24-093 Building Safety Month and fee waiver

1:02:44Do you mean to call the next resolution? We can do the next resolution and we're going to do that.

1:02:49Yeah,

1:02:49you can go ahead and start resolution. Um so resolution number five, if you're here for Building Safety Month in Pasco County, please step to the podium. Wonderful. I'll go ahead and read the resolution. Resolution number 24-093, a resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, declaring the month of May 2024 as Building Safety Month in Pasco County. Whereas Pasco County is committed to recognizing that our growth and strength depend upon the safety and essential role of our homes, buildings, and infrastructure play

1:03:19both in everyday life and when disaster strikes. And RAS, our confidence in the resilience of the buildings that make up our community is achieved through the devotion of diligent professionals such as building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, engineers, builders, tradespeople, design professionals, laborers, plumbers, and others in the construction industry. Who work year-round to ensure the safe construction of buildings. And RAS, these professionals are dedicated members of the International Code Council, a nonprofit that brings together

1:03:50local, state, territorial, tribal, and federal officials who are experts in the building industry to create and implement the highest quality codes to protect citizens in the buildings in which they live, work, and play. ANRAS Modern Building Codes include safeguards to protect the public from hazards such as hurricanes, snowstorms, tornadoes, wild wildland fires, Floods and earthquakes. NRES Buildings Safety Month is sponsored by the International Code Council to remind the public about the crucial role

1:04:20of our community's largely unknown protectors of public safety, our local code. Code officials. Who assure us of safety, sustainability, and affordable buildings that are essential to our prosperity. NRAS, in 2024, theme for Building Safety Month is Mission Possible, which encourages us all to raise awareness about building safety on a personal, local, and global scale. NRAS, each year in observance of Building Safety Month, people all over the world are

1:04:50asked to consider the commitment. To improve building safety, resilience, and economic investment at home and in the community, and to acknowledge the essential service provided to all citizens by local and state building departments, fire prevention bureaus, and federal agencies in protecting lives and property. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, that said board hereby declares the month of May 2024 as Building Safety Month in Pasco County and encourages all Pasco County citizens to join and participation of

1:05:20Building Safety Month activities, done and resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this tenth day of April 2024.

1:05:28Move to approve.

1:05:29Second. Motion and second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passed. Thank you. Yes, sir.

1:05:36Thank you, Madam Clerk, for your eloquence. Um Mr. Chair, Commissioners, Mr. Steinsnyder, and Carbala, thank you for your uh your flexibility in getting this on the agenda. We've got some stuff special stuff planned this year for Building Safety Month, and I'd like to talk about that quickly. Pasco County Building Construction Services is proud to take part in the International Code Council's observation of May as Building Safety Month. We do this to raise awareness about building safety, building codes, and the men and women who keep us safe. This campaign

1:06:06reinforces the need for the adoption of modern, regularly updated building codes and helps individuals, families, and businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures. This year we're focusing on how building safety is a personal, local, state. a global initiative that begins with you. We use building cool codes as a tool to protect citizens from everyday disasters like the ones you mentioned in the resolution. I think in Florida we had all of them last month, including the snowstorm and the panhandle. As

1:06:36well as property maintenance standards, which help prevent deterioration of our structures over time leading to structural collapse or worse, other property loss. These codes ensure that the places that where we live, work, worship, and play are are safe and they accommodate the needs of all uh people of all abilities. Um This year, to increase our outreach efforts, one of the things that we are doing to celebrate the Building Safety Month is taking our show on the road. Born out of a meeting with the the Shady Hills Community Association, one

1:07:06of the things we're doing, and I don't think we've ever done previously, is we're gonna go out to the LC Logan Center on Friday, May 4th, or excuse me, Saturday, May the 4th from 10 to 3, and we're gonna have a development services day that focuses on both community outreach, question and answer, but also to help our folks who are who have transportation issues. Or difficulties navigating some of our electronic resources, they're going to be able to come to us right there in their neighborhood and get the questions they need answered and possibly leave with a permit if they can. So we're

1:07:37going to have everything from a permit tech, plans reviewer, building officials, minimum standards folks to kind of help sort out all the issues that anyone might encounter with BCS. We're very proud of being able to do this. We don't know what we're going to get, but we're hoping. Excited to get the word out, and we have some great community uh volunteers in the area that are gonna help us do that. Um We're gonna bring our 18th. We're about 12 to 15 people will be out there. Again, that's that is 10 to 3 at LC Logan

1:08:07on Saturday the 4th. And then finally, as a new request this year, in order to increase awareness and increase compliance with billing codes, we are requesting the board waive all after-the-fact permitting fees for the entire month of May. For those who don't know, an after-the-fact fee is when you have unpermitted work and we find out about it after the fact, that fee is there as a little bit of a penalty or a fine. To ensure that you don't make a habit of doing that. Typically what happens is our

1:08:37minimum standards case folks will go out and generate a violations case, and that process can take some time. Well, one of the things we'd like to do is clear out some of the backlog, but really entice folks to come into compliance with our building code, because at the end of the day, public safety is our number one priority, not penalizing folks for maybe not doing it right the first time. Um So we're asking the board to waive that in in an upcoming resolution, I think later in the agenda. And uh we just as by way of the numbers, since

1:09:07twenty sixteen we've had over twenty one hundred building permit violations uh for unpermitted work, with about a thousand possibly outstanding. In twenty twenty-three we had five hundred and forty-four uh cases of uh unpermitted work. And so we really would like to clear that out. And I think that if we get we cross that threshold over a hundred, I think I owe the minimum standards team lunch personally. Um but we're very excited to to see and and and try something new and try to do the increase those outreach efforts and work

1:09:37with folks to have our buildings come into compliance and be safe. So with that, thank you for your support and I'm happy to answer any questions.

1:09:45Mr. Chairman Mariano I'm delighted that we're doing uh this amnesty program. Uh it runs in the entire month of May. The benefit to bringing everybody into compliance is huge. Th the incentive that's out there I think is hopefully something we can promote and and have a lot of success. So I appreciate you guys bringing that forward. That is under the consent on the C six, so I'm sure that'll be coming right through.

1:10:09Yeah, right. I um that kind of goes against my grain as give forgiveness. I'm not doing a permit to begin with I'm I'm a stickler about I want people to do the permit. So but I'm okay with doing that. Uh given for one time. But we need need not do this every year.

1:10:28Agreed, yeah.

1:10:30Because I want 'em do it the right way to begin with. I know the other commissioners want the same thing. So but it's it's a good thing here in in Pasco that we do see that we've had this issue before we're gonna correct it and we're gonna go forward with a better step forward with getting our permit on time on a timely basis. Any other

1:10:50Well I I just think it's very innovative what you're doing. Um I'm really glad that we we have you here. I think you're doing a great job and um Uh it'll be interesting to see how many come forward so and how many you For give, so please give us a report. So then thanks for all the work you do. Mr. Waiton?

1:11:10Thank you. Yeah, good good luck with getting folks to tell on themselves. So be curious to see the the data on that. But no, it's important. A PR campaign is Commissioner Commissioner Chairman Mariano stated earlier. Uh especially if they're businesses, right? Get in place, get your permit, you don't want something to fail or get in trouble, and then all of a sudden you have 50 work comp claims because your employees were hurt and you're building because you try to take a shortcut. So I hope,

1:11:40especially our businesses, if they have have a couple of violations that they can use this time to reflect and then get back into compliance and take advantage of the goodwill of counties uh extending out their That way for for their sake and for the sake of their employees that uh everybody can be healthy and happy and continue on. So thank you.

1:12:01Very good. Did you want to say something stay up or we're gonna take a picture? Roy, did you wanna say something to this or Yeah, I see you sitting up on the front row, so

1:12:12Just watching my man's back, you know. Well

1:12:16that's good. That's good support.

1:12:18Well with the the the PR campaign is important, very important, but to my staff's credit, I believe there's like Little League Baseball going on next door. And that's kind of why we planned it on a Saturday, so that we got a little league ball going on, so people might see this as they're driving by. Who knows? Uh this came out of a discussion, uh just an organic collaborative discussion with the Shady Hills Association folk. Pastor Jen had this kind of idea. We started to kick it around and boom, here here we are, we're doing this. And so um

1:12:48let me also say this is all Also a nice rehearsal for emergency management. If we are in a situation where we have to mobilize a group of people and go and set up somewhere else to conduct business, this is a small dry run to that effect. And so there is some value there as well. So really hats off the JP, my internal project manager, Melissa Walganary, for putting this idea together and making it happen.

1:13:15Okay, thank you. Let's uh go down and get a picture.