The Cape Girardeau Board of Appeals and various city staff members have spent nearly a year reviewing building code updates, finally presenting their suggestions to the city council Monday night.

Building and code enforcement manager Anna Kangas delivered a presentation to the council noting the highlights of the proposed updates.

New building codes are published every three years, and the city typically has adopted every other code cycle, Kangas said. Besides tradition, there's another factor behind the need to update.

The city is scheduled for an Insurance Services Office -- or ISO -- visit later this year and could lose points on the ISO rating for any codes more than five years past the publication date. Some of the enforced codes are from 2009 and 2008. A negative change in the ISO rating could increase property insurance rates.

Among the key updates Kangas discussed with the council were a few related to fire safety. One code change would make fire protection, such as gypsum board or drywall, a requirement on the bottom of manufactured wooden I-joists. Should a fire start beneath the floor, the addition can keep the floor from collapsing as quickly. She said the code change would add $800 to $1,300 to the price of a new home with an unfinished basement and $400 to $600 to a new home with a partially finished basement.

Another update related to fire safety, although it's also relevant to emergency officials in general, requires radio operability within new structures. Near the end of construction, tests will be performed to determine whether radios can transmit and receive messages from inside the building. Signal-boosting equipment may be necessary for buildings where radios are inoperable upon entry.

One fire code update was retroactive, requiring all high-rise buildings to install a sprinkler system. The only such building without a system in Cape Girardeau is the KFVS tower, Kangas said, and city staff already has been in contact with them to discuss the issue. She said the codes allowed the building owner one year to present the city with a plan for the implementation of the system and 12 years to install the sprinklers.

Council did not vote on the code updates, although an ordinance is expected to be presented at the next meeting May 18.

Other business

The council approved resolutions authorizing agreements with Nip Kelley Equipment Co. for construction of sidewalks on Kingsway Drive. Nip Kelley submitted the lowest bids for two contracts related to the projects -- one bid of $138,943.90 for the federally funded Safe Routes to School project and a bid of $107,492 for the city-funded portion of the Kingsway sidewalk project. Once complete, the new sidewalk will begin at Kurre Lane and end behind Food Giant, 1120 N. Kingshighway.

One of the final items approved by the council was an ordinance enacting a new section of the city code related to walking along roadways. The existing ordinance does not specify medians as part of the roadway, which means pedestrians are not prohibited from standing or congregating in medians. The ordinance prohibits pedestrians from using the median for any purpose other than crossing the roadway.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.