Business owner objects to fire inspection fees

To the editor:

This is a letter from a very concerned and fed-up business owner. There are so many things that go on in this town that aggravate me: insanely high water and sewage bills, terrible traffic problems that no one has attempted to fix, a double-wide house trailer in the middle of town, overall general waste of money, etc. 

Usually, I'll read about them in the paper or see them for myself and just groan and go on with life; but this time, I feel compelled, if not obligated, to speak out. After reading the front page article in the Wednesday issue of one of Hillsboro's newspapers about the new fire inspection fees, let me tell you about my very interesting and informative Thursday morning. 

First thing Thursday morning, instead of going to my business and getting ready to work so that I could make a living, I decided that work could wait for a few hours while I tried to make sense of the cause, reasoning, and timing of the new fire inspection fees. I called the fire departments of Chillicothe, Wilmington, and Washington Court House to see if those towns require annual fire inspections on their businesses. Chillicothe and Washington Court House do not require inspections and if they do need to do an inspection, it is free of charge. Wilmington requires bi-annual inspections of all businesses, but these are also done free of charge. My next call was to the State Fire Marshall's office in Reynoldsburg. I talked to a very helpful and informative gentleman there named Dennis. Because the newspaper article stated the inspections were being implemented to meet a state mandate, I asked him what exactly the state's requirements are for fire inspections of businesses. I was informed that the only commercial buildings in the state of Ohio that require inspections are things such as hospitals, hotels, motels, nursing homes, psychiatric wards, etc, and that those are only required because they have to be inspected in order to be licensed through the state. Schools have to be inspected yearly no matter what. While I had him on the phone, I asked for an idea of what the State Fire Marshall's office charges for inspections, and he stated regardless of the size of the business, it's a flat $100 fee. My next phone call was to Hillsboro Assistant Fire Chief Ed Puckett, and I asked him why these fees are being imposed. 

Ed informed me that the reason for the inspections was because city council had passed legislation recently that all commercial businesses within city limits have to pass inspection. (Although, according to the article in the paper, the Hillsboro Fire Department requested this legislation). I asked him why the businesses in town should have to pay for this; after all, isn't that what taxes are for? He informed me that the city doesn't have the money to pay for a certified fire safety inspector from the fire department to do inspections during their normal shift so the fees are to pay for the extra expense of having another firefighter on duty. He then suggested that the reason other towns don't have to charge for inspections is because their fire departments don't answer as many calls as Hillsboro and that last year alone they answered 2,900 calls. Quick math tells me that 2,900 calls a year equals one call every three hours and according to the newspaper the average employee salary at the fire department is $76,000 per year. That sounds like to me and many I've spoken to in Hillsboro, that firefighters in this town are overpaid, but then again, city council agreed to their contracts so who is really to blame? No doubt fire and rescue officers are very important, skilled professionals, who have a sometimes scary and dangerous job; but this is Hillsboro, not New York City or Boston. Should they really be making this kind of money? 

My final stop Thursday involved going to the mayor's office to speak with Mayor Zink and Safety Service Director Holt to get their input on the fees. I've spoke to these gentlemen on a few occasions in the past about other concerns and I have to say that for men who are supposed to be respectable, responsible, patient pillars of the community, generally their attitudes are unprofessional and this time was no different. Director Holt informed me that if I had a problem with the legislation I should have come to the council meetings and complained. He apparently doesn't understand that small business owners are too busy trying to keep their businesses alive in these hard economic times to read and scrutinize every ordinance or resolution being considered by city council.  

I asked about the fact that at the Dec. 15, 2009 special meeting of council that Mayor Zink stated that the life squad had $2 million in CDs and a lockbox and asked why that couldn't be used to pay the inspection fees. Mayor Zink angrily stated, "We've got a new fire station to pay for!"

With that, my day was done and I left the mayor's office assuring them that I would have a petition signed by local business owners to either have the legislation removed (If the state and other local cities don't require inspections, why should Hillsboro?) or do the inspections for free. 

The majority of the business owners I have spoken with have no problem with having our buildings inspected, we just don't think we should have to pay for it again, is this not what taxes are for? If the city has spent all the tax money, why should the local businesses have to cough up the difference, it's not our fault! 

How, in the worst economic times since the Great Depression, have Hillsboro leaders decided to build a new fire department, police department, water treatment plant, and now wastewater treatment plant all within the span of roughly two years? I am personally going to walk around Hillsboro this week to get petition signatures and if anyone would like to participate in this petition, please don't hesitate to call me or stop by. 

Thank you,

Jason Brown, 

Owner of Brown's Cycle Shop

(937) 393-5663