Week of September 22, 2008
From NAHB:
Non-NAHB Groups Contacting Members, Causing Confusion
NAHB members and home builders associations across the country have been contacted by organizations with misleading names or otherwise causing confusion about who they are. [ more ]
- Chronology of NAHB Actions Follow-Up [ more ]
- EOC Forums at Fall Board [ more ]
- 2009 IBS: Housing Deadline is October 10, 2008 [ more ]
- Apply for NAHB SAFE Award by Oct. 13 [ more ]
- Running Effective Meetings Guidebook: A Tool for Association Leaders [ more ]
- Free NAHB Handbook Offers Strategies to Counter Impact Fees [ more ]
- Column Service Articles for October Now Available [ more ]
- Technical Assist Hotline [ more ]
- Dell Giving Double Discounts in September [ more ]
- Combine GM $500 Private Offer AND GM Employee Discount Thru Sept. 30 [ more ]
- FME Takes a Break [ more ]
Support Pa. scrap-metal theft bill
Gene Kreitzer
is the Pennsylvania Builders Association's vice president
Cemeteries are places of peace, honor and reflection where families visit grave sites and remember their loved ones. Often, the setting is quiet and nearly deserted, affording privacy as people pay their respects.
The setting also makes cemeteries a perfect target for theft.
Police arrested a young couple in New Castle last year for stealing 300 flag holders from veterans' graves. The cemetery paid $30 each to replace all of the flag holders, at a total cost of $9,000. The couple received barely $1 for each holder they sold for scrap metal.
Unfortunately, metal thieves pilfering gates, plaques, flower urns or flag holders from cemeteries are rarely caught. Thieves even managed to walk off with two 250-pound mausoleum doors (valued at $8,000) from a Pittsburgh cemetery.
Scrap-metal theft became a confirmed public safety issue in April, when a child fell down a manhole missing its cover in Philadelphia. The city reported 2,500 missing manhole covers and storm-sewer grates during the last year.
Council backs plan to revitalize downtown
By DANNY ADLER, Bucks County Courier Times
A common theme in Morrisville's new comprehensive plan is to revitalize the borough's downtown and make it a focus of future economic development efforts.
The 156-page plan, which gained unanimous support from the borough council last week, also addresses housing issues in Morrisville, where 42 percent of all residential properties are rentals.
The plan was created by the borough and Bucks County planning commissions and serves as a policy guide to decisions regarding the town's physical development. It makes dozens of recommendations.
“We're trying to enhance the borough,” said council President Nancy Sherlock. However, she later added, the problem is that there isn't a lot of room to build in Morrisville.
River commission puts off decision
By FREDA R. SAVANA, Bucks County Courier Times
The Delaware River Basin Commission announced Monday it is postponing Wednesday's scheduled vote on amendments to the flexible flow management plan for the New York City Delaware Basin Reservoirs.
Clarke Rupert, a spokesman for the commission, said there were “no specifics” given for the change but said commissioners wanted additional time to review the more than 1,900 comments it received on the plan during an extended public comment period.
The comment period ended March 3.
Meanwhile, the Delaware Riverside Conservancy this week said it intends to notify the DRBC it will be suing the agency if the water code is amended to implement the proposed flexible flow plan.
Infrastructure bills threatened by bailout plan
By Kevin Bogardus, The Hill.com
Lobbyists are worried that a trio of key infrastructure bills could see their slice of the federal budget’s pie severely depleted by the Wall Street crisis.
The $700 billion bailout of financial services firms could double the deficit and make it much more difficult next year to win funds for the nation’s roads, bridges and airports.
The next Congress is expected to take up a highway bill, the reauthorization bill for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Water Resources Development Act, which authorizes funds for levees and waterway projects.
Even before the bailout, supporters believed they faced a difficult environment. Now the situation is worse.
“I am sure we are not the only ones worried. Everyone’s agenda, including the air traffic controllers, [is] on the second or third burner,” said Frank McCarthy, senior legislative and political representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association .
City Hall rally seeks action on affordable housing bill
By Tali Yahalom, Inquirer Staff Writer
Around 100 locals and community organizers rallied yesterday in front of City Hall urging City Council to pass legislation that would boost affordable housing in the city.
The legislation is needed to implement the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, which requires market-rate developers to set aside 10 percent of their major residential projects for affordable housing, or to donate money toward that cause.
The law, which City Council passed in December by 12-5, will not take effect until Council also passes companion legislation creating incentives for developers to participate. So far, no action has been taken on the second measure.
At the request of Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who drafted the bill, the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia proposed a list of incentives, association president Sam Sherman said. They include extended tax abatements, tax credits, and permission for developers who build on public land to do so at nominal costs.
Fire-Sprinkler Mandate Supported for New Homes
Wall Street Journal
The International Code Council, which sets the residential building code used in 46 states at the state or local level, voted Sunday to make fire sprinklers mandatory in new one- and two-family homes and townhouses starting on Jan. 1, 2011.
Seventy-three percent of the 1,752 voting members in attendance at the council's conference in Minneapolis voted in favor of the proposal, which required a two-thirds majority to pass. The sprinkler mandate will appear in the 2009 International Residential Code.
Supporters of the code change say sprinklers increase the amount of time people have to get out their homes during a fire by preventing flashover, which occurs when the temperature in a room reaches a point where all combustible materials burst into flames. "This is just the most wonderful step forward because it's going to ensure that more families have access to the one technology we know can save their lives in a devastating home fire," says Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council, a nonprofit in Washington that promotes prevention of accidental home injuries.
.GIF)
.jpg)
