By Vicki Greene, Contributing Writer
Marlborough – In an August letter to Mayor Arthur Vigeant, Fire Chief Kevin Breen explained that the last rate increases for some of the commercial and residential service requests had not been increased in 16 years and that the “cost to provide these services exceed what we are charging consumers.” Vigeant reviewed Breen’s data and recommended several increases, which the City Council then approved at its Oct. 19 meeting.
Breen did an assessment of fees neighboring communities are charging and recommended fee changes for approximately 23 various services from home fire/smoke detector inspections to sprinkler inspections to underground tank removal.
Several of the increases include the newly approved $100 fee for conducting an inspection when removing an underground storage tank (UST) which has been $50.
“This hardly covers costs associated with time required to complete any such review/inspection including processing paperwork, driving to and from any site and time spent on scene during the actual tank removal and/or soil collection/samples,” Breen stated in his letter.
The fee for home fire/smoke/carbon monoxide detector inspections (known as 26F) had been $50 and has been increased to $100.
“A typical 26F inspection requires paperwork be completed before and after an inspection, along with coordination and scheduling, and an onsite inspection of the subject property often carried out by three on-duty persons arriving in a department vehicle,” Breen explained.
“Raising prices is something I try to avoid; however, the last review and adjustment of these rates were completed in 2004. Since that time, the costs to provide these services have increased exponentially. I feel this is a cost-effective strategy to increase the price for these mainly commercial permits in order to leave most citizens unaffected,” Vigeant wrote in his letter to the Council. “In addition to the changes recommended by the Chief, I would like to make Burning Permits and the receipt of Insurance Reports free for residents.”
