Medical Lake debates funding for fire chief

The Medical Lake City Council held its second reading of the ordinance to approve its 2009 budget Tuesday night, but not without some conversation about finding a way to pay for a full-time fire chief.

Councilmember John Paikuli told the council, mayor and city staff that he was excited about the new budget, which is balanced, but he was concerned that the city hired a full-time code enforcement officer and a full-time planner over the past year but hasn’t looked at the possibility of a full-time fire chief.

Councilmember Shirley Maike said having a full-time code enforcement officer had been a priority for the city for a long time. The position is seasonal, and the council approved the position.

She added that addressing the issue of a full-time fire chief should be something the council looks into.

“At some time, we’re going to have to put it to rest,” she said.

Finance director Pamela McBroom said the city had been contracting with Studio Cascade for its planning needs, sometimes spending around $70,000 in order to complete work required by law to finish. Hiring the full-time planner saves the city money.

“Continually, there are more things that need to be updated by law,” McBroom said.

Mayor John Higgins added that city staff is fielding calls on a regular basis about the fire chief issue, and said the council did vote to hire the code enforcement officer and the planner. He said that hiring a fire chief isn’t such an easy task.

“How are you going to pay for it,” the mayor said. And if you hire a fire chief, there is the issue of keeping the department staffed 24 hours a day, so it would really be hiring a department and not just one employee.

Paikuli said he has had concerns about coverage during the day with the all-volunteer department and told the council he had talked to Bryan Musser, the interim fire chief. During the conversation, Paikuli learned that the department had missed 10 percent of its calls during daytime hours and the number of volunteers is down by 33 percent from 10 years ago.

“Our community has grown considerably,” Paikuli said, and urged the council to find a way to have some coverage during the day.

“I’m sorry, that’s where I’m at. That is my concern about the budget,” Paikuli said.

However, the council voted to unanimously pass the budget for 2009.

The next regular city council meeting will be held Dec. 16.