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Council approves travel for fire inspector training; staff said course is reimbursable
Summary
The council approved a travel request for a city firefighter to attend Minnesota Fire Inspector I training that the department said is required to maintain inspection capability and that is largely reimbursable by MBFTE.
Fire Department leadership requested approval for Stephanie Smith to attend Minnesota State Fire Inspector I training. Chief Frederickson said the course is required to support the department’s inspections, maintain ISO and home-insurance discounts and to build in-house life-safety expertise. He told council the training is reimbursable through MBFTE and that the city expected reimbursement for the course costs.
Councilors discussed whether the candidate already met the job description requirement (some councilors expected certification to be a precondition while staff said certification is a required outcome and that the department historically hires operational firefighters and then supports certification). Assistant Chief Jonasen said the technical life-safety and plan-review certifications differ from operational firefighting qualifications and that the city’s approach has been to hire from operations and send staff for inspector training.
Council action: Councilor Johnson moved to approve the travel request for the Fire Inspector I course; Councilor Frehlebe seconded. The motion carried on voice vote.
Why it matters: Having an in-house certified fire inspector supports plan review, life-safety inspections and code enforcement; it also contributes to the city’s insurance-class rating and local enforcement capacity.
What’s next: Staff will complete travel and training arrangements and pursue MBFTE reimbursement as available. Councilors asked personnel to review job-description language to ensure consistency between hiring requirements and training expectations.
Ending: Council authorized the travel request for inspector training and asked staff to align job descriptions and certification timelines in personnel documents.
