[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish Council to vote on keeping all fire stations open, increase staffing

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish Council to vote on keeping all fire stations open,
increase staffing
Print Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Benjamin
Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on June 30, 2014 at 8:01 PM, updated June 30, 2014 at 8:09 PM

The St. Bernard Parish Council on Tuesday is set to vote on ordinance
amendment that would eliminate some post-Hurricane Katrina language and
thereby require more parish fire stations to remain open with more regular
staffing.

While the parish fire department currently is required to have at least 105
employees, the new language would require the department to have 110
employees. Also language added after Katrina allows that employee count to
dip, and fire stations to close in part "during the period of recovery."

"We are going back to pre-Katrina ordinance of keeping all the fire stations
open," Fire Chief Tommy Stone said. "We have been working with the
administration and we feel that we have enough money to keep them open,
which is good."

Stone said the change largely has been made possible because of the 10-year,
20-mill property tax that parish voters approved in December 2012. That is
expected to bring in about $6 million and was pitched as saving the
department 79 firefighters.

Stone also said he hopes that millage will help lower the parish insurance
rating. He said the fire rating process, which likely will take about two
weeks, is expected to start in July and that he will hear about any rating
improvements by this fall.

"With the millage, the increase in fire personnel and the ordinance that
will hopefully pass, will all hopefully lead us to reaching our pre-Katrina
insurance rating," Stone said.

The Property Insurance Association of Louisiana rates communities' fire
protection, with insurance costs tied, in part, to the ratings.

Before the storm the western part of the parish, from Arabi to the Violet
Canal, had a Class 2 rating whereas now it has a Class 3 rating. And prior
Katrina, eastern St. Bernard had a Class 3 rating but it currently has a
Class 4 rating. On the 10-point scale, Class 1 is the best rating and Class
10 is the worst.

Before the 2012 millage's passage, Stone said that if it had not passed that
fire ratings could drop as much as seven points, potentially raising
homeowners insurance by 70 percent.

St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta warned that during the annual fire
rating process, there might be "a slight discoloration in your water when
first turned on" in areas during fire hydrant inspections.

"There is nothing to be concerned with and simply run your faucet for a few
extra seconds and it will clear up," Peralta said.

In other matters at the Tuesday council meeting, the council also is
scheduled to hold public hearings on four proposed charter amendments that
in part would give council members more power over parish contracting,
hiring council employees, and appointments to boards. To read more about
those proposed amendments, click here.

Also, while unrelated to the proposed fire ordinance amendment, the St.
Bernard Parish Fire Civil Service Board is scheduled to hold a public
meeting on July 14 to consider a few new employee requirements. Many of the
changes are mandated by the state, but one of the changes would specify that
all firefighters be parish residents.

Stone said that ever since Parish Council passed a resolution in 2012
requesting "that the St. Bernard Parish President stringently enforce" the
ordinance that requires fire department personnel to live in the parish,
that the department has followed suit. Later that year, parish voters passed
a charter amendment requiring that all new parish employees live in the
parish within six months of their employment.

He acknowledged that "after Katrina, (the residency requirement) kind of got
lax because people were living all over the place."

That parish Fire Civil Service Board hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. July
14 in the Creedmoor conference room in the parish government complex, 8201
W. Judge Perez Dr. in Chalmette.

The council meeting is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers, also
at 8201 W. Judge Perez. To view the full council agenda, click here.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/st_bernard_parish_council_to_
v_4.html