Pryor committee asks staff to draft commercial fire-subscription plan for industrial park

The committee voted to authorize the mayor and fire department to draft updates to the city's fire-subscription program aimed at commercial and industrial properties, focusing on the city's industrial park and businesses outside city limits. The motion passed unanimously among members present.

The fire chief told the committee the city currently lacks a differentiated commercial subscription and is absorbing costs for large industrial users. "We kind of talked about trying to have one, and you could figure it on square footage or HAZMAT," the Fire Chief said, outlining options including tiered fees based on square footage, hazardous materials exposure or employee counts.

Committee members stressed equity between small businesses and large industrial users. Steve Brown said large facilities are receiving a service for which the city gets little or no compensation, and Charles Trammell pressed for practical billing metrics. The chief described an existing response-fee structure (a $500 response fee and tiered truck fees were discussed) and an industrial fire fund used by some larger sites to pay bills.

Members asked staff to run legal review and to build a plan with clear tiers and exemptions for low-income or residential concerns. "If we're okay with the mayor and myself, we can work on the subscriptions' and then put it on the agenda," the Fire Chief said. The committee's motion instructs the mayor and fire department to draft ordinance language and bring it to council once legal review is complete.

Next steps: staff and the mayor will develop an ordinance or ordinance amendment for council consideration that would define commercial subscription tiers, billing practices and periodic review intervals.