County may add fire marshal

Stricter regulations and fire codes may be in the future for the unincorporated areas in Williamson County if county commissioners decide to include a county fire marshal in the 2008-09 budget.

The fire marshal will be in charge inspecting property and investigating arsons in unincorporated parts of the county. The lack of an official inspector irked Pct. 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman after arson occurred outside Round Rock city limits in her precinct last week.

In that apartment fire, which was actually in a densely populated area, Birkman said, Austin Fire Department was willing to perform the investigation out of “the goodness of their hearts.”

County fire chiefs have heralded the fire marshal position as a necessity, said John Sneed, director of emergency services.

The creation of the position is only in the discussion phase, but the county will have to make a decision by Aug. 19, when they present next year’s budget to the public.

Pct. 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey expressed concerns for creating the position because of how many inspections the fire marshal will be responsible for.

“Just adding one more person isn’t going to do it,” Covey said.

She speculated that hiring a fire marshal will lead to the creation of a new department because of the vast amount of tasks the fire marshal will be responsible for.

One compromise suggested was hiring a part-time fire marshal on a contract basis who will be available when possible arsons in unincorporated areas occur. However, no mention was made of how a part-time fire marshal will handle building inspections.

Pct. 4 Commissioner Ron Morrison said creating the position might wreak economic havoc on growing areas near Taylor because of inspections new builders will need to have done to their property.

“It’s going to hinder business growth in rural areas,” Morrison said.

Birkman said she was concerned because of several public buildings, such as restaurants, outside of any city limits in her precinct.

“We don’t want to go overboard with it, but we all want safety,” she said.