Fire Service Study Termed Inadequate
A $15,000 study of the potential cost of reestablishing a city fire department is not sufficiently complete to use, according to the city’s financial review committee.
The committee will recommend tonight that the City Council reject the study by Chris Hunter, a former Long Beach fire chief, of options and costs the city might incur.
Earl French, who chairs the financial committee, said the group voted unanimously that the report was “flawed and lacking in the data necessary to formulate a decision.” “Quite frankly, the $15,000 was a poor expenditure of money,” he said.
Hunter defended the study and has offered to answer questions submitted by City Council or committee members. He already has answered some asked by the committee.
The Westminster Fire Department was disbanded two years ago amid intense controversy. The city now contracts with the Orange County Fire Authority.
But three City Council members--Joy L. Neugebauer, Margie L. Rice and Mayor Frank Fry Jr.--said they favor a city-run department if Westminster can afford it.
The Hunter study suggests that the city could operate a fire department for less than the $5.2 million a year it pays for the authority contract.
But French said the document ignores expenditures that would bring the cost well above the contract price.
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