat] like not really knowing what they're doing. And so, you we need to build capacity. You also

[1:33:24] want not just your own staff, right? You also want the design professional community to build capacity because

[1:33:32] that's who we're reviewing the work. So if it's a mess, it's like it just slows permitting down. It really be becomes a

[1:33:38] real grind. And so that's why we do it when we believe is necessary. We do this to stay aligned with ISO and to make

[1:33:46] sure that we don't get penalized from ISO perspective. So this is important to adopt because we need to do this by March so that we don't have any ISO

[1:33:55] impact and that's that's that's the standard. So that's why we do it on this type of a cycle as opposed to every 3 years. It's it's very very arduous to do it every 3 years.

[1:34:05] Thank you. And then just one more quick question. So, when we look at some of the local like the changes that we've made in Highland Park, do you also

[1:34:13] consult with like neighboring suburbs like if you look [clears throat] at like Deerfield or Glenco or Yeah, they're they're on a varied they or they have different schedules.

[1:34:22] We don't really rubberneck that much on this. I mean, basically all communities are in some phase of trying to keep their codes up to date. that six-year

[1:34:31] per window is basically what everyone's trying to keep within because ISO doesn't like it if you go out of that.

[1:34:37] So that's kind of the broad kind of container everyone's working in. Now some communities they're back in 2012 code still you know communities are more current.

[1:34:46] I could be your rubberneck and we're right up with the municipalities that you're contiguous to.

[1:34:51] Okay great I mean we have that information. So, um, having said that, just one one thing to note, and I know this is something that

[1:34:59] Chief and I have talked about with Archenna um, quite a bit and our inspection unit

[1:35:06] once this is done by Highland Park and adopted, we'll be sending it to Highwood and with the request that they update

[1:35:14] their code to this code for our fire and light. That's correct.

[1:35:21] So, I spoke with them about that.

[1:35:24] city manager there and deputy city manager. Right. Right.

[1:35:27] Expectations. So, but know this though, if they don't, it doesn't mean they don't have fire code. We want them to do

[1:35:35] what we're doing. But they they're on the 2012 cycle. So, I'm going to encourage them to

[1:35:43] encourage. That's a good It'll be a strong [laughter] and I will be a strong. Thank you so much. Thank you everybody.

[1:35:52] really truly appreciate it. With that, I'm making a motion to adjourn. Someone second. All in favor say I.

[1:35:59] Thanks.