Interim City Manager Jacob Wood addressed concerns regarding Commissioner Jerry Ivey's fire alarm inspection work during Monday's City Commission meeting.
Wood stated that after becoming aware of concerns about Ivey's inspection activities, he met with the commissioner and asked him to cease performing any further inspections until the situation could be reviewed.
According to Wood, when Commissioner Ivey left his previous employer, he had asked city staff if he could continue conducting annual fire alarm inspections. Staff from the city manager's office, development services department, and fire department provided guidance in the form of a memo from the fire marshal.
"That memo indicated that he could conduct visual inspections, but anything beyond visual inspections would require a license," Wood explained.
Wood acknowledged there were communication errors in the process. "Staff indicated that he could conduct visual inspections but did not clearly communicate that visual inspections would not meet the annual inspection requirement outlined in the code," he said.
The interim city manager reported that after reviewing the city code with the fire department and legal counsel, they found areas requiring clarification, particularly regarding specialty contractor licenses for fire alarm testing and inspections.
"The code, as it's currently written, does not require licensure for fire alarm inspections and testing and does not clearly indicate that individuals conducting inspections and testing are required to have specific certification," Wood said.
Wood indicated that despite the lack of explicit requirements in local code or the National Fire Alarm and Signal Code (NFPA72), the city's practice has been to require licensure and certification. He stated that the fire department recommends maintaining these requirements and updating the code to provide clarity.
During this review process, Commissioner Ivey obtained the Electronic Security Association certified fire alarm technician certification and was approved for a specialty fire alarm contractor license, which Wood said allows him to "perform all aspects of annual fire alarm inspections" as well as "installation, maintenance, alteration, and repair."
Commissioner Ivey later addressed the commission, stating, "I have had 15 years experience testing these fire systems and I don't feel like anyone was ever at risk." He also clarified that his business is "fully insured" contrary to some claims.
Wood noted that approximately 12-15 inspections performed by Commissioner Ivey during the period in question would be redone. He also mentioned that the situation brought to light a larger issue of many businesses being past due on their annual fire alarm inspections, which the fire department currently lacks adequate enforcement tools to address.
The interim city manager indicated that staff will be bringing ordinances to the commission to clarify requirements and may propose additional code amendments after further analysis of enforcement methods.
