Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary_6_2009_Briefing_MinutesIREDELL COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BRIEFING MINUTES JANUARY 6, 2009 The Iredell County Board of Commissioners met in Briefing Session on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, at 5:00 P.M., in the Iredell County Government Center (South Wing Conference Room), 200 South Center Street, Statesville, NC. Board Members Present Chairman Godfrey Williams Steve Johnson Scott Keadle Ken Robertson Absent: Vice Chairman Marvin Norman due to illness. Staff present: County Manager Joel Mashburn, Sheriff's Chief Deputy Rick Dowdle, Health Director Donna Campbell, Fire Marshal Lloyd Ramsey, and Clerk to the Board Jean Moore. CALL TO ORDER by Chairman Williams. REQUEST FROM THE IREDELL COUNTY FIRE TAX BOARD & THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE FOR THE ADOPTION OF A FALSE FIRE ALARM ORDINANCE: Joining Fire Marshal Lloyd Ramsey to discuss this ordinance were Fire Tax District Board (FTDB) Members Carroll Goodman and Frank Phillips. Ramsey said the FTDB had been alerted about the number of false fire alarms that were occurring at the same locations. He said the FTDB was proposing an ordinance to eliminate as many false fire alarms as possible through the use of a fee/fine schedule and enforcement procedures. Ramsey said the ordinance stipulated that anyone having three false fire alarms at the same location within a 12 -month period would have a $50 fee. He said within that same 12 months if a fourth false fire alarm occurred $50 would be charged again, and the fee would increase to $100 for the fifth and sixth false alarms, and $250 at the seventh, or more, false fire alarms. He gave the following information to note the increasing number of the false alarms being responded to by the volunteer fire departments. Total Fire Dispatches* False Fire Alarms* Year 2001 5,657 553 Year 2008 17,557 1,584 *All numhers provided by the Iredell County Emergency Communications Dept. Goodman said the firemen were responding to the same locations over and over and this was expensive to the VFDs. Ramsey said the majority of false alarms were not at residences -- they were occurring at businesses. He said the business owners were not correcting the problems. Commissioner Keadle asked who authored the ordinance. Ramsey said ordinances were obtained from several counties, but he had patterned the document mostly after one being used in Winston-Salem. Chairman Williams said he understood that one particular business had four false alarms in the same night. Commissioner Robertson mentioned the VFDs mostly functioned with volunteers, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to recruit them. Commissioner Johnson expressed concerns about the costs for small business owners, for example, convenience store owners. Ramsey said most of the problems were not with the smaller businesses or the "Mom and Pops." Goodman added that the intent of the ordinance was not to make money rather it was to encourage the property owners to get their alarms repaired and to have correct information at the Emergency Communications Dept. Commissioner Johnson suggested that an addition be made to the ordinance stating that after the second false fire alarm, either by phone or visit, the VFD chief would notify the property owner that the next false fire alarm would result in a fine. Commissioner Keadle shared concerns about ordinances being too lengthy. He suggested in the future, for purposes of brevity, that county ordinances be as condensed and brief as possible. County Manager Mashburn said the county attorney would have to enforce the ordinances. (All other agenda items were presented and a summary about these matters may be found in the regular minutes.) ADJOURNMENT: Chairman Williams adjourned the briefing at 5:45 p.m. Approval: 19 Clerk to the Board