Page 1, line 5, strike
"definition" insert "waiver; appeal"
Line 6, strike "A."
Line 7, strike "any" insert
"this state or a municipality, county or fire district may
provide alternative methods to comply with the"
Line 8, after the third "fire"
insert "or building"
Line 9, strike "a" insert
"the"; strike "of this
state do not"
Line 10, strike "apply to"
insert "for"; strike "or
single-family residential"
Strike lines 11 through 21, insert "If the
alternative methods are part of a wildland-urban interface code or an
international fire or building code. If a property owner finds the water or
fire flow requirement and the alternative methods to comply overly burdensome
as to prevent the development, the property owner may apply for a waiver of the
water or fire flow requirements and alternative methods from this state or the
municipality, county or fire district. This state or the municipality, county
or fire district shall grant or deny the waiver within thirty days after
receiving the application. If the waiver is denied, the property owner may
appeal the decision to the governing body of the city, town or county in which
the fire district is located through the governing body's appeal process. The
governing body shall notify the property owner of its decision within thirty
days after receiving the appeal request.
Sec. 2. Section 48-805, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:
START_STATUTE48-805. Fire district; powers and duties; definition
A. A fire district, through its board, shall:
1. Hold public meetings at least once each calendar
month unless a board consists of three members and the fire district levies
less than five hundred thousand dollars annually then the board shall meet in
July and at least every two months thereafter. A board for a district
organized pursuant to article 3 of this chapter shall hold public meetings at
least every two months.
2. Determine the compensation payable to district
personnel.
3. Require probationary employees in a paid sworn
firefighter position, a reserve firefighter position or a volunteer firefighter
position to submit a full set of fingerprints to the fire district. The fire
district shall submit the fingerprints to the department of public safety for
the purpose of obtaining a state and federal criminal records check pursuant to
section 41‑1750 and Public Law 92‑544. The department of public
safety may exchange this fingerprint data with the federal bureau of
investigation.
B. A fire district, through its board, may:
1. Employ any personnel and provide services deemed
necessary for fire protection, for preservation of life and for carrying out
its other powers and duties, including providing ambulance transportation
services when authorized to do so pursuant to title 36, chapter 21.1, article
2, but a member of a district board shall not be an employee of the
district. The merger of two or more fire districts pursuant to
section 48‑820 or the consolidation with one or more fire districts
pursuant to section 48‑822 shall not expand the boundaries of an existing
certificate of necessity unless authorized pursuant to title 36, chapter 21.1,
article 2.
2. Construct, purchase, lease, lease‑purchase
or otherwise acquire the following or any interest therein and, in connection
with the construction or other acquisition, purchase, lease, lease‑purchase
or grant a lien on any or all of its present or future property, including:
(a) Apparatus, water and rescue equipment, including
ambulances and equipment related to any of the foregoing.
(b) Land, buildings, equipment and furnishings to
house equipment and personnel necessary or appropriate to carry out its
purposes.
3. Finance the acquisition of property as provided
in this section and costs incurred in connection with the issuance of bonds as
provided in section 48‑806. Bonds shall not be issued without the
consent of a majority of the electors of the district voting at an election
held for that purpose. For the purposes of an election held under this
paragraph, all persons who are eligible to vote in fire district elections
under section 48‑802 are eligible to vote.
4. Enforce the fire code adopted by the district, if
any, and assist the state fire marshal in the enforcement of fire protection
standards of this state within the fire district including enforcement of a
nationally recognized fire code if expressly authorized by the state fire
marshal.
5. After the approval of the qualified electors of
the fire district voting at a regular district election or at a special
election called for that purpose by the district board, as appropriate, or at
any election held in the county that encompasses the fire district, adopt the
_______ fire code, which is a nationally recognized fire code approved by the
state fire marshal. The words appearing on the ballots shall be
"should __________ fire district adopt the __________ fire code, which is
a nationally recognized fire code approved by the state fire marshal‑‑yes",
"should ____________ fire district adopt the __________ fire code, which
is a nationally recognized fire code approved by the state fire marshal‑‑no". The
code shall be enforced by the county attorney in the same manner as any other
law or ordinance of the county. Any inspection or enforcement costs
are the responsibility of the fire district involved. The district
shall keep the code on file, which shall be open to
public inspection for a period of thirty days before any election for the
purpose of adopting a fire code. Copies of the order of election shall be
posted in three public places in the district at least twenty days before the
date of the election, and if a newspaper is published in the county having a
general circulation in the district, the order shall be published in the
newspaper at least once a week during each of the three calendar weeks
preceding the calendar week of the election.
6. Amend or revise the adopted fire code, including
replacement of the adopted fire code with an alternative nationally recognized
fire code, with the approval of the state fire marshal and after a hearing held
pursuant to posted and published notice as prescribed by section 48‑805.02,
subsection A. The district shall keep three copies of the adopted code,
amendments and revisions on file for public inspection.
7. Enter into an agreement procuring the services of
an organized private fire protection company or a fire department of a
neighboring city, town, district or settlement without impairing the fire
district's powers.
8. Contract with a city or town for fire protection
services for all or part of the city or town area until the city or town elects
to provide regular fire department services to the area.
9. Retain a certified public accountant to perform
an annual audit of district books.
10. Retain private legal counsel.
11. Accept gifts, contributions, bequests and grants
and comply with any requirements of those gifts, contributions, bequests and
grants that are not inconsistent with this article.
12. Appropriate and expend annually monies as are
necessary for the purpose of fire districts belonging to and paying dues in the
Arizona fire district association and other professional affiliations or
entities.
13. Adopt resolutions establishing fee schedules
both within and outside of the jurisdictional boundaries of the district for
providing fire protection services and services for the preservation of life,
including emergency fire and emergency medical services, plan reviews, standby
charges, fire cause determination, users' fees or facilities benefit
assessments or any other fee schedule that may be required.
14. With the approval of two of the three members of
a three‑member board, four of the five members of a five‑member
board or five of the seven members of a seven-member board, change the
district's name and on so doing shall give written notice to the board of
supervisors of the change. The governing board of a fire district
may place a question on the general election ballot as to whether the fire
district shall change its name.
15. Require all employees to submit a full set of
fingerprints as prescribed by subsection A, paragraph 3 of this section.
16. Enter into intergovernmental agreements or
contracts as follows:
(a) Enter into an intergovernmental agreement with
another political subdivision for technical or administrative services or to
provide fire services to the property owned by the political subdivision,
including property that is outside the district boundary.
(b) Enter into a contract with individuals to
provide technical or administrative services.
(c) Enter into a contract with individuals to
provide fire protection services or emergency medical services, or both, to the
extent not regulated by title 36, chapter 21.1 to property owned by the
individual located outside the district boundaries if the individual's property
is not located in a county island as defined in section 11‑251.12 and at
least one of the following apply:
(i) The existing fire service provider where the
individual's property is located has issued a notice to the individual that the
provider plans to discontinue service.
(ii) Fire service is not available to the
individual's property.
(iii) Fire service is offered pursuant to a contract
or subscription and the individual has not obtained service for a period of
twenty‑four months before the date of the contract with the district.
(d) Enter into a contract with individuals to
provide fire services to property owned by the individual located outside the
district boundaries, where the individual's property is located in a county
island as defined in section 11‑251.12, if both of the following apply:
(i) The existing fire service provider where the
individual's property is located has issued a notice to the residents of the
county island and the individual that the provider plans to discontinue or
substantially reduce service.
(ii) The district offers contracts to all residents
and property owners of the county island who will be affected by the
discontinuance or substantial reduction in service by the current fire service
provider.
(e) For the purposes of subdivision (a), (b), (c) or
(d) of this paragraph, a district may contract with any public or private fire
service provider to provide some or all of the contractual services the
district is contracting to deliver.
(f) Any contract entered into pursuant to
subdivisions (b), (c) and (d) of this paragraph shall include a provision
setting forth the cost of service and performance criteria.
17. Sell or otherwise dispose of any real property,
facilities or equipment if the district board determines the real property,
facilities or equipment to be surplus.
18. If the fire district is located in a county
with a population of less than five hundred thousand persons, provide
alternative METHODS to comply with any requirements to provide water or fire
flow, or both, for fire protection under the fire code adopted by the fire
district and accept or deny waivers PURSUANT to section 37-1391.
C. A fire district may not administratively add or
annex additional property or delete property or otherwise modify its boundaries
except in a merger or consolidation pursuant to this chapter or in a boundary
change made pursuant to section 48‑262. This subsection does
not apply to a district organized pursuant to article 3 of this chapter.
D. The chairman and clerk of the district board or
their respective designees, as applicable, shall draw warrants on the county
treasurer for money required to operate the district in accordance with the
budget and, as so drawn, the warrants shall be sufficient to authorize the
county treasurer to pay from the fire district fund.
E. For any fire district that designates one or more
board members to have access to the financial books and records of the
district, those board members are authorized by law to have full access to
those financial books and records.
F. The district board may assess and levy a
secondary property tax pursuant to this article to pay for the costs of fire
protection services or emergency medical services except for services regulated
pursuant to title 36, chapter 21.1.
G. The county attorney may advise and represent the
district if in the county attorney's judgment the advice and representation are
appropriate and not in conflict with the county attorney's duties under section
11‑532. If the county attorney is unable to advise and represent the
district due to a conflict of interest, the district may retain private legal
counsel or may request the attorney general to represent it, or both.
H. If a district's fire code requires the use of a
fire watch, an employee who works at the building in which a fire watch is
required may serve as the fire watch. A person who is designated as a fire
watch shall be equipped with the means to contact the local fire department,
and the person's only duty while keeping watch for fires shall be to perform
constant patrols of the protected premises. The district shall provide the
fire watch with printed instructions from the state fire marshal and may
provide a free training session before the person's deployment as the fire
watch begins.
I. For the purposes of this section, "fire
watch" means a person who is stationed in a building or in a place
relative to a building to observe the building and its openings when the fire
protection system for the
Bill
Number: S.B. 1329