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Session 1306, Minutes Page 4 May 17, 1982 second ambulance in operation, and the hiring of five additional employees was also authorized. However, the employees were never hired and the City has managed by re- arranging work schedules. Answering Mr. Adams, Mr. 0llendorff said the Fire Depart- ment was being trained in handling hazardous materials. Mr. Adams thought that buildings which house hazardous materials should be so identified, in case of fire. Mr. Levy asked why the amount of Overtime Pay (4.0) was so large. Mr. Ollendorff said that when the minimum strength of those on duty fell below a certain point, it was necessary to call someone in, who is paid overtime. He said there were two or three things that were going to be done to cut down on the amount of overtime pay. He said more than half of the overtime is due to smock time being taken, and that this was true also in the Police and Parks and Recreation Departments. Mr. Levy asked about Traveling Expense (2.06) under Contractual Services. Mr_ 01- lendorff said that covered annual conferences for various personnel and also includ- ed some educational training expense which actually should be in another category. Several councilmembers thought it seemed very high. Mr. Ollendorff said he would get a breakdown on that line item. He said Natural Gas (5.01) and Electricity (5.02) were budgeted slightly lower since weatherproofing will be done on several of the fire stations. Central Garage Repairs and Maintenance (6,09) is also down somewhat, because maintenance of the two new fire engines should be lower. Mr. Levy asked why there was a 46% increase in Rental of Central Garage Equipment (7.03). Mr. Mc- Phail said he thought that item was underbudgeted this year, but he would look into it further and report back. Returning to Travel Expense, Mr. Ollendorff said ten firefighters are sent to Columbia, Missouri for three days each year to attend a training session. Those funds also pay for six recruits to attend the St. Louis Firefighters Academy and, in addition, 15 firefighters attend Forest Park Community College. The subject of residency allowance was brought up, and it was noted that this program was much more successful in the Police Department than it was in the Fire Department. Still under Contractual Services, Transfers to Other Funds (9.17) is the fund set aside for replacement of fire equipment, and Mr. Ollendorff said it will go into a separate account next year. Repayment of Loans (9.18) is the amount authorized by the voters in 1980 to purchase large fire equipment. Responding to Mr. Schoomer, Mr. Ollendorff said this budget assumed full-time opera- tion of three fire stations. Several councilmembers thought the subject of whether or not the City needed three firehouses to operate efficiently should come up for discussion in the near future, although none thought changes should be made immed- iately. Under Commodities, Mr. Levy asked why there was such a large drop in Med- ical Equipment (3.06), Mr. Ollendorff said he would get a breakdown of this item and report to Council. Disaster Planning and Operations (2030). Mr. Ollendorff stated that about half of the expenditures in this department are reimbursed by the federal government. He said the emphasis here was on natural disasters and did not include civil defense operations in case of a nuclear disaster. Mr. Levy asked about the rather large in- crease in Traveling Expense (2.06) under Contractual Services. Mr. Ollendorff said - the communications officer and the two disaster planning coordinators are required to attend three seminars annually or the federal government will not reimburse half the costs of the department. He noted that the police and fire auxiliary also came from this budget.