City engineer outlines plan to revive Building and Standards Commission; $40,000 budgeted for unsafe-structure work

City Engineer Chris Snapp briefed the Terrell City Council on Feb. 4 about plans to reconstitute the Building and Standards Commission and the city’s process for addressing unsafe structures.

Snapp said the commission has not met in several years and that staff intends a staged reinstatement: appoint commissioners by March, conduct a legal and procedural orientation in May, and begin hearings on identified properties in June, with more visible activity expected by September or October.

Why it matters: the Building and Standards Commission is the city’s formal mechanism for enforcing property‑maintenance and unsafe‑structure remedies. Reconstituting it restarts an established legal path for notice, hearings and, if necessary, demolition when voluntary compliance fails.

Key details

Snapp described a multi‑step process: attempts at voluntary compliance and owner outreach; if a property fails to comply and the condition presents immediate safety concerns, staff will issue a notice of violation; persistent noncompliance triggers a referral to the commission, which can set compliance periods (30–90 days) and issue orders that are appealable to state district court under state law. Snapp told council the city has roughly $40,000 budgeted in the 2025 operating budget for improvements, renovation or demolition tied to the program and that further demolition allocations are contemplated in the 2026 budget.

Scope and limits of funding

Sworn comments from staff and council clarified that the fund’s primary purpose is remediation of unsafe, typically unoccupied structures — boarding, securing or demolition — rather than general repairs or reconstruction for occupied homes. Snapp said funding “is not for reconstruction” and that occupied‑structure repair requests (for example, a roof replacement for an elderly resident) would be redirected to charitable or neighbor‑assistance resources rather than the Building Standards fund.

Council members asked whether terms for commissioners should be staggered to avoid wholesale turnover; Snapp said appointments must follow the city’s ordinance, and some current members are ineligible for reappointment because of term limits or residency changes. He also said the commission will be called on an as‑needed basis rather than meeting on a fixed schedule, with the building official and fire marshal determining when conditions warrant convening the panel.

Ending

Council directed staff to return with appointments for council consideration; Snapp said training and early meetings would follow once the commission is filled.