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Fire department seeks another ambulance; council hears proposal for part‑time inspector or FOIA assistant
Summary
The fire department presented a status‑quo operating budget with a major capital request for an ambulance; councilmembers and staff discussed adding part‑time administrative help for fire‑marshal duties and exploring an additional inspector position to handle inspection workload.
St. Clair Shores — Fire Chief Piper and staff told council on April 28 that the department’s 2025–26 budget is largely unchanged from last year, with the department requesting a replacement ambulance through the motor‑pool capital budget.
Chief Piper said call volume is rising and that the department is on pace for roughly a 9–10% increase in calls this year. The budget includes a request to add another ambulance to the fleet; staff said one vehicle is in final state inspection and awaiting state approval to enter service.
Councilmembers pressed for additional fire‑inspection capacity to handle permitting and plan review workload, especially with increased activity in construction and CDI permitting. Administration proposed a near‑term stopgap: hiring a part‑time clerical worker (approximately 4 hours per day, five days per week) to relieve the fire marshal of clerical and FOIA duties while the city explores longer‑term inspector staffing. Councilmembers said they wanted the issue studied and possibly brought back as part of the budget adoption process.
Chief Piper and staff also described discussions about code and ordinance changes to improve the efficiency of inspections and clarified that prospective ordinance changes related to gas‑station suppression systems and other updates would be presented separately for council review.
