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Council authorizes temporary help to fix fire department records after software migration
Summary
Council approved creation of a temporary help account to hire part‑time administrative assistance (targeted 90 days, 15–20 hours/week) to clean and map data after a records migration to First Due caused transfer issues; the department said data recovery appears possible but will require resources.
Bethlehem City Council on March 17 approved a resolution creating a temporary help account to support the fire department’s records and incident‑reporting conversion following a software migration.
Fire Chief Matthew Griffin described the problem: the department moved from a Tyler Industries product (New World) to a records system called First Due to meet state and federal incident‑reporting requirements, but the transcript records data‑transfer issues that left important address and incident fields incomplete or mismatched. "We had to make some switches because New World is no longer going to meet the requirements...we switched to a firm called First Due," Griffin said. "When it transferred over from New World into First Due, we discovered that there was a lot of issues with the data transfer and a lot of problems." He told council the missing or mismatched data can be resolved with time and resources.
The resolution authorizes a short‑term part‑time position expected to run roughly 90 days at about 15–20 hours per week, under the supervision of the deputy chief and the fire chief; the person would perform data mapping, querying and training so that internal staff can maintain records going forward. The chief said the goal is to have the contractor train staff and then transition the work to personnel within the department.
Council members asked whether missing data can be recovered and if the system will help track incident calls at large off‑campus housing complexes; the chief said recovery appears possible but will require engineering work to reconcile address formats and other data inconsistencies. Members emphasized they expect the role to remain temporary and asked for status updates if the work extends beyond the 90‑day window.
The council approved the resolution by recorded roll call; the recorded vote in the transcript shows members voting in favor. The resolution states the fire department will evaluate creating a part‑time position for a limited period to support conversion of the records management system and that the account is for temporary help only.
