City Council members reviewed the fire department's proposed budget at a budget workshop and discussed several near-term capital and repair needs, including planning to move $100,000 into the fire capital projects fund to begin saving for a replacement fire truck expected in 2028.

Staff noted a large increase in projected fire-inspection revenue, rising from $8,000 to $55,000 because the department is completing roughly 20 inspections per week. The council also discussed a transfer of funds from the general fund to support operations and to seed the capital project account for a future fire truck purchase.

Council members and staff spent significant time on repairs at the fire station after a water-main break. The fire chief described interior damage discovered when the floor was cut open: "It looks like most of the washout was contained in the host tower. There's a sec section that's about 8 feet by 8 feet and about 6 feet deep that is a crater from where most of the sand came from." Staff said insurance is covering a large portion of the damage, but some expenses'including replacing certain drain tiles, possible additional floor cuts, and some appliances'may not be fully insured. A dishwasher was judged unrepairable; a washer and dryer returned inconclusive test results due to incompatible test hookups, and smaller residential laundry machines were described as destroyed by the flood.

To address potential unforeseen costs, staff carried forward $35,000 in the fire budget for water-main repairs. The council was told the structural engineer believes the building base should be okay but that future settling or cracking where trucks sit is possible.

The fire department also proposed replacing 25-year-old hydraulic extrication tools with battery-operated extraction equipment. The chief said each new set costs roughly $55,000 and proposed replacing one set per year over three years to modernize equipment and improve deployment versatility.

Regarding the department's apparatus plan, staff said a new Pierce Enforcer pump truck is under production and that payments will begin while the truck is in production; an expected order and payment timeline targets delivery in 2028. Finance staff projected building a down payment fund to approximately $912,133 by 2028 under current assumptions.

Council members asked staff to track insurance outcomes and to return with specific cost estimates for any uninsured repairs. No formal budget vote was recorded in the transcript during the workshop; councilmembers verbally agreed that staff should continue to refine estimates and bring formal budget amendments as needed.