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East Bethel council gives consensus to pursue third-party review of fire department, consultant caps cost at $10,000
Summary
At its March 25 work meeting, the East Bethel City Council heard a presentation from Jerry Scribe of Capstone LLC on fire service models and gave verbal consensus to pursue an operational audit and professional services agreement, with the consultant capping the proposal at $10,000.
Jerry Scribe, a consultant with Capstone LLC, told the East Bethel City Council on March 25 that a third-party operational review could give the city an independent baseline on staffing, deployment and costs for its fire service. "This costs you nothing. It's all about education today," Scribe said as he described surveys, interviews and benchmarking to national standards.
Council members said the review was timely. The mayor (role label) framed the question in operational terms: "Are we doing everything we're supposed to be doing and are we doing it well?" Council members noted the fire department is one of the city's largest budget items and voiced support for an outside evaluation.
Why it matters: East Bethel's fire service carries both fire and medical response responsibilities and accounted for roughly $1.14 million — about 18'19% of the city's budget this fiscal year, according to council remarks. The council heard that rising…
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