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<br />Chief Long stated he looked at the records. The inspections have not been done. He stated the <br />department is in the process of making sure the buildings are in compliance with code because <br />the City would not want anyone to get hurt in one of the buildings, so the City would not be held <br />liable. Chief Long stated the department will get back on the right track as far as life safety code <br />enforcement. <br /> <br />Mr. Crow asked about the one new position being a firefighter not a firefighter/paramedic. He <br />asked why, since so many of the fire department’s calls are health-related, the City would not <br />hire EMTs for some of the positions, since two-thirds of the calls are medical and not fire- <br />related. <br /> <br />Mr. Walker said they would look into it and provide that information. At this point, Mr. Walker <br />informed the Council of the difficult negotiations presently going on with the firefighter’s union. <br />He noted the union reps are asking for things that he is not prepared to give them, like binding <br />arbitration, massive salary increases, a management union committee that would oversee hiring <br />and promotions. He said their political activities they included a lengthy statement in their <br />proposed agreement that would contravene the City’s Administrative Regulations with respect to <br />their participation in an election campaign, etc. Mr. Walker stated that some councilmembers <br />may be lobbied with respect to the union firefighter position. He asked Council to let him know if <br />this should take place. <br /> <br />Mayor Welsch asked if full staffing in the Fire Department is three crews, each with 15 positions <br />for a total of 45 firefighters. She said with the new hires the department would be at 46 with one <br />being a rover, therefore would be back to full staff if budget was approved? Chief Long stated <br />that when an Assistant Fire Chief is named, it will bump people up and will take to Fiscal Year <br />2016 to get to full staff. The plan is to hire a rover this year. In Fiscal Year 2015 hire another <br />and in Fiscal Year 2016 hire another at which time the department would be at full staff. <br /> <br />Mr. Walker stated the next presentation was the Public Works and Parks Department with Mr. <br />Wilson. <br /> <br />Mr. Wilson said he summarized his budget and highlighted some of the points that Public Works <br />and Parks was going through. He noted his department is broken down into six areas: <br /> <br /> Administration/Engineering <br /> <br /> Streets/Parks <br /> <br /> Golf Course <br /> <br /> Fleet <br /> <br /> Solid Waster <br /> <br /> Sewer Lateral <br /> <br />Mr. Wilson said the City’s infrastructure consists of: <br /> <br /> 81 miles centerline miles of streets <br /> <br /> 24 bridges <br /> <br /> 513 street lights <br /> <br /> 18 parks <br /> <br /> 9 hold golf course <br /> <br /> 35,000 trees (30,000 or less in the tree lawn) <br />3 <br /> <br /> <br />