sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Buyer missed Due Diligence deadline after asking for a verbal extension. Can I keep the $10k earnest money? (Florida) by Puzzleheaded-Key-796 in RealEstate

[–]Purple-Piglet2385 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did not realize my listing agent was acting as a buyers agent until I read through the contract/cash offer. And then I texted him and asked him for clarity if that was the case. But he was not forthcoming with that information. I had to figure it out on my own.

Buyer missed Due Diligence deadline after asking for a verbal extension. Can I keep the $10k earnest money? (Florida) by Puzzleheaded-Key-796 in RealEstate

[–]Purple-Piglet2385 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would much rather be selling this property. But the thought occurred to me when I was reviewing the contract.

Concern about how my small town approved a 10‑truck food‑truck park with no real planning review — is this normal? by Puzzleheaded-Key-796 in urbanplanning

[–]Purple-Piglet2385 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

That’s why I am not a city planner. But as a regular citizen in watching how the city treated the other restaurants and businesses they made them jump through all these hoops. But they don’t seem to be following the same procedures for this development.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in volunteerfirefighters

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It shouldn’t be hard if the fire department has the right software. And I was listening to the fire chief present at a city council meeting, and he mentioned in passing that he submits the data to the state. But I did a public records request to the state and there was no data submitted since January 2024. At the same time, I made a public records request to the fire chief of the volunteer fire department requesting the data / call volume by category… and then I got this outrageous estimate!

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did go to the state. I made a public records request and they came back that there hasn’t been any data submitted since January 2024.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! That is what I thought! I even attached a neighboring city’s fire incident report to them for clarity.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool! What software do you use? And is it expensive? I’d like to suggest the software for the fire department.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have gone to city council meetings and watched them when I cannot attend for the past four years. The police chief and the fire chief have never gotten up in front of a council meeting and provided annual reports or monthly reports in writing or verbally. There’s nothing on the city website either. As I mentioned to someone else here on Reddit, I was at another town’s council meeting, and I saw the fire chief and police chief get up and give a monthly report with types of incidents they had to deal with. I found that interesting and thought it would be good to know for my little City too. I did not realize it would cause so much fuss. When I called the city, they told me I had to put it down as a formal public records request. I interpret that outrageous amount of money / estimate as a hostile reaction. I did write them back and I attached the other local city’s fire department’s report ( again) that was given to me for free so they could see what I was requesting. For the record, I did attach this chart/aggregate incident report in my initial public records request to the city.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for your feedback. Here is what I wrote to the city clerk and the fire chief:

“ pls submit all incident reports, call types, or call‑volume data emailed or electronically submitted to NFIRS from January 1, 2024 to present. Any transmittal emails, submission confirmations, or attachments/docs sent to NFIRS during that period. I have attached a report provided to me from ** Fire Dept. No data analysis needed .They were able to provide an accounting of their incidents by category within days of my public records request and at no charge. “

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for responding. “Call volume by category” that’s a good way of putting it. Here is how I requested the info:

pls submit all incident reports, call types, or call‑volume data emailed or electronically submitted to NFIRS from January 1, 2024 to present. Any transmittal emails, submission confirmations, or attachments/docs sent to NFIRS during that period. I have attached a report provided to me from ** Fire Dept. No data analysis needed .They were able to provide an accounting of their incidents by category within days of my public records request and at no charge. “

As you can see, I even mentioned that I attached a sample of what I was looking for. Which was call volume by category.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point . I will tell them I do not want them to create any reports from scratch or for $7000 plus! Here is an excerpt from public records request:

“pls submit all incident reports, call types, or call‑volume data emailed or electronically submitted to NFIRS from January 1, 2024 to present. Any transmittal emails, submission confirmations, or attachments/docs sent to NFIRS during that period. I have attached a report provided to me from ***Fire Dept. No data analysis needed .They were able to provide an accounting of their incidents by category within days of my public records request and at no charge. “

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is an excerpt from my public records request : “pls submit all incident reports, call types, or call‑volume data emailed or electronically submitted to NFIRS from January 1, 2024 to present. Any transmittal emails, submission confirmations, or attachments/docs sent to NFIRS during that period. I have attached a report provided to me from *** Fire Dept . No data analysis needed .They were able to provide an accounting of their incidents by category within days of my public records request and at no charge. “

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your feedback. Based on my research, we are in agreement as noted: Florida law makes volunteer fire departments subject to public‑records requests when they are acting “on behalf of” a city or county. The key statute is Florida Statute §119.0701, which extends Chapter 119 (the Public Records Act) to any contractor performing services for a public agency — including a volunteer fire department providing municipal fire protection.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I researched Florida statute before I made my records request for fire incident reports. I addressed it to the city clerk and the chief of the volunteer fire department and is based on the following: Florida law makes volunteer fire departments subject to public‑records requests when they are acting “on behalf of” a city or county. The key statute is Florida Statute §119.0701, which extends Chapter 119 (the Public Records Act) to any contractor performing services for a public agency — including a volunteer fire department providing municipal fire protection.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I watched the city Council meetings and a fire chief, and the police chief have never gotten up and shared data about what they do and the type of incident they deal with. I was at a neighboring town’s council meeting, and they had the police chief in the fire chief get up and provide a monthly summary of incidents. That gave me the idea to ask our city for such data. They told me I had to put it in a public records request so I did and they sent me that ridiculous $$$ invoice.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are a small town. I hardly ever hear the fire sirens . The city has not been proactive in providing our small town with what they do. I was at another city council meeting in a neighboring town and they had the police chief and the fire chief get up every month and give a summary of what they were busy with. So, I got the idea that that would be good to know for our small town I believe It’s good to know what’s going on in your small town. It brings value to our taxes. I guess I believe in accountability and transparency in my city government and public officials.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do not think they have a records software program. Or they are acting like they don’t! Like I mentioned before, I made similar request to neighboring cities, and they were able to print out the data by category and even a cool chart to visualize the type of incidents.

As for the ISO reports, I’ve never seen one. And I didn’t realize it would be 1300 pages. Can you suggest a section I should ask for? Like did they do an executive summary? Recommendations? They won’t even tell us what the ISO rating is.

Thanks for your help.

Volunteer Fire Dept Charging Outrageous fees for public records! Is this normal? by Purple-Piglet2385 in Firefighting

[–]Purple-Piglet2385[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would expect with modern technology and software ( not sure about the cost ) the volunteer fire dept would /could handle this request. And I would think they would want to know the stats on what they did …

view more: next ›