Laserfiche WebLink
Regular City Council Meeting <br />Monday, August 22, 2016 <br />Page 34 <br />the city to-date to meet with representatives of WJR Architects, allowing the re- <br />mainder of those issues to bring the building into compliance. <br />With the water meter being pulled from the building by the city negating plumb- <br />ing corrections being completed; and the Fire Department wanting to schedule the <br />sprinkler hydrostatic test yet this week, Mr. Martin stated his difficulty in under- <br />standing that contrast. Mr. Martin further noted the toilets couldn't be hooked u <br />on site without water, making it impossible for his client to comply, and not mov- <br />ing the ball forward for anyone. <br />Mr. Martin provided photographic evidence as a bench handout, attached hereto <br />and made a part heYeof, disputing those photos included in the staff report, opin- <br />ing they overstated the current situation and questioning staff motivation other <br />than to shut down this business, kick out the tenant, and throw 5-6 employees out <br />of work. Mr. Martin compared his photos with those of staff, opining that staff's <br />report and photos were misleading at best compared with corrections made to- <br />date by the property owner and/or tenant. Mr. Martin challenged the City Council <br />to consider staff's overstatement of the situation indicating a lack of cooperation <br />by Mr. Dorso. <br />Specific to photo attachment W and his comparison photo, Mr. Martin noted this <br />area of the building showing damaged ceiling panels had not been occupied for a <br />long time; but because of the requirement to replace the panels, his client had <br />complied, advising they had been replaced for some time; but no follow-up had <br />been provided to the City's Building Department due to his client's perception of <br />their lack of cooperation. Had this material provided to the City Council been <br />submitted to him and his client in advance of tonight's meeting, Mr. Martin ad- <br />vised that he could have saved the Building Department the embarrassment of <br />giving the City Council an impression that their photos were what the building <br />currently looked like. <br />Regarding what his client would like to see happen, Mr. Martin asked that they'd <br />like the city's promises to be kept; and for staff to complete their review of the <br />code analysis provided by their expert analysis as submitted; and then for staff to <br />meet with his client and those experts to explain and work out differences; at <br />which point his client could complete the work to bring the building into compli- <br />ance within a reasonable time. Mr. Martin applauded the apparent willingness of <br />the Fire Department all along in working out the issues in a cooperative way. <br />However, Mr. Martin questioned the Building Code Enforcement staff's apparent <br />lack of willingness to garner that same cooperation. <br />Mr. Martin asked the City Council to order the Building Code Enforcement Of- <br />ficer to work WITH rather than AGAINST the property owner in bringing the <br />building into compliance. Mr. Martin noted the work done to-date, in part by the <br />tenant, to clean up the building, resolve storage issues, and other compliance is- <br />