November 22, 2009

Fire board boosts fees, seeks grants for workers

By Elroy King
The Chronicle

     Expect some changes in how the Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue District recovers costs for operations of the district.
     In 2008 the board approved an ordinance allowing the district to recover costs through administrative, permit and examination fees in conjunction with various operations and also established methods for recovering these costs. Since then, the board has passed a number of resolutions imposing some of these fees and costs.
     On Monday night, they changed parts of an earlier resolution dealing with building rental rates.
     The new fee schedule for rentals is: training room, four hours or less, $50; or $75 per day; conference room, four hours or less, $25; or per day, $50. Eliminated were a cleaning deposit, security deposit and building cleaning fee.
     Those fees were replaced by a policy that requires that these rooms must be cleaned and organized in the same condition as previously found to the satisfaction of the district. If, after the activity or event, the rooms required cleaning by a professional company, the agency responsible will be billed for the cost of cleaning. The responsible party will also be billed for the cost of repairing or replacing equipment or furniture damaged by the user.
     Added to the policy was language that said for reason of benefit to both MCF&R and the community, rental fees shall not apply to emergency service organizations.
     The board approved first reading of the resolution by title only. A second reading and adoption of the resolution will come on Dec. 21 and it will go into effect on Jan. 21, 2010.
     The board authorized Chief Bob Palmer to dispose of Medic 5 by selling it to the Dallesport Fire Department for $1. That ambulance has not been used for a couple of months due some safety concerns, he told the board.
     Dallesport has expressed an interest in acquiring the unit for use as a quick response unit, he said. They have also expressed a willingness to convert it to a rehabilitation unit to be used when Dallesport responds to The Dalles on second-alarm fires.
     Palmer said Dallesport is aware of the shortcomings for Medic 5 and has the capacity to take care of these issues. He said MCF&R has no further use for that unit and simply selling it would be easier that declaring it surplus, which would require a public hearing.
     The board also authorized Palmer to seek grants that would allow the district to recruit more volunteers and add a full time paid position to the department. The grant would pay for what Palmer called a “floater” position for two years, but would require the district to pick up the costs for that position after that.
     The volunteers could be funded for up to four years, with no requirement that they be continued beyond that.
     Palmer said this district has never sought this kind of grant before, but said it has worked for other districts. The application period for the grant opened on Monday and closes on Dec. 18. Results will be announced in about six months.
     If, by then, the district has determined it cannot afford to make the “floater” position permanent, it can refuse to accept the grant.