In the next six to seven months, Albert Lea’s fire department will go under review by a consulting firm.

The review will look at whether there should be changes in staffing for the department, along with what should be done with the existing fire station and who should be the leader.

“We’re not making any determinations on the fire department at this point,” Mayor Vern Rasmussen said. “It’s just looking at what’s the best option for the city of Albert Lea.”

Rasmussen and City Manager Chad Adams said the efficiency is an area the city leaders are studying while steering the city through tight budget times. A consultant is being hired to get an outside viewpoint.

Adams said “a great deal of quantitative analysis” will go into the review. There are variables such as what is the community’s desired response time and how insurance ratings will play into the decision. A slow response time could increase rates for Albert Lea property owners.

The Albert Lea City Council on Monday approved sending out a request for proposals for consultant services for the review.

The deadline for receiving proposals from firms for the project will be Dec. 21 with the selection of the consultant by early January.

Costs for the review are slated to be paid with fire interest earnings. The city has earnings from a pension plan it once maintained for firefighters and police officers. The plan is now merged with a state pension plan, but those earnings produce interest that the city spends on public safety.

The process will involve talking with existing firefighters and leadership, along with past community fire leaders, city staff, Mayo Clinic Health Systems staff, the mayor and City Council, the community and neighboring fire jurisdictions.

The consultant’s report would be completed in May or June.

In other action, the City Council:

• Confirmed the city’s ward boundaries after a review of the 2010 U.S. Census figures.

Adams said the populations in the city’s six wards did not deviate by more than 10 percent on average from their previous totals.

The council is required by the City Charter to review the ward boundaries within two years after the federal census is taken.

• Approved a fund balance policy as recommended by the State Auditor’s Office. The policy states the unassigned general fund balance should not be less than 50 percent of the next year’s general fund budgeted expenditures.

• Authorized a general fund transfer of $463,075 in surplus from the 2010 budget.

Of that total, $438,075 was transferred to the building services fund to cover improvements to City Hall during the next year and for a new boiler and water heater at the city pool.

Twenty-five thousand was transferred to the Broadway Ridge Grant Fund.

• Amended the Broadway Ridge Grant Program policy to clarify that properties on Broadway Avenue will be reviewed on a first-come basis, while properties off Broadway Avenue in the downtown will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

• Ratified several improvements to City Hall that had been voted on during the council’s preagenda workshop last Thursday.

• Accepted a grant from Freeborn County Partners in Prevention for $5,000 to be put to the development of the new countywide prescription drug disposal program.

• Withdrew an assessment for 206 N. Ninth Ave. for overlay and sidewalk on Fountain Street. The assessment was made in error.

• Deferred assessments at 313 E. Eight St. and 606 E. Eighth St.

• Deferred assessments at 2229 Margaretha Ave. The assessments had been approved on Oct. 10.

• Adopted miscellaneous assessments at 1107 Amelia Place, 805 Ulstad Ave., 321 Burr Oak Drive, and 715 Ulstad Ave.

• Approved the appointment of Mark Schaetzke from the Freeborn County Soil and Watershed Conservation District to the city’s Technical Evaluation Panel.

• Authorized an agreement that allows the Minnesota Department of Transportation to act as the city’s agent in accepting federal funds for transportation-related projects.

• Approved a request from St. Theodore Catholic Church to have the Our Lady of Guadalupe processional at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 12.

The processional will start at the church, go west on Fountain Street to Broadway Avenue and then go south on Broadway to Clark Street. Participants will turn east onto Clark Street and then return at the church.