02 Council Min 08-23-04 Spec. - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special Meeting of the City Council August 23, 2004 Page 10 have to set out the parameters for billing in a Resolution. He said the companies that bill take a percentage of whatever they recoup. He felt billing for some services was a viable option. Councilman Bell asked that this be a future agenda item. Chief Grooms said some Fire Departments charge for all their services and some just billed for those with insurance. Councilman Wilson said he did not feel the citizens of Paris needed to get a bill. Chief Grooms agreed that the insurance companies should be targeted, not the citizens. Mayor Fendley asked if there needed to be some revenue figures in the budget for this. Finance Director Anderson said the first year would only be a guess. It was agreed to bring this back to Council in October. Chief Grooms reminded the Council that he was asked to find out the impact of possibly closing Fire Station No. 4 on Jefferson Road. He gave them the approximate costs of all supplies, services and personnel for one year. He said that closing a station would possibly make the ISO rating increase from a PPC3 to a PPC4, which would increase insurance rates for homeowners and commercial property. He said it would also increase response times, because fewer stations would have to be responding to more calls in a larger area. He also cited increased risk to personnel, increased risk to citizens, low morale for employees, a negative image for the City of Paris and a negative impact on commercial/industrial relocation to Paris as some of the negative impact of closing a station. After further discussion, it was decided that to leave it as is. On the question of using a certified only entrance exam, City Attorney Schenk said he reviewed the Civil Service law and felt to do this wouldn’t be consistent with the way the law is written. He said with Civil Service, they also could not use part-time paid employees. Councilman Bell asked how some other cities were doing this. Councilman Wilson asked if this would also apply to volunteers. City Attorney Schenk said it would not.