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CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON <br />DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORTATION <br />Meeting Minutes <br />November 6, 2014 <br />CALL TO ORDER <br />The meeting was called to order at 5:32 p.m. in Room 1600 of the City Hall Ross Annex. <br />ATTENDANCE <br />The following Committee Members were present: Michele Martinez, David Benavides <br />Absent: Vincent Sarmiento <br />Staff present were: David Cavazos, City Manager; Karen Haluza, Interim Executive <br />Director /Planning & Building Agency; Fred Mousavipour, Executive Director /Public Works <br />Agency; William Galvez, City Engineer; Gerald Caraig, Building Safety Manager; Tanya <br />Lyon, Strategic Communications Manager; Robert Cortez, Special Asst. to the City <br />Manager; Alma Flores, Senior Management Assistant; Jorge Garcia, Senior Management <br />Assistant; Michael Ortiz, Assistant Engineer; and Rosa Barela, PBA Executive Secretary. <br />PUBLIC COMMENTS — None <br />AGENDA ITEMS <br />APPROVAL OF MINUTES — September 4, 2014 Meeting <br />Motion by Committee member Benavides and seconded by Vice Chair Martinez to <br />approve the September 4, 2014 meeting minutes and approved unanimously by a <br />vote of 2:0 ( Sarmiento absent). <br />Taken out of Agenda Order <br />5. BUILDING PLAN CHECK STAFFING {Strategic Plan No. 3,3C) <br />Karen Haluza discussed the proposal to increase Building Plan Check staffing, <br />noting codes have changed and are more complex with an increase in development <br />projects submitted and valuation of permits issued; showed a graph of staffing levels <br />vs. workload, noted increased use of accelerated building plan check, noted current <br />average for building plan check is 63 days and would like to return to the Gold <br />Standard of 15 days turnaround time, tied item to the Strategic Plan Goal No. 3C <br />(Economic Development) to encourage a more business friendly environment and <br />improve development processing. Also spoke on the benefits of reaching the Gold <br />Standard by adding four additional staff consisting of three Senior Plan Check <br />Engineers and one Senior Plumbing /Mechanical Systems Specialist, with only three <br />positions to be filled at this time. Ms. Haluza also noted the on -line permitting <br />system will be launched soon and will be implementing a new automated queuing <br />system which will speed up the approval process as the public walk up to the <br />counters and improve service levels. <br />