Hollywood Park fire chief outlines training, apparatus plan; council tables overhaul of incentive pay policy

Fire Chief Eric Burnside told council the Hollywood Park Fire Department responded to 51 calls in September, 34 of them medical, and completed 143 hours of training during the month. The department reported an average response time of three minutes, 59 seconds, continued wellness checks, 20 fire inspections and preplans in commercial districts, and public-outreach events for Fire Prevention Month focused on lithium-ion battery safety.

Chief Burnside outlined steps to manage the town’s fleet: he said he is reviewing options for the department’s larger aerial ladder truck and plans a five-year replacement schedule for an engine, with target grant-seeking through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) within three to five years. He described outreach to other jurisdictions that have expressed interest in older equipment and said the long-term replacement schedule depends on budget and grant success. The chief also said the department is funding firefighter certification training largely through state grants; several personnel are pursuing rope-rescue and other certifications.

Council then considered a proposed update to the personnel policy’s incentive-pay schedule for the fire department. City administration and the chief proposed removing payments for certifications that are baseline requirements (for example, basic firefighter/EMT credentials) and instead focusing incentives on advanced or specialty certifications that are not required for baseline employment. Staff said that change would reduce the estimated annual incentive-pay budget from about $52,990 in the prior year to roughly $43,700 under the proposed schedule, depending on staff composition and attrition.

Councilmembers raised questions about which certifications should be incentivized, whether incentives should be tied to department staffing needs (for example, maintaining a required number of pump operators or arson investigators), and how the changes would affect payroll taxes and retirement costs. Several councilmembers asked for clearer documentation showing which positions would be eligible and how many personnel the chief would expect to require at each certification level.

After discussion the council voted to table the item so staff could return with clearer, color-coded packet materials, a summary of budget impacts in the approved budget document, and policy language indicating how incentives would be awarded and limited by department need.

Ending: The incentive-pay update was tabled for further information; the council accepted the fire report and asked staff to return with revised documentation and recommendations that tie incentive awards to department operational requirements.