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Coos Bay Fire Department hires five apprentices with $1.6M grant, adds inspector funded by fees
Summary
The Coos Bay Fire Department said it received a $1.6 million workforce grant and used it to hire five full-time apprentices and to fund training and equipment; the department also added a full-time fire code inspector funded by user fees and building-permit revenue.
The Coos Bay Fire Department told the budget committee Thursday that a $1.6 million grant enabled the department to hire five full-time apprentices and to reserve funds for training, equipment and program support over a two-year apprenticeship period.
Chief Jeff Adkins said the grant, made available through the Bureau of Labor and Industries and the Oregon State Firefighters Council, provided half the two-year funding upfront and that staff created a new GL account to track apprentice-related expenditures (training, equipment and materials). The apprentices began in January and the grant covers salaries and program costs during the two-year span, Chief Adkins said.
The department also added one full-time fire code inspector, a position funded by increased business-license revenues and a newly implemented fire-inspection fee. The inspector’s duties include code enforcement, inspections and fire-prevention education. Chief Adkins said the position improves the city’s ability to increase inspections, code compliance and occupancy safety enforcement.
Staff flagged the need to keep dedicated accounting for the apprenticeship program so the city and auditors can reconcile grant expenditures and program outcomes. The grant-funded hires raised the department’s full-time equivalent count from roughly 16.25 FTEs to about 22 FTEs for the year in which apprentices are on payroll.
No changes to the department’s cost of ongoing operations were enacted during the meeting; the committee received the update and will see the final budget when it advances to Council for adoption.
