(a) The State Fire Code adopted herein shall be amended as follows:
(1) By inserting "within the City of Clarksburg" at the end of Subsection 1.01 and deleting Subsections 1.02, 1.03 and 1.04 in their entirety.
(2) By adding a Subsection 8.01 entitled "Inspections", as follows:
8.01 Inspections and Enforcement.
It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Fire Official to enforce the provisions of this code. In addition and as an alternative to the provisions of Subsection 8.02 as determined by the Fire Official, the Fire Official shall inspect all structures and premises as often as may be necessary, except single family dwellings and dwelling units in two-family and multi-family dwellings, for the purpose of ascertaining and causing to be corrected any conditions liable to cause fire, contribute to the spread of fire, interfere with fire fighting operations, endanger life or any violations of the provisions or intent of this code or any other ordinance affecting fire safety. The fire official shall keep a record of all fire prevention inspections, including the date of such inspections and a summary of any violations found to exist, the date of the services of notices, and a memorandum of the final disposition of all violations.
(3) By redesignating Section 8, entitled "Maintenance of Fire Hazard; Order for Correcting Condition, Removal of Material, Repair, Demolition, etc.; Order to Contain Notice to Comply and Right to Appeal" as Subsection 8.02 and changing all references to "State Fire Marshal" in that section to "Fire Official", and in the last sentence of that Section, by deleting the phrase "by statute" and amending the final portion of the last sentence to read "...by entering an appeal to the Fire Prevention Board of Appeals as outlined in Section 13 of this Section 1515.04 of this Code".
(4) With respect to Subsection 8.02, by deleting the phrase "by statute" in the last sentence thereof and inserting in its place the phrase "and the said fire authority is hereby so authorized" and by adding the following at the end of said Subsection 8.02 "The provisions of West Virginia Code Chapter 29, Article 3, Section 14, Chapter 29, Article 3, Section 15 and Article 29, Chapter 3, Section 16 are herein incorporated by reference and all references therein to "State Fire Marshal" shall be deleted and replaced with the phrase "Fire Authority". The final sentence of the third paragraph of Subsection (b) of Section 14 shall be amended to delete the words "State Fire Commission or the Attorney General" and insert in their place the words "or the City Manager". The final sentence of the fourth paragraph of Subsection (b) of Section 14 shall be amended to delete the words "to the State Fire Commission" and insert in their place the words "to the Fire Prevention Board of Appeals" and to delete the words "eighteen [Section 29-3-18] of this article" and insert in their place the words "thirteen of the State Fire Code as amended".
(5) The reference to the "State Fire Marshal" in Subsection 12.04 shall be deleted and "Fire Chief" shall be inserted in the place "State Fire Marshal" appears.
(6) By deleting Section 13, entitled "Order of Decision of the State Fire Marshal; and Appeals and Procedure for Appeals from such Orders and Decisions", in its entirety and adopting in its place the following:
Section 13 Appeals.
13.01 Appeals to Fire Prevention Board. Appeals to the Fire Prevention Board of Appeals may be taken by any person aggrieved by any decision or interpretation by the Fire Official made under the provisions of this code or any order or notice pursuant to any City ordinance adopting fire codes, fire standards, or both. The Board of Appeals shall consist of five members who, by education and experience, are qualified to pass upon the application of the fire codes of the City of Clarksburg as it affects the interests of the general public. No more than one of said members or their alternatives shall be engaged in the same business, profession or line of endeavor. No member of the Board of Appeals shall sit in judgment on any case in which he or she, personally, is directly interested.
The members shall serve for a term of three (3) years, except for the initial appointees which shall serve as follows: two for a term of one year, two for a term of two years, and one for a term of three years. The Fire Prevention Appeals Board shall be appointed by the City Council and shall hold office in accordance with the terms of appointment. The Board shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations for conducting its meetings and such shall be made a public record. There shall be a Secretary for the Appeals Board who having been nominated by the City Council, is to be hired in discretion of the Appeals Board based on suitable qualifications.
The Appeals Board shall have the authority to affirm, reverse or modify, in whole or in part, any notice or order of the Fire Official, where the interests of justice are served, where equivalency in fire safety can be maintained, and where no limitation of law would be exceeded. Nothing herein shall prevent the Appeals Board from approving or ratifying a settlement between the cited owner and the Fire Official, arrived at prior to and presented to the Board at a hearing.
All appointments made to this Board by Council shall be for terms to begin on July 1 of the year of the appointment. The first appointment made to the Board after enactment of this paragraph shall be for a term to begin on June 22 and thereafter the terms shall run on an annual basis beginning on July 1. Additionally, any member of this Board appointed by City Council who has not been present for at least seventy percent (70%) of all regular and special meetings of the Board in any calendar year, excluding absences deemed by the chairperson to be excusable, shall be removed from office upon the affirmative action of the chairperson of the Board and after approval of such removal by Council and a replacement shall be chosen by City Council to serve the remainder of the existing term.
13.02 Application. An application for appeal must be submitted to the Secretary of the Board of Appeals within fifteen (15) calendar days after the date of service of a notice or order of the fire official. The application shall request a hearing and contain a complete statement of grounds for the appeal.
13.03 Appeals Fee. All applications for appeal must be accompanied by an appeals fee of $50.00 in order to be processed. The $50.00 appeals fee shall be placed in a suitable municipal account to cover the expenses incurred by the Fire Prevention Board of Appeals in mailing costs, xeroxing costs and in the payment of compensation to its Secretary.
13.04 Appeals from Decisions of the Fire Prevention Appeals Board. Should the hearing and review before the Fire Prevention Appeals Board result in a decision adverse to the petitioner or the Fire Official, either party may appeal the decision of the Board to the County Circuit Court; provided, however, that such appeal must be taken within twenty (20) days from the date of the final decision of the Board.
(Ord. 94-23. Passed 7-21-94; Ord. 94-27. Passed 8-18-94; Ord. 96-6. Passed 4-4-96; Ord. 01-12. Passed 10-4-01.)