CROWN POINT | Acting Fire Chief Mark Baumgardner said the city Fire Department is teetering on the brink of being able to handle an influx of fire rescue calls.

"Now we're barely hanging on as to what we have as far as answering calls," he told the City Council budget committee. "We're beginning to lose the ability to handle that."

The committee listened to round one of city departments' budget requests Tuesday night. It will hear the remaining departments, including police, parks and courts, from 6 to 9 tonight in City Council chambers.

The most significant changes proposed Tuesday were to the fire and planning and building departments.

Baumgardner requested the City Council consider hiring another full-time fire inspector and three more full-time firefighters in 2008. The department hasn't hired any new full-timers since January of 2003, he said.

Crown Point now is below Insurance Service Organization standards for the number of firefighters related to population. The standards help determine what residents and businesses pay for insurance.

"Obviously we have some catching up to do, but it's not going to happen in one or even two years," he said. "We need to start a religious pattern of hiring new people every year ... to keep up with growth."

Baumgardner also joined the majority of other city department heads in his request for a 3 percent across-the-board raise for employees. There is no increase proposed to City Council members' salaries, said City Councilman Andrew Kyres, who presented the council's budget.

Planning Director Curt Graves also proposed 3 percent raises for the Planning and Building Department staff. He requested the city invest in boosting the part-time building inspector position to full-time.

"It would streamline the whole system," Graves said. "I think the builders would be elated. You need someone out there daily."

Graves said the city spent almost $44,000 for Building Inspector Fred Rzonca and his assistant to respond to all the buliders' requests for inspections. He estimates it would cost about $57,000 to $62,000 to fund the new position, which could be offset by a slight increase in building permit fees.

The demand for service warrants the increase, he said.

"I always felt we were able to stay above the curve a little bit until the last year or so," Graves said. "It's gotten ridiculous."