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Big Rapids moves to add full-time administrative fire captain to handle daytime calls and inspections
Summary
City staff described a new 40-hour administrative fire captain position budgeted in the current year to handle daytime calls, inspections and administrative duties; commissioners asked about collective-bargaining status and staffing impacts.
Big Rapids — The City Commission heard an informational update on a planned administrative fire captain position that the fire department intends to add to its full-time roster.
Fire Chief Steve Schroeder told the commission the administrative fire captain would be a 40-hour-per-week position with daytime hours, “mainly working daytime staff hours, which also is the busiest time statistically for us for calls.” Schroeder said the role would provide administrative support to the chief, perform fire-inspection and code-enforcement work in coordination with community development and still be able to “go and run command and things like that” on scene.
Schroeder traced the increase in calls for service to an institutional rise since 2014. “When I came in in, 2014, we were running just right around a thousand calls for service, and we're probably gonna be over 2,000 this year,” he said. He also reported that Big Rapids Township calls previously added roughly 426 runs to the department’s totals.
Commissioners asked how many captains currently staff the department; Schroeder said there are three captains, one per 24-hour shift, and that this new post would be a fourth. Commissioners asked whether the new position would be part of the collective-bargaining unit; Schroeder said the city is planning for it to be in the bargaining unit and that staff are “working with Mr. Gifford on that.”
Commissioners also asked who will select the new administrative captain; Schroeder said he will select the person and will consult HR and other staff. When asked about funding, Schroeder said the position “is already in the budget” and will be paid from the city’s general fund fire account.
The presentation was offered as an informational update rather than a formal action. Commissioners posed follow-up questions about how the rank-and-file had viewed the classification, about how the position would be used during absences of on-duty captains, and about the department’s overall call-volume trends. No formal vote was taken on the position at the meeting.
The commission asked staff to proceed with the application/selection process; Schroeder said letters of interest were accepted through the meeting day and he would work with HR to compile candidates.
Details: the department stated the new administrative captain would work 40 hours per week, be part of the bargaining unit as planned, and is budgeted for the current fiscal year.
