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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2016)
PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 17, 2016 KFD adds shift commanders if budget gets OK School district By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The Keizer Fire Board will consider the proposed budget for the upcoming fi scal year at its meeting Tuesday, June 21, at 7 p.m. Keizer Fire District’s Budget Committee approved the pro- posed budget last month and forwarded its recommendation for approval to the fi re board. The centerpiece change in the budget would call for three current district employees to modify their current work schedules and be assigned the role of shift commander. The proposal generated a fl urry of debate at a recent Keizer Fire Board meeting as directors weighed the options involved in instituting a pilot program. Some members of the board wished to take more long-term look at the staffi ng needs, but settled for a six-month shift commander trial period, set to begin in January 2017. In a letter to the fi re board, Jeff Cowan, Keizer fi re chief, said the change is intended to help solve logistics problems caused by increased call volume. “Approximately 35 percent of our calls occur while another call is in progress, often requir- ing a medic unit to handle a call on their own or requiring the engine company to ‘abandon’ one call for another,” Cowan wrote. KFD experienced a 9.1 percent surge in calls last year. Given limited resources, it frequently meant calling for back-up from surrounding fi re services, either Salem Fire De- partment or Marion County Fire District No. 1. The new shift command- ers, division chiefs Brian Butler and Hector Blanco along with Capt. Ryan Russell, would re- spond to overlap calls with a ca- reer or volunteer fi refi ghter and free up the engine company of- fi cer that rides on the engine to the initial call. Additionally, the shift com- manders could: pick up person- nel from the hospital; respond to public service calls, burn complaints and other low pri- ority calls; and shadow new offi cers to provide immediate feedback on performance. In either of the fi rst two scenarios, the presence of the shift com- mander would free up the en- gine for higher priority needs. The function would nor- mally be performed by a bat- talion chief, but KFD has no battalion chief program. Cowan told members of the budget committee the shift command- er program would allow KFD to sidestep some of the extra costs incurred with establishing battalion chiefs. “The shift commander a step above battalion chief, and salaried, to avoid the other costs incurred by them being hourly and incur overtime,” Cowan said. “We want to gather some data and see if our guys can meet the demand. We’re try- ing to get through some tough growing pains, and close the gap between what’s needed and what we can afford.” The program is expected to cost KFD an additional $49,000 in personnel expendi- tures, $4,000 in additional pay for Ryan, who will become an acting-in-capacity shift com- mander for the length of the trial, and $45,000 for a tempo- rary hire while the program is underway. While it is adding to costs, Cowan said the larger change will be in the way shifts are structured for the shift com- manders. Currently, Butler and Blanco are considered admin personnel meaning they typi- cally work a standard 9-to-5 schedule with additional ap- pearances after hours during meetings and major emergen- cies. Under the pilot program, they will become members of the regular 24-hour-on, 48-hour-off shifts, and they will still be required to perform ad- min duties during those shifts. “Whether they can do all of that is the big question we have to answer,” Cowan said. Other items of note in the proposed budget include: • The addition of a part-time clerk to assist with front offi ce work. • A 59-cent local option levy approved by voters in 2014, will allow the district to con- tinue the employment of seven fi refi ghters hired as a result of bond funds and federal SAFER grants. • The overall proposed bud- get of $8,126,476 represents a 2.26 percent increase over the approved 2015-16 budget of 7,917,308. budget gets board nod BY HERB SWETT Of the Keizertimes Final approval of the 2016-2017 budget for the Salem-Keizer School came at Tuesday’s School Board meeting. The $673,547,775 bud- get refl ects a gain in pro- jected revenue for the sec- ond straight year after several years of forced cuts in servic- es. It involves a tax of $4,521 per $1,000 in assessed value and $33,990,211 for bonds. On other fi nancial matters, the board approved grants totaling $14,503,560. The largest grant is $14,288,417 from the federal government through the Oregon Depart- ment of Education, to ensure that schools in high-poverty areas meet state academic standards. A CenturyLink grant in- cluded $4,069 for iPads for fourth-graders at Gubser El- ementary School. In other business, the board heard the fi rst reading of a lease with option to buy a 1.3-acre property at 1115 Commercial Street NE for various programs. The nego- tiated price is $2,625,000, to which about $77,000 in lease payments will be applied. A board vote on the proposed lease is scheduled for a spe- cial meeting June 28. The board approved mod- ifying a 2013-2017 agree- ment with the Salem-Keizer Education Association, in- creasing the maximum insur- ance premium contribution by $35 per month to $1,220 per month. Administrative hirings approved by the board included those of four assistant principals, but only one for Keizer: Stephanie Makjavich at Keizer Elementary School. 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