Mayor Steve Bach said Thursday he is uneasy about supporting a new fire code that would force residents who lost their homes in the Waldo Canyon fire to incur additional costs to rebuild.

“I’m not comfortable supporting an ordinance requiring people whose homes have been destroyed to meet new building standards if they’re going to have to be out-of-pocket,” Bach said during his monthly meeting with the City Council.

“There are people who lost everything and now, in some cases, they’re going to have to spend, I’m told by the HBA, up to $10,000,” he said, referring to the Colorado Springs Housing and Building Association. “This is a tough issue.”

Bach said he didn’t know the Fire Department was bringing forward various fire code options to the council Tuesday until he saw the presentation on SpringsTV.

The department and Fire Marshal Brett Lacey recommended codes that require such things as fire-resistant materials in all rebuilding.

Bach said he plans to have a “thorough discussion” with Fire Chief Rich Brown and Lacey about the pros and cons of their recommendations.

“I haven’t done the best of jobs of briefing my boss on where we’re headed with that,” Brown said during Thursday’s meeting.

“At this point, we’ve had some conversations about what would happen with individuals (whose) insurance is not going to cover the differential, the possible differential, between what they had prior to the fire to what it’s going to cost to rebuild now,” he said.

Brown said he and his staff were brainstorming ideas Wednesday night to offer homeowners “possible solutions” to bridge any financial gaps if the city adopts more stringent codes for rebuilds.

There’s been “a little bit of a push” from some homeowners and developers to get an ordinance in place because some insurance companies will cover the additional costs, he said.

“The time is clicking on us, but I don’t think it’s a perilous situation,” he said. “We’re still having conversation as we speak about the best steps to go forward with balancing the safety of the community as well as the needs of the homeowners and individuals.”

Bach said the issue was too important to rush.

“I understand there’s the other side of this, which is people that need us to pass an ordinance in order for their insurance companies to provide that extra help,” he said.

But he said he needed to have more discussions with his staff.

“We may or may not pull this from your agenda, frankly,” Bach told council members. “Sorry to be coming late to this, but it’s a great concern.”

Other highlights of Thursday’s meeting:

• The mayor’s wife, Suzi, gave an update on an initiative to fight homelessness. The mayor and his wife, as well as Councilman Merv Bennett, are leading the effort.

Suzi Bach said she’s spent a lot of time with “stakeholders” who provide homeless services and members of the Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team. A fellow from El Pomar Foundation has been researching best practices nationwide, she said. Next week, Suzi Bach is going to Denver to meet with, among others, the executive director of what is called Denver’s Road Home, a 10-year plan to end homelessness.

“We hope to have a formal plan early next year,” she said.

• The mayor said he wants to get “in sync” with El Paso County, which he said is applying for grants to help mitigate the risk of flooding in the burn area without teaming with the city. Bach said he didn’t want to get in a situation where the city and the county are applying — and competing — for the same grants.

“We ought to be applying for grants together. We’re not dawdling. They’re racing ahead,” he said.

“I know what some of this is if we can just put it on the table,” the mayor added. “Apparently these grants, there’s an opportunity for the sponsoring entity to take some money off the top. There’s a motivation here.”

• City Councilman Merv Bennett said residents in Cragmoor are complaining about parking problems created by students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

“I’ve been told that this has been a problem for a long time, where homeowners literally cannot even park in front of their homes,” he said. “I think this is an issue that we need to address with our friends at UCCS, and I don’t know where to start.”

Bach said he would meet with his staff and then talk to the chancellor.

“This problem goes back to 1966,” Bach said. “I am one of the offenders. I used to park in front of somebody’s house.”

Photo by The Gazette file