The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1913-03-27
BUILDING CODE UNDER FIRE
Majority of Council Favor the Passing
of Ordinance But Many Amendments
Will be Proposed Before Final Ac-
zion Is Taken on it.

Members Of the Common Council
gave their constituents full eight
hour day on Tuesday when they met at
the City Hall to take up the proposition
of providing building code for the
city. For nine hours the members of
the council remained in session and
eight hours of the time was given to
the reading and discussion of the pro-
posed building code. All Of the mem
bers of the council with the exception
of Alderman Starr Of the fourth ward
were present at the meeting and all OF
them stack through the long hours OF
tedious discussion of the technical pro-
Visions of the ordinance, The members
of the council who are to retire with
the coming city election were the real
heroes of the long meeting for they
consented to remain for the reading of
the long ordinance even though they
knew that they would never get
ChduCe TO vote on IL.
City Clerk Harrington started read
ing the three year old ordinance at
3 o clock ia the afternoon. just after
six O'Clock the mayor and the alder
men went to dinner at the Hotel Ke-
nosha and by seven O'Clock the work of
reading was resumed. Many of the
contractors and builders of the city
were present during portion Of the
long meeting and several Of them made
valuable suggestions. There is little
chance for the passage of the ordinance
in it's present form but after the clocks
had struck midnight the council took a
" Straw vote to show how the alder
men felt on the passage of building
code and all save two of the alder
men present voted favorably to such an
ordinance. Hundreds of amendments
will be suggested to the ordinance be-
fore it is whipped into form. Some of
the aldermen seem to be afraid OF the
cars and they seem to feel that the
passage of building code similar to
those now in operation in other cities
of this and other states will prove a
hardship to some of the people of the
city. The ordinance as now proposed
has one serious defect and that is that
it was drawn three years ago and since
it was drawn there have been made
many advances in the building science,
These defects will be met with amend
ments before the ordinance is given
another reading, The present ordinance
has no suitable provisions for the regu-
lation Of plumbing and this must be
taken care of by amendments or by the
enactment of a new ordinance. Some of
the plumbers of the city have sent an
ordinance to regulate plumbing. This
ordinance has the sanction of the board
of health but it fails to meet provi-
sioRs of the state laws and it looks
certain that the members Of the coun-
ell will decline to consider it and that
some committee will be named to draft
amendments to the building code to
meet the demands for regulation of
plumbing work in the city.
There seems to be big objection to
the supposed cost to the city of the en-
foreement of a building code but the
aldermen hope before the ordinance is
whipped into the final form that sys-
tenn of fees will be designed which will
make the department of buildings well
nigh self-supporting.
However, the attitude shown by some
of the aldermen indicates that the en-
acting of a building code such as has
been proposed is still some way in the
future. 1t is possible that the council
will pass some sort of code but the
aldermen viii undoubtedly demand
! many changes.
After the long meeting of Tuesday it
is probable that the aldermen will
fight shy Of the consideration of the big
ordinance, but Mayor Heal is going to
keep at it and he is hopeful that some
final action viii be taken by early
May. Members of the council will APP
preciate suggestions from builders and
architects in an effort to find their way
out of the present middle.