Galt council backs mandate for sprinklers

Following an emotional debate over money, fire and saving lives, the Galt City Council on Tuesday night backed the idea of making fire sprinklers mandatory for every new home or business built in the city.

The council must still vote on a new sprinkler ordinance this spring before the move is official.

Four of five council members favored the idea — spearheaded by Councilman Tim Raboy — with several saying it was their duty to enact bold and potentially life-saving laws.

"Sometimes we create laws for those who can't protect themselves," Councilman Donald Haines said, comparing the idea to past mandates on seat belts and child safety seats.

Several critics, including a local developer and a building industry advocate, called the potential move unnecessary and burdensome.

Elk Grove developer Mike Guttridge, who has built homes in Galt since 1980, said he doesn't oppose fire sprinklers per sE.

But forcing builders and eventually homeowners to pay for them isn't right, he said.

"It's government intervention — it's just one more thing," Guttridge said, following the nearly three-hour discussion on the topic.

Before the debate, Raboy played a short video demonstrating how quickly sprinklers can put a fire out. The video, by comparison, showed how fast a room can become engulfed in flame and smoke without a sprinkler system. It took just two minutes in the video for a thick cloud of smoke and flames to fill a bedroom.

Ardie Zahedani, a legislative advocate for the North State Building Industry Association, argued that cost must also be considered.

In other action

• The Galt City Council unanimously approved a 5 percent cost of living increase for the Galt police lieutenants.
• By the paper's deadline, the council had not voted on whether to hire a new law firm — Abbott and Kindermann, LLP of Sacramento — to review their General Plan update.
— News-Sentinel staff.

"Three or four thousand dollars (to install the sprinklers) will push a family out of a new home," he told council members. "Let's remember the person who's right on the edge and could be pushed over."

Councilman Darryl Clare strongly opposed the plans, noting most Galt residents choose not to install sprinklers in their homes.

Indeed, city records show only six homeowners since July 2003 have requested permits for sprinklers.

He argued that the public has "already spoken" on the matter and chosen not to pay to protect themselves.

"You can't put a price on a person's life ... but we do every day," he said, noting the public engages in many risky activities, from smoking cigarettes to eating fatty foods.

Ronny Coleman, a former fire chief and advocate for sprinkler systems, said there were many myths associated with sprinklers.

They don't all go off when one goes off, he noted. And they're not as costly to install as some think.

One local sprinkler installer at the meeting said installation runs about $1.50 per square foot for a new home, and up to $2.50 per square foot for an existing or older home.

"This is not a matter of technology," Coleman said. "It's a question of public policy. It's a question of public will."

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

cogito wrote on Jan 16, 2008 10:05 PM:

" jlawrence, please don't move here and drag us down to your level. "

Report Abuse

cogito wrote on Jan 16, 2008 10:01 PM:

" There should be a study done to compare the fatalities of Galt residents in home fires for a fixed period of years. Then compare these fatalaties to the residents of Galt killed in, or on, motor vehicles during this same time. If there were more people killed in vehicle accidents, wouldn't it stand to reason that the Galt city council should first ban motor vehicles for the safety of its citizenry? Who are these people who come up with these lamebrained ideas and why are they running my hometown? "

Report Abuse

Scrutiny wrote on Jan 16, 2008 8:12 PM:

" is the Galt CC gonna pay to replace everything in my house if the sprinklers go on when I burn dinner or forget to open the flue? This is liberal do gooderism on a level that I would not expect from a supposedly conservative city like Galt. "

Report Abuse

jlawrenceendicott wrote on Jan 16, 2008 12:09 PM:

" What a positively stupid NANNY Government thing to do !! Whats next? mandating toothbrushes and no more than 2 cars? No wonder Galt is ridiculed as a backwater stain on the central valley. "

Report Abuse

gottago wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:57 AM:

" Last night the Fire Sprinkler ordinance was put off till March. They want to look into it more. One councilperson in trying to get it passed said �you can lead a horse to water but you may need to FORCE him to drink� referring to what is best for the new home owners. This is on video.
Government has forced so much on us that we need to stand up and be counted. We need to start saying I�ve had enough.
The California Energy Commission recently proposed including government-controlled thermostats in new energy efficiency standards for new buildings in the state. Customers could not override the thermostats during �emergency events� according to the proposal. As initially proposed, these programmable thermostats would have deferred in emergencies to a radio signal from utilities, wresting control from customers.
Critics say they fear that requiring new homes to include a radio-controlled thermostat will make it easier to enforce mandatory controls later. A new revision to Title 24 for 2008 will be considered by the California Energy Commission, a state agency, on Jan. 30.

I think we have too much government forcing us to drink the water.
"

Report Abuse

galt citizen wrote on Jan 16, 2008 7:25 AM:

" If only 6 residents opted to put in sprinkler systems, then why in the world would the city council mandate this new ordinance. the majority of this town is made up of low income families. they will not be able to afford this option. I say leave it up to the homeowner as an option in their home package. good for mike guttridge for his courage in speaker on behalf of us homeowners. "

Report Abuse

Comments on this story are now closed.

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes