Budget work session held
Hopkins County volunteer fire departments gathered for a work session with the county commissioners to discuss any improvements the departments would like to see and a meeting of minds to share thoughts.
Last year cylinders were distributed to the stations amidst the pandemic as part of a coronavirus relief package.
Arbala VFD went first, starting by thanking the county for everything they do to help the stations and for inviting them to share their thoughts. The monthly stipend received by the stations has been the same for over 20 years and the secretary treasurer from the Arbala volunteer fire department feels that should be re-evaluated.
Arbala shared that they had purchased an engine for their station three years ago and recently purchased a second engine, however their monthly stipend had not been increased.
Lozano shared that Arbala was wondering if the monthly stipend might be increased, not just for them, but all across the board for all volunteer stations.
“Now that the station is needing to apply for 501(c3) status there is a lot of paperwork that needs to be printed out and copied for the IRS, so another thing they were looking at was getting access to a copy machine or purchasing one for the station
"Being listed as a 501(c3) requires meticulous records and loads of extra paperwork,” Arbala secretary treasurer Karen Lozano shared.
“I can go ahead and help with that right now,” Fire Marshall Andy Endsley said. “Feel free to come down to station 20, we have a copier that you can plug in a USB drive and print straight from that, or you can send an email to it and print that way.”
Lozano next mentioned the air cylinders that were purchased with CARES Act funding last year. These cylinders were purchased to replace equipment that was out of date or to be given to stations that lacked enough to protect all of their members.
The cylinders were divided between the stations with all volunteer departments receiving four new cylinders and departments that responded to calls with engines for structural firefighting receiving an additional one.
Endsley and the commissioners credited former commissioner Beth Wisenbaker for helping in the process to gather the funding for the cylinders.
“We were wondering if it might be feasible for the county to purchases more cylinders, if that was perhaps in the budget,” Lozano asked. “Those cylinders that Arbala got are the only ones we have that up to date. Also, we need some kind of recording system that way we are able to turn in that information for the FEMA grants because they require a recording program of some kind and we don’t have that. A lot of grants that we would like to apply for, we don’t qualify because we do not have this system.”
Lozano asked if the county could provide funding for the purchase of the system or did the station need to purchase it on their own and apply for reimbursement.
“That is something that we haven’t talked to Emergency Reporting Systems who we use for the county reporting, there is a way to piggy back the volunteers system off of the county system at a cost to it. I’ve got it broken down, but don’t have it with me right now. I imagine the more we put on there, the better the price,” Endsley answered.
Another request was for more radios at the Arbala station for their volunteer members, Lozano shared that there are volunteers wanting to join but without radios they are having to turn people away. The station is requesting that if they can not receive more radios if their volunteers could be added to the E-Dispatch system.
Endsley shared that the county is already looking into a regional AFG grant that would cover all stations in the county but are waiting to hear back from the vendors that are doing the topographical survey.
“The survey is looking at using the rescue money to repair the communications tower out at the Thermo coal mine because it maybe only has year or two left in it. It looks like the wind could just blow it down,” Endsley added. “It’s a slow process, we’re working with a grant writer as well. At the moment, we’re looking at getting more consoles for the dispatch. The ones we have now are eight years old and while they’re not broken down yet, they don’t make parts for them anymore.”
Next, Bobby Harris from the North Hopkins volunteer fire station shared that their new station is almost complete with sheet metal on the way.
Ray Sparks from the Miller Grove station shared that fuel seems to be one of the biggest expenses shared by all the stations and if the county didn’t pay it, it would take a huge chunk from their monthly stipends.
Sparks also shared that they have an apparatus without a radio and it’s too loud inside to use a handheld unit inside. Sparks asked the commissioners and other stations for any ideas they had for finding a solution.
Tires and other time sensitive equipment seemed to be the biggest area of concern for the stations.
The stations seem to be concerned with the liabilities involved if something happens, such as when the Brinker fire station had a blow out on one of their trucks and were in an accident.
Miller Grove told commissioners that they have a large apparatus with tires that are 12 years old and regulations state that tires must be replaced every five years.
A request was presented to the commissioners for them to consider purchasing tires in bulk and storing them until they’re needed instead of liquidating cash to the stations.
Endsley mentioned that there might be some discounts for buying tires in bulk or getting a government rate.
The Tira volunteer fire station shared that finding volunteers seems to be their main issue but also had tires that were out of date.
Harris of North Hopkins shared that they were in the process of taking on a newer fire engine, hopefully by next week.
“Our grand opening has been delayed so many times, I can’t give you a timeline,” Harris said. “The frame is paid for but the sheet metal has been delayed. While it was delayed, the price went up another $2,000.”
John Beadle and Dutch Vallant of the Saltillo volunteer station shared that other than tires, their station is running well.
“The county saved us a considerable amount of money by taking over the fuel costs,” Beadle shared. “We greatly appreciate that.”
Commissioner Wade Bartley shared that the commissioner’s have been looking into selling off some scrap sheet metal and dividing the sum between the departments.
“We talked about this a few years ago, selling the metal will give us a little extra money but we’re not sure of the amount until the budget is drawn up,” Greg Anglin said.