Columbia Pre-Council Meeting Summary - November 17, 2025
Columbia Pre-Council Meeting Summary - November 17, 2025
The Columbia Pre-Council met on November 17, 2025, to review proposed updates to the 2024 ICC family of building codes and to discuss the city's comprehensive snow and ice removal strategies. The session featured presentations from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance regarding the financial and health implications of adopting advanced energy codes, and a detailed operational briefing from the Public Works department on current and planned winter weather response capabilities.
Consent Calendar
- No formal consent calendar items were listed in the transcript, though the council noted the adoption of a resolution to place the 2024 building codes on file for the required 90-day review period with the City Clerk.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Councillor (Valerie): Expressed strong support for energy efficiency and the health benefits of weatherization but voiced deep concern that increased construction costs could make affordable housing unattainable. She requested specific data on cost increases for the performance pathway versus the prescriptive pathway and emphasized the need to avoid making the "initial hurdle" for housing affordability insurmountable.
- Councillor (Unnamed/General): Requested that technical code information be simplified on the public website to make it accessible to non-experts and asked for clarity on the long-term financial savings for homeowners.
- Councillor (Nick): Asked questions regarding communication protocols with residents during snow events and the status of the call center script regarding priority levels.
- Councillor (Unnamed): Inquired about the department's history with beet juice treatment and the shift away from it due to operational issues.
- Councillor (Valerie): Expressed support for the proactive communication strategy employed by staff during recent snow events.
Discussion Items
Energy Code Review
- Speaker (Oya, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance): Provided an overview of the 2024 IECC, noting it offers greater flexibility via the performance pathway compared to the 2021 codes. She presented national data estimating that transitioning from the 2018 to the 2024 code could increase the cost of building a single-family home by approximately $3,000 to $4,200 (including both gas and electric homes). She argued this $3,000 increase is an investment that pays back over the building's lifetime through reduced utility bills, improved indoor air quality, and a 34% reduction in pediatric asthma symptoms.
- Speaker (City Staff/BCCC representative): Outlined the city's current standing on the 2018 codes and the process for the 90-day public review period. They noted that the 2021 codes were previously declined by Council due to cost concerns and emphasized the need to gather community feedback before a final adoption recommendation is made in the spring.
- Speaker (Councillor): Questioned the cost estimates provided by the Alliance, noting internal preliminary calculations suggested higher costs, and asked for a breakdown of the specific additional costs for the performance pathway to assist in evaluating the impact on affordable housing.
Snow and Ice Removal
- Speaker (Richard Stone, Engineering Operations Manager): Detailing the city's current capacity (1,465 lane miles, 24-28 operators on duty), he explained the "incident command system" used to manage winter events. He noted that the city uses a hierarchy of priority streets (First, Second, Third) and aims to achieve a "passable condition" (bare wheel pad) for high-priority routes within 24-36 hours for events under 4 inches of snow.
- Speaker (Jane Creed, Public Works Director): Confirmed the department's methodology and the constraints regarding federal and environmental regulations (e.g., chloride impacts on impaired streams) that limit the use of salt at low temperatures.
- Speaker (Councillor): Inquired about the potential deployment of snow blowers for downtown and pedestrian walkways, specifically regarding the upcoming I-70 pedestrian bridge maintenance responsibilities.
- Speaker (Richard Stone): Discussed the planned construction of a new fabric-based salt dome facility (6,000 tons capacity) near Mill Creek Elementary by the 2026-2027 winter to reduce travel time for plows. He also mentioned ongoing efforts to test snow blowers and the use of magnesium chloride as an alternative to rock salt, while noting the phasing out of beet juice due to operational clogging issues.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution Adopted: A resolution was passed to establish a 90-day public review period for the 2024 ICC building codes, placing them on file with the City Clerk and on the "Be Heard" portal.
- Information Sharing: Staff committed to publishing presentation slides and additional resources on the "Be Heard" site and preparing to host a public forum in December to address community questions.
- Strategic Planning: The Public Works team confirmed the inclusion of snow blowers in the upcoming capital improvement cycle to support downtown removal and I-70 maintenance duties.
- Future Action: The Building Construction Codes Commission and Council will gather community feedback over the 90-day period and return with a recommendation regarding the adoption of the 2024 codes in the spring (March/April).
- Communication Protocol: The Contact Center confirmed the use of standardized scripts to inform residents of the current stage of snow operations without escalating minor complaints during active storms.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, it is five o'clock, so we'll go ahead and call the Monday, November 17, 2025, Columbia Pre-Council to order. We have two items on our agenda. We have energy codes, uh 101. Uh, and then we have a discussion around our snow and ice removal, which I've been told takes a solid hour, and then we have to save our questions for the end so they can get through it. So we'll try to start that before six shame. I know it's a hot topic. Okay, so I'm gonna kick it over, I assume to Clint. All right. Uh yes, thank you. And we'll try to keep it under an hour, so we have a lot of time to talk about snow and ice removal. So maybe hand removal too. Maybe, maybe. Um, so just to uh provide a little uh backdrop for the conversation tonight. Um, as you know uh earlier this year, the the city initiated the review of the 2024 uh ICC family of building codes that includes uh one particular code, which is the uh international energy conservation uh code uh in connection with uh the review of that code, our BCCC, which is our building construction codes uh commission, as well as our Columbia Environmental Commission, uh review the environmental codes or the energy uh excuse me, conservation codes. Uh and uh tonight we will have a resolution on the main agenda uh setting a 90-day period for those to be on display with the clerk. Uh but working through our sustainability office as well, they uh ask a representative from the Midwest Energy, uh, excuse me, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance to come in and speak a little bit about what is in it in the energy code. I think there's a lot of interest in some of the regulations that will be coming uh before council uh when we do bring those 2024 codes uh forward in the future. Uh and so uh Zoya with uh with the MEEA is here to kind of speak on that. So I'm gonna turn it over to her. She's gonna give a little presentation and uh afterward, I think there'll be time for some some question and comments. So thank you. Thanks, Claire. Do you want to get for the microphone? Yes, I can do that. Hi everyone, my name is Oya. I work for an organization called the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance or MIA. I'm really happy to be here today and talk to you about energy codes. Um, I'm going to try and keep this under 45 minutes so you all have plenty of time to talk about your snow and ice removal. And so I can board my flight at 7 p.m. Um, I'm just gonna go over the agenda a little bit. Um, first I'm just gonna take us through a little bit of an introduction to MIA, who are we, what do we do, why are we here preaching to you about energy codes, um, talk a little bit about what an energy code is, some of the impacts of advanced energy codes, um, do a brief overview of the code adoption landscape in Missouri, and then I will walk through some comparisons between the last three versions of the energy code so 2018 to 2015 to 2024, and talk a little bit about the cost of compliance and implementation of energy codes. Sound good? So MIA is a nonprofit membership-based organization with over 170 members, and we work to advance energy efficiency in 13 states across the Midwest. We work to educate and advise a diverse range of stakeholders on the benefits to better understand and implement cost-effective energy efficiency strategies that provide economic, environmental, and public health benefits. We're part of a national network of regional energy efficiency organizations called Rios. We work through funded partnerships with the USDOE. So we are the Midwest Rio, there are also Rios in the Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, California's doing its own thing. Um our vision is an achievable pathway for all people and communities in the Midwest to enjoy the economic, environmental, and society societal benefits of energy efficiency and the larger clean energy economy. I keep forgetting about this quicker. So what is an energy code? Um, an energy code is basically the minimum standards that dictate energy efficiency requirements for residential and commercial buildings. They serve as the floor of requirements, so they kind of designate the worst building that can legally be built. Um they are health and safety codes, just like any other building code, like plumbing or mechanical or electric. Um, and they focus on the inward environment. So thermal comfort, natural artificial money, and conservation. Codes are developed nationally by two main organizations the International Code Council, who develops the International Energy Conservation Code or the IECC, and ASHRAID, which develops ASHRAY 90.1 standard, which creates additional commercial standards. These codes are updated every three years, but they're offset by two years. So Astray comes out first, and then they publish, they publish commercial standards, and then the IECC comes out two years later and references the commercial standards in Astray. So they are not competitors, they work together. Some places will also adopt and name the International Residential Code or the IRC, or the International Building Code or IPC for commercial standards.
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