David Didier of Montana Timber Products (left) demonstrated some of his firm’s fire-resistant siding products at the Aug. 19 Winthrop Town Council meeting.
The Winthrop Town Council will consider possible code changes that would require the use of more fire-resistant building materials in the downtown area where Westernization guidelines apply.
Council member Marisa Monterde suggested the possible changes at last week’s council meeting.
Building code changes would not affect the esthetics of Westernization, the council was told, but would require fire-resistant siding materials to be used.
“I feel like the time is now to adopt code changes,” Monteverde said. “We should have already done this.” She said she would like to see “sensible” options.
Monteverde cited recommendations developed in response to wildland-urban interface challenges, where developed land bumps up against undeveloped wildlands, forests or wilderness areas.
The town’s building inspector, Jim Ditto, will be asked to review possible changes and report back to the council.
Earlier in the meeting, the council heard a presentation by David Didier of Montana Timber Products, identified on its website as “the leading supplier of specialized prefinished wood building materials in the United States.”
Didier described the company’s various products, all made from North American natural woods. “We can keep wood looking like wood,” he said, while maintaining a Class A resistance rating. Didier showed the council samples of treated wood to make his point.
Didier said it’s not possible to make wood products entirely fireproof, but they can be treated to provide a high degree of fire resistance.
In other business, the council approved a request from the Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, which operates the Visitor Information Center on Highway 20, to remodel the back porch of the structure to enclose it. The space would be used as a storage area, Chamber Executive Director Autumn Jateff said in a memo to the council.
“Right now, the Chamber pays for an off-site storage unit to hold materials like maps, pamphlets, giveaways, holiday decorations, and event supplies,” Jateff said in the memo. “Bringing that storage on-site would save an estimated $600 a year — and keep everything we need close at hand to better serve Winthrop’s visitors.”
Jateff said the Chamber will pursue funding for the remodel through the Okanogan County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. The information center building is owned by the town.
