Council weighs State takeover of fire marshal duties, flags gap in CCO authority

Council members on July 12 reviewed options to have the State Fire Marshal assume some responsibilities after the borough—ire marshal retired, while identifying a gap: the State will perform fire inspections and related certifications but does not issue Construction Certificates of Occupancy (CCOs).

Councilwoman Slater said the borough met with State officials and that the State "only will do the fire inspection, fire extinguisher, fire alarm, smoke detection that is it for residential sales" and that "they do not do CCO's." Borough Attorney Robert McBriar explained the borough can reference or link to the State—orms and regulations in local code and said the State has a graduated fee schedule; he added the State would "absorb those limited responsibilities together with the other things they are doing." Mayor George P. Hutnick indicated the State should handle fire-related inspections going forward, while the borough's building department would still handle other building matters.

Council members discussed uncertainty about which local official will issue CCOs going forward and the need to catalog the tasks the former fire marshal performed. Mr. McBriar said he will prepare ordinance language to clarify that the State is the enforcement agency for defined fire responsibilities and to include links or references to State forms. Councilwoman Slater also urged placing links to State forms on the borough's permits webpage to help residents find the correct forms.

No formal vote was recorded to finalize the change at the meeting; Mr. McBriar said the language will be finalized in a future ordinance.