County fire marshal tells commission state office says draft does not meet minimum fire code

At the meeting the county fire marshal disclosed a letter he received from the state fire marshal's office that raised concerns about the draft zoning language's compliance with minimum state fire-code standards.

Joe Kovacic, fire marshal for the City of Salina, told commissioners he had printed a letter received that afternoon and that the state's review indicated the draft "does not meet the minimum, Fire code for the state at this time." Kovacic said the state reviewers flagged issues because the fire-code classifications used in the draft (for example, transient lodging thresholds and assembly uses) do not map directly to the county’s new categories. He explained current state practice generally requires sprinklers for many transient-occupancy categories at or above the 100-person threshold and noted some retroactive standards at higher occupancies are under debate at the state level.

Staff acknowledged they had asked the fire marshal for review but said they were surprised by the written opinion and requested more time to reconcile the draft with state expectations. The commission voted to table the item and directed staff to coordinate with fire and state officials and return a revised draft at a later meeting.