Rome-Floyd Fire Department officials would like to know what’s located on the second floor of many downtown buildings. If they’re residences, fire officials would like to see sprinkler systems installed. (Doug Walker, RN-T)
Details have yet to be developed. Fire Chief Gordon Henderson said about half of the buildings along Broad Street are currently protected by sprinkler systems.
The board also approved a request to have doors leading to residential units specifically marked as such.
“I figured the sprinkling was going to be very controversial,” said Henderson. “It’s not outside the realm of reality that a fire could bring down the whole block, and we hope it stops there.”
Authority member Greg Sumner said the sprinkler issue walks a fine line between property owner rights and public safety, but when a whole block is at stake, Sumner said he could support the concept of residential sprinklers.
Henderson said his staff will take the proposal to the city’s public safety committee next, and work will begin fine-tuning any ordi-
nance that might be proposed. “It always has to do with the loss of life before it’s dealt with,” said Henderson. “We don’t want that to happen.”
Authority member Harry Brock commended the fire department on their response to calls in the downtown area. Deputy Chief Curt Pierson told the authority, “If somebody smells smoke on Broad Street, there’s five trucks dispatched.”
City Commissioner Bill Collins, who sits on the Downtown Development Authority, brought up the cost factor for sprinklers.
Henderson said the cost will vary but would not be as expensive as commercial systems. “We would be tickled pink even if they were just installed in kitchen areas,” said Henderson, who told the panel that cooking fires were the No. 1 cause in residential blazes.
With respect to identification of residential units, Henderson explained that the fire department has no authority to inspect residential sections of downtown buildings.
“We don’t know if those upstairs sections are vacant, is it storage or is it for apartments,” said Pierson.
Sumner moved to approve the placement of a sticker on the doors leading to all residential units and referred the issue to the authority’s design committee to work with the fire department on the design of such a sticker, its size and placement.
“We want improvements downtown,” Brock said. “If there are improvements, they’ll probably include sprinklers.”
The DDA also agreed to allow businesses being renovated to have trash bins on the street for as long as two weeks at no charge. After that, there will be a $90 fee imposed for each two-week period that the bins take up parking spaces, generally three at a time. “It’s kind of motivation for the crews to come in and get the work done,” said Sumner.
Authority members talked about the feasibility of seeking an update to the parking study that was performed for the downtown community several years ago. The Third Avenue parking deck has been completed since that study was completed, but some of the same parking issues continue to exist downtown.
“We’re penalizing customers because of employees,” Brock said. The authority tabled any kind of decision on the study, deciding to study the issue in-house a little longer.
Yet the DDA has the nerve to talk about spending more money to have someone count parking spaces again. Just add the number in the parking deck and the courthouse lot to the last study.
Everybody knows the solution is to put parking meters on Broad Street, like they do in Athens, but nobody has the guts to do it.
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Sprinklers retrofitted to old buildings usually results in great expense for all involved. If we want folks to live downdown I am not sure that making it more expensive is the way to go.
Renters-like bondsbream- who burn their dinners could additionally create a whole lot of havoc.
Just my thoughts...