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City Council Minutes Page 6 <br />November 24, 2003 <br />............................. <br /> <br /> disaster, and the asset that the CERT team will be to the responders. Training will take place <br /> eight Tuesday nights beginning in January with a mock disaster being held the last night. <br /> <br />Mr. West noted that a full-scale EOC exercise will be held on April 30, 2004 in which the <br />CERT members will also be involved. <br /> <br />Fireworks Changes <br />Chief West stated that there has been a major change in the fireworks law at the state level. <br />He stated that the city was charging $750 for a fireworks permit which covered the costs for <br />the administrative time and the inspection time for the fire department to review and <br />process the permit application and complete the necessary inspections. Mr. West stated that <br />with the changes in the state, the maximum that the city can now charge is $1ee. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dietz questioned if the $100 application fee will cover the city's costs to <br />process the application. Mr. West stated that the $1ee will not cover the cost for the site <br />review and the inspections but noted that the city has received great cooperation from the <br />businesses selling fireworks and that they have had no problems. <br /> <br />Fire Department Station #2 <br />Chief West stated that there is currently a pumper, tanker, and grass rig kept at station 2 <br />along with the Safe Escape House and pick up. Mr. West also stated that 12 of the 35 <br />firefighters are currently assigned to station 2 and that extra equipment is on hand so any <br />firefighter may respond out of station 2 if they are closer. <br /> <br />Mr. West noted that the fire department will be looking at hiring an additional five <br />firefighters to get back up to the 40 the Council has authorized. <br /> <br />Chief West indicated that both fire stations will be up and running in response to an <br />emergency until each is staffed and equipped to run on its own. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dietz questioned if in the future each station would be assigned to respond <br />to a specified area of the city. Mr. West stated that he could not say when but that this <br />would be the case in the future. <br /> <br />City Administrator Pat Klaers questioned if the fire department's overall operating expenses <br />would go up because of more firefighters responding to calls due to having two stations. <br />Chief West stated no; but that the average response for a call is 16-17 firefighters but that <br />this number may increase a little just due to the additional firefighters being hired. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dietz questioned if there has been an advantage to Chief West being <br />located near the Police Department. Chief West stated that it has been very helpful for him <br />to be near the Police Department, the EOC, and also helped him administratively to be near <br />City Hall. <br /> <br />Emergency Operations Center ,(EOC) <br />Chief West stated that all of the workstations are installed in the EOC and he has began to <br />stock them with supplies. Mr. West stated that the department head staff meeting will be <br />held December 9 in the EOC at which time the department heads will be given an overview <br />of their duties in the EOC. <br /> <br /> <br />