Web Posted: 09/19/2007 01:40 PM CDT

For the next six months, city officials and the volunteer fire department will meet to create a job description. The chief is to take charge of the department by April, City Manager Todd Parton said.

"We have to negotiate how the chief is going to work with the volunteer fire department," Mayor Jennifer Hartman said.

The council budgeted about $34,000 for the position next year, Hartman said.

Initially, the council had some concerns that a city-paid chief would have problems commanding the volunteer department, which is governed by its own board of directors and has a contract with the city to provide services, Parton said.

But members of the department insisted that they would work with the new chief, with about seven members speaking before the council before the budget vote.

"It's something the department has been working toward for years," said Steve Liparoto, rescue coordinator for the department and a member of its board of directors.

Of the department's 33 members, Liparoto described about 40 percent as career firefighters, with some working in the fire departments of other municipalities or taking part in training programs.

Each month, between 12 and 15 firefighters get some financial compensation to be on call during peak hours, Liparoto said.

"The call volume and demand for fire services is such a heavy load, there needs to be more city support for this service," Parton said. He estimated that Cibolo represents about 80 percent of the department's call volume.

In 2006, the department responded to 711 calls in its 31-square-mile service area. So far this year, it has acted on 559 calls, Liparoto said.

For the department's current fiscal year, which began in May, its projected income is $305,000 — with $233,000 coming from the city of Cibolo, Liparoto said.

"We're concerned about our ability to serve the city as it grows," he said.

Both parties agree that with the population set to reach 13,100 by 2008, the new position is the first step toward the transition to a municipal fire department.

"We need someone in there on a day-to-day basis to keep us focused and to look at how to expand," Liparoto said.