By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
Overtime costs, lost and damaged equipment and funeral expenses represented the bulk of costs the city of Salisbury absorbed from the Salisbury Millwork fire March 7.
Salisbury firefighters Victor Isler and Justin Monroe died in the woodworking plant fire.
The city paid for their funerals, which included services for both men at Catawba College’s Omwake Dearborn Chapel and Monroe’s burial at Rowan Memorial Park.
The city also covered the funeral and burial for Isler in Long Island, N.Y.
The services and related expenses had a total cost of $29,077, according to figures released Tuesday by the city.
Officials reported last week that the total city costs of the fire were $159,287, but the actual cost to Salisbury taxpayers came in at $128,846 when donations from individuals and organizations were factored in.
The money to pay the $128,846 came out of the city’s fund balance.
Overtime costs for firefighters, police, transit and facilities maintenance personnel in the city amounted to $47,471.66 after the fire.
The Fire Department also had $46,000 in damaged or destroyed equipment.
Other costs were $9,994.57 for fire scene expense; $1,595.58 for firefighter support, such as grief counseling and food; $1,620 for transcription services related to emergency recordings; and $2,427 for other supplies.
The State Firemen’s Relief Fund paid the $13,135 in costs for travel expenses to the Isler funeral in New York.
Other designated donations included $6,486.77 for family support and $1,333 toward memorial keepsakes.
Salisbury City Council approved a budget amendment Tuesday to cover the expenses.
Councilman Bill Burgin thanked Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell for all his department did in connection to the fire.
“These dollars don’t measure that,” he said. “It’s just paperwork.”
Mayor Susan Kluttz said the fire and its aftermath represented one of the more difficult times in the history of the city and the community was grateful for the department’s work and sacrifice.
Kluttz and Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson said it was obvious from all the different events and fundraisers in the community that Isler and Monroe remained in people’s thoughts.
The theme of Saturday’s Pops at the Post symphony concert will be “Heroes,” Kluttz noted, and it will pay tribute to military and emergency service personnel, including Isler and Monroe.
The annual downtown concert will be held 8-10 p.m. Saturday along South Church Street next to the Post.
In another matter Tuesday, the council formally passed its 2008-2009 budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. All the details were worked out at two budget work sessions last week.
The budget includes a general fund of $37.25 million and a water-sewer fund of $21.55 million.
The city’s property tax remains at 59 cents per $100 valuation.
The average monthly residential water-sewer bill will increase by 5.7 percent.
Several city fees will be going up, including landfill and recycling charges that appear on monthly water-sewer bills.
To reduce a proposed water-sewer increase of 9.7 percent, City Manager David Treme and the utility staff did not fund $749,000 of utility items in the original budget proposal.
The biggest portion of that was $600,000 for chlorination and dechlorination units at the Grants Greek and Town Creek wastewater treatment plants.
To keep the tax rate the same, address rising fuel prices and fund some of the items the council requested, Treme used $362,302 of the city’s fund balance and added it to the general fund since last week. (A penny on the property tax rate is equal to $280,023.)
Here’s how that fund balance money will be spent:
– $84,004 for city buses, to cover additional fuel price increases and avoid a fares increase.
– $119,645 to pay for a code enforcement manager, a code specialist and their associated supply and capital costs.
– $102,451 for additional fuel costs based on current prices.
– $5,000 for the N.C. Transportation Museum.
– $5,000 for gang prevention.
– $2,500 for a defibrillator for the Fire Department.
– $11,000 for a thermal imaging camera for the Fire Department.
– $8,500 in additional funding for Downtown Salisbury Inc.
– $5,000 for extra downtown benches and trash receptacles, as requested by the Community Appearance Commission.
– $3,200 for neighborhood signs, as requested by the Community Appearance Commission.
– $8,502 toward ACCESS 16 programming and toward live content purposes.
– $5,000 for neighborhood street trees.
– $2,500 for irrigation bags associated with new tree plantings.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@salisburypost.com.