Still no agreement on Lawtey fire station
BY MELISSA PYLE
Special to the Telegraph
The fire department was a heated topic at the Lawtey City Council Meeting, which was delayed a week because of Tropical Storm Debby.
There were no Bradford County Fire Rescue representatives at the August meeting due to the schedule change, but that did not inhibit discussions about the department and the pending memorandum of understating between the city and county.
There have been delays in approving a new agreement for two years.
The county took over operations at the Lawtey Fire Department in October 2020, but the city council has yet to sign a new MOU with the county. The council members stated the meeting that was previously scheduled with Chief Ben Carter had to be canceled because they didn’t have enough council members to attend the scheduled meeting.
Councilwoman Emily Hoffman said she wants members to send a list of detailed concerns so the county can respond. Clerk Lisa Harley said the fire department still hasn’t provided estimated costs for specific items. Hoffman, who is the city’s liaison with the fire department, said she feels like council members are “moving the target” for the county.
“They want to have an agreement,” Hoffman said. “They wrote it (a new agreement) and finally gave it to us, and we can’t come up with a list with what we want changed? That’s our responsibility. We need to take accountability for that. It’s been months.”
She stressed the importance of members putting their requests in writing to present to the county.
Councilwoman Virginia Warner has stated the small city doesn’t have the same resources the county has and city’s residents should not have to shoulder as much of the cost because the fire department serves all of the county from the Lawtey station. Citizens and council members stated they are concerned the department will leave Lawtey if a MOU agreement is not reached.
When reached for a response, Chief Carter said the department does not plan to leave Lawtey.
Warner said she had made a records request to receive a budget breakdown from the county and had yet to receive it. Other members in attendance responded that the county’s budget is public information and available online. Police Chief Jerry Feltner read what he claimed were the salaries of the top five employees of the fire department.
The county has since responded and stated that salaries read were not the current salaries, but proposed salaries and that they had not seen a records request from Warner.
The Bradford County Fire Rescue budget (which includes fire and emergency medical services) for the year is $9.15 million, with $1,76 million coming from grants. The Lawtey station provides emergency services for the county, but especially the north end of Bradford. The location of the station is convenient to U.S. 301 and allows for quick response times.
Currently the Lawtey station is staffed with a minimum of two firefighters and two EMS personnel each day. The county pays for all personnel, fuel and any accidental damages. Costs associated with maintenance and electricity are paid by the city of Lawtey. At time of publication, Lawtey had not provided a breakdown of its costs for comparison.
Response times came into question as a benefit to the station being in Lawtey. Warner said the “response times in the last six months have been terrible for the city of Lawtey.” There was also an accusation of a 47-minute delay to a recent heart attack patient in Lawtey, just blocks from the station.
When contacted, Carter wanted to assure the public this was a misrepresentation of his department and the call in question. He provided a detailed timeline of events:
—Engine 50 from the Lawtey station was on scene within four minutes after the call was dispatched.
—CPR was started immediately and the patient was on a cardiac monitor within six minutes of the call.
—An ambulance did not arrive on scene for 13 minutes because the ambulance from Lawtey was on another call.
—Once stable, the patient was transported and arrived at the hospital by minute 45.
This was not the only accusation the department faced during the meeting. Feltner said the department sent seven vehicles to a shed fire, and the “tanker was over there and it was out of water.” The department clarified this was not a shed fire, but a camper fire caused by an explosion. Carter stated that two departments were on scene due to the nature of the call and because there were only two personnel per truck. The fire was under control within 15 minutes of units arriving and none of the tankers ran out of water.
“When our engine began to run low on water from extinguishing the fire, we transferred water from the second engine on scene,” Carter said.
The council will meet after its September meeting to address the county’s MOU. The next meeting has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 5, at 6:15 p.m. because of Labor Day.
Council proposes rolling back tax rate
Harley presented millage rate options to the council. The council agreed to move forward the rolled-back rate of 2.2498 mills, which will bring in $46,178 in property taxes.
Councilmembers will be voting to approve the rate after the required hearings have been met.
The council also voted to approve a comprehensive vulnerability assessment. This assessment will be paid for by a grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and will provide recommended improvements to roads, ditches and infrastructure.
Another grant application was approved to repair road and drainage and problems on Grove Street.
Flooding and drainage
Flooding caused by Tropical Storm Debby was a topic of concern at the meeting. A citizen questioned the council why the ditches on the east side of the city are so overgrown when historically there has been a maintenance team with proper equipment to regularly maintain city property.
Harley responded by stating that she was attending a meeting later in the week to secure a grant that would provide funds to clear city ditches and repair the small bridge on Grove Street. The bridge on Grove Street has sustained a lot of damage from multiple storms and severe flooding.
The roads and ditches within city limits were overflowing onto roadways and into homes during Debby. The fire station was taking in water as well.
In other business:
—Chief Feltner’s request to purchase a fully equipped, 4WD 2023 police truck was approved at the price of $43,899.
—city hall hours were voted to be temporarily adjusted on Wednesdays. The office will close at noon for the next month to allow the clerk to complete necessary work on budgets, grants, etc., without interruption.
—the city now has an online payment service for residents who need to pay utility bills.
—Councilwoman Amy Blom wants the city to update policies and procedures, many of which have not been updated since the late 1990s.
—the recreation department presented the structural evaluation on the Lawtey Community Center on Middleburg Road. The department needs to establish wants and costs before proceeding with a grant application to repair the building.
