CITY APPEALS BOARD RESISTS RESHUFFLING

Despite heated debate between Cape Girardeau Board of Appeals members and one city councilman, the board likely will remain the same.

Councilman Jack Rickard, a Cape Girardeau landlord, suggested a real estate agent and a property owner be added to the seven-member board. He said the additions would give the public a voice.

Board of Appeals members objected. All of them are building design professionals with expertise in various fields, including architecture, mechanical engineering, plumbing, electrical engineering and contracting.

Because of their trades, all must be acquainted with standards set by Building Officials and Code Administrators International, a recognized group that releases updated building codes every three years.

Like most cities, Cape Girardeau's building codes are in line with the BOCA Code. The city's Inspection Services Department enforces the codes.

If a builder disagrees with a city inspector, he may take his case to the Board of Appeals. Board members decide whether it would be safe and practical to grant a variance from the codes. Their decisions can't be overturned by the City Council.

Members of the Board of Appeals met informally with city councilmen Thursday afternoon to discuss the issue of expanding the board.

At that meeting, Rickard said certain people, who he declined to identify, told him the board was self-serving. Adding a real estate agent and property owner would make the decisions fair, he said.

However, board minutes from the last year showed that no requests had been turned down, causing some to question the validity of the people's remarks.

"In the last two years, I have had at least 5,000 people tell me the board isn't using common sense," Rickard said.

Tony Sebek, board member and architect, said there are two main problems with adding the members Rickard suggested.

The main one is a lack of professionals familiar with the BOCA Code, on which the board bases all of its decisions. According to a June 27 letter the board members sent the City Council, the objection isn't to having a real estate agent and a property owner added. If the two were trained in the BOCA code, they would be welcomed, the letter indicated.

Second, builders who make appeals have the right to request a decision by the full seven-member board. It is difficult to get seven people together, Sebek said. Getting nine together would be even harder.

David Alberson, architect and Board of Appeals chairman, said changing the board's composition was a political issue brought on by passage of a minimum property code. The code, passed more than a year ago, sets the standards for rental and other property.

"If you are going by the code book, that calls for technically trained people to serve on the board," Alberson said.

The Board of Appeals members had the support of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. A July 15 letter sent to the City Council by association presidents Roseanna Whitlow and Don Greenwood said board qualifications should remain "as is."

In part, it read: "Reserving a seat for a realtor or landlord would also open up potential problems in the making of unbiased and impartial rulings and possible problems of conflict of interest."

Councilman Richard Eggimann initially sided with Rickard but seemed to reverse his decision by the end of the meeting. The mayor and three of the councilmen present informally agreed to keep the Board of Appeals as it is.