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TAB 7
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (PA)
March 15, 2012
Turtle Creek Valley COG: Board will take up contractors’ appeals
Author: Tory N. Parrish
Municipalities finding it difficult to fill seats on little-used construction code appeals boards are
joining forces to create boards that several towns can use, officials say. Communities that opt to
enforce the state's Uniform Construction Code must have boards to hear appeals of building
plans denied by the towns under the UCC, said Roland Hall, a regional manager of government
relations in the Washington, D.C. based International Code Council's Philadelphia office.
Board members must have experience related to the building industry, in such fields as
architecture, engineering, real estate and construction, but sometimes municipalities have a hard
time filling those positions, they said.
The Turtle Creek Valley Council of Governments, whose 20 members include Wilkins and
Wilkinsburg, is following the path of other COGs in Pennsylvania by forming a UCC appeals
board that its members can use.
The Turtle Creek Valley COG's appeals board will have five seats and should be set up by June,
said Amanda Settelmaier, executive director of the COG.
At a board of commissioners meeting Monday, Wilkins, which does not have its own appeals
board, approved advertising an ordinance to agree to use the Turtle Creek COG appeals board.
Wilkinsburg Council was to vote Wednesday to advertise an ordinance to participate because the
borough doesn't have a board, Manager Marla Marcinko said.
The UCC, which sets rules for construction materials, structural requirements, fire protection and
energy conservation, became effective in 2004. The intent was to encourage standard
construction rules.
In 2004, the Quaker Valley Council of Governments formed a three-member appeals board in
which 12 of its 14 member municipalities participate, Executive Director John Jakiela said. The
board, however, has heard only three appeals, he said.
Since 2004, the North Hills Council of Governments' five-member UCC appeals board has heard
an appeal in McCandless and one in Shaler, said Roller, who said 13 of 19 member
municipalities have agreed to use the joint board.
In about 5 years, there has only been one appeal in Wilkinsburg, Marcinko said, which was
heard by Plum's board.
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