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Fire Code & Pertinent Ordinance Adoption Staff Report Persons who will benefit from the proposed Fire Code have also been identified. Persons who may benefit need to be considered from a global perspective, since the MSFC (2007) is intended to establish minimum uniform fire and life safety standards that apply throughout the State. The taxpayers and residents of St. Anthony benefit through the reduction of fire loss and its associated impact; i.e., higher taxes, loss of tax base, decay of community, etc. The fire service benefits by not only being able to control its fire safety concerns through fire prevention but also by having provisions available that assist with fire fighting operations and firefighter safety; i.e., fire department access & water supply, sprinklers & standpipes, controls on hazardous materials, etc. The insurance industry potentially benefits through reduced fire losses. In the long term, these reductions can result in lower insurance premiums to the insured. The fire protection industry, sprinkler & fire alarm companies, also may benefit from the adoption of the MSFC (2007). Design professionals, i.e., architects and engineers, may benefit by having a uniform set of minimum design standards that apply throughout the state. In addition, there is some benefit to the construction industry, which is often called upon to make the physical repairs required by the various provisions of the fire code. Occupants, residents and guests also benefit from an enhanced level of fire and life safety in the various buildings and premises they frequent, live, stay and work. The St. Anthony Fire Department will incur some costs for the implementation of the MSFC (2007). These costs will relate to the purchase of the code books and training of staff. The cost of the code books is estimated to be less than $900. The estimated cost for training the inspectors is $700.00. There will also be several hundred hours in staff time updating and amending code references in various policies, inspection reports and inspection software. Other City departments will be impacted by the MSFC (2007). However, since the City has recently constructed a majority of its buildings, i.e., Liquor stores, Public Works and Fire Station, these buildings should already be in conformance and will only require the maintaining of their fire safety features. The proposed MSFC (2007) includes the permitting process for certain operational or construction activities. This proposal includes establishing fees for those permits. There will be an increase in City revenue due to those permits. The fee structure and potential revenue are yet to be calculated. Further research with the Finance Director and other City staff is required. The State Fire Marshal also considered the fiscal impact to adopt the MSFC (2007). This fiscal impact deals with the probable costs of compliance and the probable costs or consequences of non - compliance. These topics are related and somewhat intertwined. It is difficult, if not impossible, to assign a cost/benefit to preventing an incident from occurring or, if one does occur, keeping the amount of damage and potential for death or serious injury to a minimum. FA