By Derek Tyson, The Welch News Editor
WELCH, WV – The City of Welch met via conference call Monday to hold the first reading of a new Building and Housing Ordinance.
“Before we can issue permits and have an inspector, we have to adopt the State of West Virginia Building Code,” said Mayor Harold McBride. “So this is our first reading on that.”
City Attorney Joshua Miller went over the various Building and Housing Codes the City of Welch seeks to adopt.
“What this allows for is the City to create a Building Official where we will appoint a Building Inspector. We have certain rules and regulations that he will follow,” said Miller. “We set the penalty for each violation of work being performed without a permit. Then we have to adopt the State Building Code for the State of West Virginia.”
Other codes listed for adoption included:
- 2015 edition of Internation Building Code,
- 2015 edition of the International Plumbing Code,
- 2015 edition of the International Mechanical Code,
- 2015 edition of the International Fuel and Gas Code,
- 2009 International Energy Conservation Code,
- 2015 International Code for One and Two Family Dwellings,
- 2009 ICC ANSI American National Standard for Accessibility and Usable Building Facilities,
- 2015 International Existing Building Code,
- 2014 Edition of the National Electric Code
“Along with that, we will be updating our floodplain management code to the standards of today,” said Miller. “It hadn’t been updated since 2005.”
Kathy Gentry and Jim Spence motioned to approve the first reading and it passed unanimously. The second reading will be scheduled and announced soon.
Another area of concern for the Mayor was the old 76 Station in Welch now being up for sale.
“Ed Shepard’s old fueling station went on the for sale block Friday,” said McBride. “We have to make sure that thing is preserved and we do something positive with it. We don’t want someone to buy it and let it sit there and run down.”