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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, March 26, 2018 <br /> Page 5 <br /> which would mean the inspector is not part of the emergency response <br /> crew. <br /> Mayor Roe asked if this plan is actually necessary, to not take a fire appa- <br /> ratus out to do an inspection because it would still be available to re- <br /> spond to an emergency. He asked whether it is necessary step or if it is a <br /> good idea step. <br /> Fire Chief O'Neill explained there is a difference between responding to a <br /> major event and having to respond to everything. If staff is down to 4 <br /> people, then there is a 2-person engine and a 2-person medic. When one <br /> of those is out on an inspection it prevents a quick emergency response <br /> and also impacts the quality of the inspection for the end user. It is im- <br /> portant for the staff to be timely on those inspections, as construction <br /> timelines depend upon inspections. <br /> Councilmember Etten asked how much of a given week someone is out <br /> doing inspections. <br /> Fire Chief O'Neill responded that generally speaking, from 8:00 am to <br /> 12:00 pm, Monday through Friday, staff is tied up with a variety of in- <br /> spection: multi-family inspections; permit-driven inspections; vent hood <br /> inspections; license inspections; there are also multiple inspections on a <br /> single project. <br /> Councilmember Etten asked whether one person is handling inspections. <br /> Fire Chief O'Neill clarified that ideally only one person is sent. But a <br /> team of 2 has to be sent, when only 4 people are on duty, in case of an <br /> emergency. Ideally, however, there would be one inspector in the field. <br /> Councilmember McGehee asked why there is an inspector on the night <br /> shift. If there are medics and EMTs, she asked why there also has to be an <br /> inspector. She asked whether it would make more sense to just have a fire <br /> inspector as we had before. <br /> Fire Chief O'Neill explained that this is the model the FD came from: a <br /> Fire Marshall and an inspector was the model from five years ago. For <br /> Phase I, an evaluation was made to take the funding for the inspector and <br /> Fire Marshall position and throw it into the budget for the full-time fire- <br /> fighter positions, in order to create a cost-neutral Phase I. That has helped <br /> offset a lot of those costs. <br /> Councilmember McGehee suggested revisiting the policy with the onset of <br /> Phase II. She looked at other communities and suggested it does not <br />