A Board of Building Construction Appeals has been created in the city of Collegedale. This will provide an appeal process if there is a question of interpretation of the city’s building codes. This board is in relation to construction principles, not design principles, said City Manager Ted Rogers. It is also different than decisions made by the Board of Zoning Appeals, which makes judgments regarding the zoning ordinance, said City Attorney Sam Elliott.
The city has previously adopted the International Building Codes and International Residential Codes which provides for public safety.
Building Codes and Safety Director Andrew Morkert makes these interpretations. The board will be the one to make decisions if the director does not approve a manner of construction or of materials, if there is a claim that a provision in the code does not apply, if an equally good or more desirable method could be used or if there is a claim that the code has been wrongly interpreted.
The commissioners questioned the make up of the board members since they will be chosen from the current planning commissioners. The three members will consist of an engineer licensed by the state of Tennessee, a member at large from the building industry, and one member at large from the public. Vice Mayor Tim Johnson, and Commissioners Ethan White and Phil Garver would have preferred the members being from outside the planning commission to ensure that independent decisions are made. City Manager Rogers said this board in expected to meet only occasionally and it would be hard to get members “up to speed,” in order to make decisions if they were not already informed about what is going on in the city. A public hearing and second vote will be held on this ordinance at the Feb. 15 meeting.
The vice mayor is making plans for the upcoming budget to fund the creation of more greenways in Collegedale. He said that 18 greenway projects have been identified - some small and some large and more expensive. Two of these, Tallant Road and Tallant Park Boardwalk, are on the list and are both relatively expensive, he said. He will be asking the commissioners to consider designating $400,000 in the 2021-2022 budget for building greenways. He said if the money is approved by the commission, several projects can be done that will have an impact on the community. He said that he also plans to work with David Barto, executive director of the Collegedale Tomorrow Foundation, to seek donors to help with the new projects.
The commission passed an ordinance on the first reading to recite The Pledge of Allegiance to the order of business at regular commission meetings.