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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBuilding Review Board - Minutes - 03/30/1989L:341 u] 1 � R> • :»�11 � i IiL1;l C Minutes March 30, 1989 MEMBERS PRESENT: Ron Baker Chris Allison Dennis Sinnett Raju Jairam Doug W. Johnson Harry Cornell MEMBERS ABSENT: William J. McCaffrey STAFF PRESENT: Felix Lee Paul Eckman Debbie Zeigler The minutes of the February 23, 1989 meeting were unanimously approved. John E. Bassett, Bassett & Associates, was denied a Class A license/ certifi- cate. Only one of the references received was a Class A project. He was, however, approved for a Class B license/certificate. Harry Cornell abstained from voting on Dennis W. Dakos and Ronald D. Gray due to a possible conflict of interest. Dennis W. Dakos and Ronald D. Gray, both applied for Class B category license and certificates for Gray Construction Co.. Their references were from Class C-02 projects with one possible C-01 project. Les Corum appeared before the Board representing the applicants. Chairman Ron Baker asked Mr. Corum if they would like to submit additional references for a C-01 or B, or if they would rather be approved for the Class C-02 which would allow them to test April 6th. Mr. Corum asked that the Board approve them for the C-02 and they will submit additional references at a later date. Boardmembers made motion to approve Mr. Dakos and Mr. Gray of Gray Construction Co. for a Class C-02 license/certificates. Jay Jarvis submitted C-01 references in his application for a Class B license/ certificate. He questioned whether medical gasses in a commercial space would constitute a higher occupancy. Mr. Lee told him the licensing categories were determined by square footage and height. Boardmember Jairam made a motion to deny Mr. Jarvis the Class B license/certificate and to approve him for the Class C-01 license/certificate. The motion was seconded by Boardmember Alli- son. Motion carried unanimously. Leonard Couch, Professional Builders & Remodelers applied to the Board for an upgrade to the companies existing Class D license/certificate and approval for his initial application. All of the references were of the Class D nature. The board felt that a natural climb in upgrade went from the Class D to the Class C-02 unless the applicant could show references in the requested classi- fication. Therefore the Board voted to deny the Class C-01 request and approve the application for a Class C-02 license and certificate. 9 BRB Minutes March 30, 1989 Page 2 The following applicants were approved: Steve Foust, Foust Construction - C-01 license/certificate; Sterling Meier, Meier Construction, Inc., Class C-01 license/certificate; Fred Ahlert, Fairfield Homes, Class D license/certificate; Darrell Amelang, Class D license/certificate; John Henry, More Than A Carpenter, Class D license/certificate. Other Business - Alan Marine - Disciplinary Hearing - Introductory comments were made by Felix Lee. He outlined the sequence of events referencing the letter from Lisa Reilly indicating a furnace had been replaced in her home by Mr. Marine. Subsequent to that, Mr. Lee had received a phone call from Ron Ludke indicating that a furnace had been replaced at this home by Mr. Marine also. Both had been installed without a permit and Mr. Marine nor his firm carries the appropriate license to do that work. Mr. Lee followed up with an investigation at both residences and in fact there was furnace replacement work done at both those addresses. Boardmember Sinnett asked if these were anonymous calls or if there were prob- lems with the installation. Mr. Lee said in the case of Mr. Ludke, there were specific problems with the installation. The return air plenum was improperly constructed, improperly installed on a combustible surface and general instal- lation problems in terms of tightness of the construction allowing air leakage and improper infiltration and a supply shutoff was not installed, as well as improper electrical connections. Mr. Marine's representative, Lucia Liley an attorney with the firm of March and Myatt, spoke to the Board. She explained that there should be two parts to any disciplinary hearing. The first being the question of compliance of the code and the second being the question of appropriate action needed to be taken if noncompliance is determined. With regard to the first, Mr. Marine is admitting fully to doing the furnace installations without the proper licenses and permits. She also felt that Mr. Marine had not been treated fairly by city staff. Ms. Liley added that Mr. Marine has been a Master Plumber for twenty-five years, starting in Delaware and then coming to Colorado. He has never had any complaints about his work in either area. Ms. Liley then related that on December 16, 1988, Mr. Marine performed HVAC work for Lisa Reilly at 1324 W. Mountain. On January 31, 1989 he performed HVAC work for the owners at 1531 W. Mountain. The Ludtkes are tenants and the work was contracted by the owners. Prior to the 1531 W. Mountain job being completed, a minor problem arose with the HVAC work and the city was called. After inspection by the city, the owners of the 1531 house stopped payment on the check to Mr. Marine. There had been considerable problems with the job before the city ever got involved with getting payment from these own- ers. They would conveniently forget to bring their check books and when the situation with the city arose they used this as a means to stop payment on a check they had already given to Mr. Marine for work performed. The work included not only labor which might be disputed, but parts which were used and continue to be used to the benefit of the owners. ri L C, J BRB Minutes March 30, 1989 Page 3 According to Ms. Liley, after the inspection by the city there were a number of discussions between Felix Lee and Mr. Marine and Mr. Marine's legal council at the time. Mr. Marine was advised through those discussions that 1) the Reilly job was water under the bridge and nothing was going to happen as a result of that and 2) in accordance with common practice of the city, no action would be taken on the 1531 job unless one and preferably two written complaints had been filed. He was informed that if he went to the Board, he would probably get a slap on the wrist. These discussions were held in early to mid February. The next contact that Mr. Marine had was on March 17th when he received the written notice from Mr. Lee immediately suspending all of his privileges under his plumbing registration. At this point there had never been a hearing, he had not been allowed the opportunity to present evidence or any mitigating circumstances and yet his license was suspended pending the hearing of this Board and his livelihood was basically taken away at that point. As it turns out the city had received a written statement from Lisa Reilly in the interim and Mr. Lee had proceeded. Ms. Liley felt that the letter written by Ms. Reilly was not a complaint and after contacting Ms. Reilly found out that Roy Allen, an inspector with the city, called and asked her to send a letter. She was never advised the purpose of the letter and never advised that the city was considering action against Mr. Marine and she was never asked to explain the circumstances surrounding the job or her satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the job. On March 29th, Ms. Reilly submitted another letter stating that she in no way meant for her original letter to be treated as a complaint. The problems had all been taken care of at Mr. Marine's expense and she was satisfied with the outcome. Ms. Liley felt this showed that Mr. Marine was not treated with fairness or equality by the city. She believed Mr. Lee had explained the common practice used by the city and yet that practice was not used in this case. A city employee, Mr. Allen, actively sought out a statement from Ms. Reilly that was not intended to be a complaint, according to Ms. Liley. On Tuesday, just after he received the summary suspension, Ms. Liley sent a letter to the city requesting that they rescind the summary suspension pending this hearing. She felt it was a violation of Mr. Marine's constitutional due process right to a hearing before he was deprived of property rights and his livelihood. On March 21st, the city, without admitting anything, rescinded the summary suspension. Ms. Liley said she only wanted to point these things out to show the irregu- larity of due process that has been used in this case. She also wanted it known that his plumbing license was being suspended and at no time was there any evidence against his plumbing abilities. There was also no evidence by the city that it was an emergency that required a summary suspension. • C� BRB Minutes March 30, 1989 Page 4 Mr. Marine spoke to the Board and apologized for neglecting to get permits and said he was sorry it had all come to a hearing. Boardmember Jairam questioned Mr. Lee regarding Mr. Allen's action. Mr. Lee was unaware of Mr. Allens' action requesting a letter from Ms. Reilly. He also asked Mr. Lee what type of work Mr. Marine could do with his plumbing license on heating. Mr. Lee said he could work on boilers but not on HVAC. Boardmember Baker asked Mr. Marine if he was aware of the HVAC license and the permits that were required. Ms. Liley said that her client was aware of both. Boardmember Allison said that without the proper licenses, how did Mr. Marine know that the furnace needed to be replaced. Ms. Liley said Mr. Marine had the HVAC experience. City Attorney Paul Eckman told the Board that the first letter by Ms. Reilly did not constitute a complaint in his opinion. Ms. Liley also questioned the HVAC test that Mr. Marine was requested to take. He had no desire to test. She wondered how taking the test could solve the problem. The Board asked if Mr. Marine passed the test. Mr. Lee told them that Mr. Marine had failed the test with a 34%. Finding of Fact - Chairman Ron Baker stated that the violations by Alan Marine did occur through his own admission. He wrongfully installed two furnaces with no permits and was not properly licensed. Ms. Liley has offered a lot of information about Mr. Marine's history as a plumber with no previous action against his plumbing license. Both jobs were done under emergency situations and he should have finished the jobs properly and in fact did not. Ms. Liley contended that the city acted improperly in terms of how Mr. Marine was treated and with the fact the letter from Ms. Reilly was solicited from a city employee. Ron Baker felt it was established that the letter from Ms. Reilly was not a letter of complaint although it stated that Mr. Marine did work and was not licensed or permitted to do such work, Felix rightfully proceeded. Attorney Paul Eckman said under Section 15-158 of the code the Board will have the power to suspend, revoke or take other disciplinary actions on any license if you find that any one of seven events have occurred. One of them being the willful and deliberate disregard of the building code and any other code adopted by the city. Boardmember Sinnett made a motion to accept the finding of fact as stated by the Chairman. The motion was seconded by Boardmember Jairam. Motion carried unanimously. Boardmember Sinnett made a motion to take no further action against Mr. Marine due to the fact that he already had a five day suspension, and invoked a six month probation period. The motion was seconded by Boardmember Jairam. Motion carried. BRB Minutes March 30, 1989 Page 5 Boardmember Johnson advise The meeting was adjourned. d Respectfully submitted, Ron Baker, Chairman Felix Lee, off Liaison