A Catoosa County fire committee is now in place to ponder consolidation, but fire officials haven’t warmed to the idea.

Catoosa County Chairman Bill Clark brought together interested parties to discuss consolidation of t fire services in Catoosa County on Aug. 2 at the Governmental Building.

Gathered at the first meeting were Fort Oglethorpe Fire & Rescue Chief Bruce Ballew, Post Volunteer Fire Department Chairman Marlin Thompson, Catoosa County Fire & Rescue Chief Chuck Gass, CCFR Deputy Chief Jim White, Catoosa County Manager Ron Brown, Ringgold Mayor Joe Barger, Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Judd Burkhart, Catoosa County Attorney Chad Young, Fort Oglethorpe City Council members Jane Moye and Harold Silcox and other county staff.

Clark turned the meeting over to Commissioner Dewayne Hill who will lead the fire committee on behalf of the commissioners.

The gathering began with some sharp questions from Chief Ballew, asserting the county must already have a plan in place since its proposed budget numbers will eliminate funding from Fort Oglethorpe and reduce the amount for Post volunteers. According to budget numbers, the reduction is proposed to be from $216,000 down to $100,000.

Ballew said there are commissioners who don’t even know what’s going on and everyone needs to be on the same page.

Hill said the focus for the committee should be planning for the future and establishing the goals the county needs to reach.

In the process, the committee should discuss the needs for volunteers and full-time firefighters, pros and cons of consolidation, and improve lines of communication, among other items, he said.

“We are not just looking for the present,” he said. “Y’all are doing a fantastic job (directed at fire chiefs). It’s just looking to the future of where we want to be.”

Burkhart said he is concerned about Fort Oglethorpe being taken completely out of the budgetary mix and not receiving any county fire funding. The county previously provided $175,000 and cut it to zero in the projected budget.

“Why are you changing it now?” he said. “You haven’t even talked with us.”

Brown pointed out budgetary discussions can be brought to the table during the upcoming public hearings beginning next Tuesday.

Chief Gass said the biggest issue he is facing with his department is a lack of trust between the volunteers for the Board of Commissioners. He said the commissioners told his firefighters in a public meeting it will hold on advertising for a chief until this committee process, and then a week later the advertisement was published.

“This budget looks like you have a plan,” he said. “You’ve taken all of Post’s money away. October first they are out of luck. Post can’t operate three months on that money. They have told you what they have to have.”

White said Catoosa Fire & Rescue is not sure the county has not already picked someone for the job.

Thompson said Post will need the budget to go back the way it was.

“You can’t leave one side out of balance to the other,” Ballew said.

Fort Oglethorpe Fire & Rescue and the Post volunteers primarily provide fire coverage for the city of Fort Oglethorpe and the western side of the county with Catoosa Fire & Rescue primarily covering the rest. The departments often assist one another in fighting fires.

Barger said the county should consider changing the proposed budget to allow for adequate funding until the committee completes its work and makes it recommendations and then the county can go forward.

He added the county needs to make sure taxpayers from around Catoosa are all contributing equally to the countywide fire services.

The fire departments agreed to continue meeting with Commissioner Hill to finalize recommendations on what the county goals need to be and then take those issues back to the elected leadership to discuss funding issues.

CLICK ON THESE LINKS

---

FEEDBACK: Send a
letter to the editor

SUBSCRIBE: Get The Catoosa County News each Wednesday

GO
BACK: Return to our homepage

---

[ad1]