Minutes 1991 0805 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - August 5, 1991 Page - 7 - NEW BUSINESS (continued) Ron Hamburger, EQE, a registered Structural Engineer, said his firm developed the standards utilized in the City's URMB Ordinance. He said Mr. Jorgensen had hired him and wanted to retrofit his building in accordance with the Uniform Code for Building Conservation. He described how this code was developed and said, when the technical provisions of the City's URMB Ordinance were developed, the UCBC was not recommended because there were still questions as to its adequacy. He said it has now been found to be adequate and is a preferable method to the City's Ordinance, which can provide the same level of safety at a lesser cost. Council Member Santos asked if the engineering evaluation of the Mission Bell was complete. Mr. Hamburger said it was and had been presented to Mr. Jorgensen. He said the UCBC is identical to the City's URMB Ordinance. Mr. Brassfield said this was not correct and pointed out that the UCBC requires 25% of the steel of the City's Ordinance. He said his major concern is that the UCBC is generic, not concerned with interior URMB walls, which was one of the main concerns of the State in developing SB547. Mayor Karp repeated that the subject of the appeal was whether the Mission Bell is unreinforced masonry and properly subject to the Notice and Order. Mr. Jorgensen said the City's Ordinance requires that owners comply or their buildings will be condemned. He said his building has a lot of cross-fill walls, it used to be used as a bomb shelter, and it is a strong building. In response to questions from the City Council , he said he does not disagree that his building is unreinforced masonry, but non-bearing walls means that it has a lot of strength within it. The City Attorney said that any number of orders or determinations of the Building Official may be appealed to the Board of Appeals. He said there will be ample opportunity for Mr. Jorgensen to appeal the extent of building modifications and application of technical aspects of the Ordinance to his building.