Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

Mechanical and Plumbing Board REGULAR CALLED MEETING Approved Minutes Tuesday February 24, 2026 The Mechanical and Plumbing Board convened a regular meeting on 24th, February 2026, at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr in Austin, Texas. Chair Thornton called the Mechanical and Plumbing Board meeting to order at 9:32 AM Board Members in Attendance: Chair- Robert Thornton; Vice Chair- Stephen Cox; Cooper, Joseph, and Perez, Ramon Remote Board Members in Attendance: Bowie, Joe, Harris, Bill, Nichols, Dave PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL List name of speaker- None Present APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Mechanical and Plumbing Board Special-called Meeting on Wednesday October 21st, 2025. The minutes from the Mechanical and Plumbing board special called meeting on October 21st, 2025, were approved on Board member Cooper motion, Board Member Perez second on an 8-0. DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. Discussion with Austin Fire with roof openings concerning insect screen in the Wildland Urban Interface area. Board member Harris is concerned with existing exhaust fans. Will they comply when having a mechanical contractor insert insect screens around an exhaust fan modifying that something is manufactured and changing the performance when there is no idea on how it will perform. AFD response that it has no intention for Board member Harris to retrofit equipment when something that is not from a manufacturer but AFD did ask for assistance in identifying on what equipment is being identified as failing, as there is no information that AFD has that they are aware of and ICC had no specific examples on what others are doing other mechanical equipment. Board members Bill Harris and Dave Nichols will compile a list of documents on mechanical equipment fans that are being identified that manufactures will not stand by when insect screens are inserted. Once provided to Austin Development Staff, they will be submitted to Austin Fire for review. 1 3. Discussion regarding water sizing commercial structures using half inch and approving three- eighths in commercial plan review. Board Member Cox informed Austin Development Services staff that some commercial building plan reviews had approved undersized water service designs. He requested that staff exercise additional caution when reviewing water sizing to prevent future issues. Chief Plans Examiner Steve Leitch, newly appointed, acknowledged the concern and reported that the source of the errors had been identified. He confirmed that a new staff plan reviewer was responsible for the previous mistakes and stated that corrective actions have been taken. Steve indicated the problem should now be resolved moving forward 4. Discussion with Austin Water regarding reclaim water on backflow preventors. Austin Water Utility (AWU) staff member Chuck Deatherage provided clarification on backflow prevention requirements in response to a question from Board Member Cox. Chuck explained that reclaimed water systems have varying backflow requirements depending on their application. For irrigation systems, AWU requires the installation of a double-check backflow preventer, which will be tested once upon installation. AWU has received approval to begin biennial (every two years) testing of all reclaimed-water irrigation backflow devices. For toilet flushing systems, Chuck confirmed that no backflow preventer is required when using reclaimed water. For cooling towers, a double-check backflow preventer is required. Chuck noted that AWU tracks backflow preventers to ensure reclaimed water are not used on potable water lines, and to verify that reclaimed water delivered to customers is not contaminated by onsite conditions. Backflow testing is conducted to protect the integrity of reclaimed water supplies. He further reported that the City’s current database, WEIRS, will be replaced with a new software platform. Once the new system is implemented, AWU will begin a revised testing schedule: all new backflow preventers will be tested within two years of installation, followed by a cycle in which the oldest 25% of devices are tested, with additional testing occurring every six months until all units are updated. Double-check assemblies will follow the same two-year testing interval. 5. Discussion with Austin Water Industrial waste regarding sample well locations and grease traps, in moving inlet/outlets back on the inside of the tank. Austin Water Industrial Waste staff, Michael Carolan responded to board member Cox inquiry on the many mini manholes coming from the plans from industrial waste side. After back-and-forth discussion, board member Cox and staff member Carolan will meet to discuss the confusion as to what is coming out of review where 2 Austin divisions may not be communicating with each other when plans are approved. Board member Cox will provide examples where too mini manholes are required, creating an expense that is unnecessary for the contractor. Staff member Carolan added for clarity that there is a manhole and a controlled manhole, if it is not connected to the manhole, then you will need to install a control manhole, then from there, it depends whether it is from the public side or the private side of the lateral where the utility criteria comes in. The sample port can be sampled out of a manhole and a control manhole, but minimally IW will need a 6-inch T on its back where it is accessible to sample. 2 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 1. Discussion with Austin Fire on Wildland Urban Interface insect screens. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. For assistance, please contact the Liaison or TTY users’ route through 711. A person may request language access accommodation no later than 48 hours before the scheduled meeting. Please call or email Rick Arola at Austin Development Services Department, at 512-974-2417 or rick.arzola@austintexas.gov, to request service or for additional information The minutes were approved at the May 26th 2026 meeting on Board member Cooper’s motion, board member Harris second on a 7-0 vote. Board member Perez entered after the vote. 3