Personnel at the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District will soon be back to full strength. The three remaining laid-off fire fighters are expected back to work before the end of the month.
During a special meeting of the FMB Fire Board of Commissioners Thursday afternoon, the management team proposed a working budget based on what the commissioners had adopted back in September.
“From that working budget, we essentially demonstrated the concessions, cuts and the cost efforts that have been made,” said FMB Fire Chief Mike Becker. “We pleaded to the board that, if we release some money out of reserves, we can get our staffing back to the levels that we had prior to September.”
After a lengthy discussion, the motion was approved.
The results of the action could happen as early as tomorrow morning, said Becker.
The money proposed to be taken out of reserves is in an excess of $300,000.
“I’m very pleased to be able to staff that ladder truck knowing that we are going into the tourist season with a fully staffed department that has been tried during previous peak seasons with tourists demands arising rapidly,” said Becker. “Without those vehicles up and running, service delivery gets tight. I had some legitimate concerns to meet those demands. That concern is being alleviated to get the ladder truck up on a daily basis.”