Council weighs fire department funding request and options for a fire district

Councilmembers reviewed staff comments about potential increases to fire-department funding, including an operational request in the range of $202,112 (audio references varied) for additional operations and equipment and a separate equipment and operations increase cited in the budget discussion.

Staff said Jamie is tracking emergency-call data and will present call-type and frequency information at the end of the month to inform decisions. Staff discussed the city’s options: maintain the current contractual relationship with a private fire department, form a city fire district that would contract with a service provider, or explore paid staffing. Staff noted a nearby community (Spearfish) employs a public-safety director and paid staff and that other jurisdictions mix paid and volunteer staffing.

Staff also referenced capital requests including ambulances and new sirens. No final decision or formal appropriation occurred at the meeting; staff said they will compile call data and a draft contract with suggested language changes for council review.

Councilmembers and staff discussed longer-term costs and the need to clarify whether the fire district entity would itself provide services or only contract with a provider. Staff emphasized that a fire district would be a separate taxing or service district entity that could contract with a department, not automatically the city’s own department. Council asked staff to return with data and a draft contract for further consideration.