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Fire marshal asks for enforcement staff and software to expand inspections and illegal-dumping response
Summary
Van Zandt County's fire marshal asked commissioners for one environmental services supervisor, two part-time deputy fire marshals and a significant equipment purchase to expand inspections, enforcement and public education; he said added postage would fund certified enforcement notices and that a digital inspections platform would improve tracking.
The Van Zandt County fire marshal outlined a package of staffing and equipment requests at a commissioners court budget workshop, saying increased enforcement activity has created more citizen complaints and that additional personnel and software are needed to respond.
"What I'm requesting is an environmental services supervisor and then two part-time deputy fire marshals," the fire marshal said, describing the proposed posts as a way to expand inspections, abatement and public-education work. He said the two deputy positions are intended to be part-time (fewer than 30 hours weekly) so they would not receive full benefits, but would increase the office's inspection and investigation capacity.
The marshal proposed one large equipment purchase and replacement of an aging Tahoe used for fieldwork; he supplied round figures for vehicle upfits (base vehicle roughly $55,000 plus lights and storage) and said a total equipment line of about $110,000 was being proposed for the department's needs. He also said postage in the budget was increasing to support stepped enforcement: certified letters region-by-region followed by in-person follow-up if recipients did not respond.
On software, the marshal described Inspections 360 as a fire-marshal-centric platform that would move inspections and investigations from Word/Excel tracking into a cradle-to-grave digital file, automating folders and improving efficiency. He said he was awaiting a formal price to include in the budget packet.
Commissioners asked for more detail on the county's fleet and the exact hours and cost for each proposed position; the marshal agreed to provide a full comparison and proposed payline items so the court could evaluate costs versus benefits in a follow-up workshop.
No final budget action was taken; commissioners requested the marshal provide itemized pricing and any available performance metrics (inspection workloads and enforcement outcomes) ahead of a formal budget vote.
