An intergovernmental workshop was held on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 between the Town of Havana and the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues related to the county fire service contract, and for the Board of County Commissioners to offer direction in resolving those issues.
The meeting took place in the Commission Chambers at the Edward J. ButlerGovernmental Complex in Quincy and began at 5 p.m.
Following a brief introduction to the meeting’s purpose by the County Administrator, Edward J. Dixon, Havana Councilmember Tabatha Nelson and Havana Town Manager Kendrah Wilkerson were invited to the podium to address the Board of County Commissioners.
Councilmember Nelson began with a request for funding in the amount of $105,000 with an 18 month contract.
Town Manager Wilkerson then explained that the amount requested was based on a budget analysis of the past several years, along with the sheer volume of calls for fire service in the county.
Wilkerson also stated her concern that the current contract amount would not be adequate to cover the necessary costs of fire protection.
“When all of the funds are used up in the first quarter, what then?” Wilkerson asked the Board.
For purposes of clarity, Board Chair and District 5 Commissioner Ronterious Green asked Wilkerson what the current contract stipulated.
“The contract as written is that the town will fund half of the stipend (compensation provided to responding firefighters) for responding to calls within town limits and the county would pay 100% for calls outside of town limits,” Wilkerson answered.
“We’re pretty much here to say that we like the Quincy Fire Department Contract,” said Nelson. “It’s clear, it’s an appropriate contract. We don’t like that the contract we were given was different. It has a lot of expectations in it that a volunteer fire department just can’t commit to. We’re volunteers, not paid firefighters. We have to hold up standards expected of paid firefighters. We don’t have the time to put into the fire service that a paid firefighter does. But we do all those standard services.”
Nelson went on to state that their contract went from two pages to ten, and that “the requirements are outrageous.”
“And then we found out that you wanted everything to be cohesive, and then you gave Quincy a different contract. We like Quincy’s contract. It doesn’t have all of the wording in it that does not allow the volunteer fire department to exist. It’s not feasible.”
Nelson added that they are not looking for a three year contract, but a one and a half year contract and then a review at the end of that period.
Nelson also said that they feel like the county should be paying for 86% of their calls due to the fact that 86% of the calls they covered in the past three years were out in the county.
The Board also heard from Councilmembers Matt Wesdowki and Lawrence Reed, who reinforced Havana’s message that they wanted to be of service to the county, but could not afford to do so under the current contract.
The Board then invited citizens who wished to speak on the matter to come forward.
Doug Crowley was next to speak, stating that although he lives outside of Havana, he is dependent on the town to provide fire protection.
Crowley also expressed concern that Havana, along with other towns, had lost their ISO rating, and that this was an issue that every effort should be made to remedy.
Karen Watson also spoke, and brought up the point that her homeowner’s insurance has jumped to over $7000 as a result of the poor ISO rating and the confusion of the current fire services contract.
County Administrator Dixon brought up the point that the low ISO ratings were a county-wide issue, and had been an issue for many years.
As for Quincy having a different contract, Dixon explained that they were looked at differently because they manned their station 24/7.
Dixon also mentioned that the board had instructed him to stabilize the situation.
District 4 Commissioner Brenda Holt stated that she is happy with the current contract, and wanted the county to fund a station on the East side of the County to be manned 24/7, which would take a lot of pressure off the Havana department.
Holt also stated that the verbiage of the Havana contract could not be the same as Quincy because Quincy is full time and Havana is not.
Another issue brought up by Holt was that the County is currently seeking funding from the State in order to fund its fire services, but they would only do so if a better system exists to report data needed to assess how new funding would be utilized.
Commissioner Green asked what would happen if Havana and the County were unable to resolve the contract, to which Administrator Dixon replied that the next step would be to increase staff and relocate resources to the Dogtown Station. Because County EMTs and paramedics are required to have fire training, they would have around 20 certified firefighters to call on.
After some further discussion and clarifications, Commissioner Green thanked the Town of Havana and everyone who attended the meeting, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Stephen Klein
Gadsden County News Service
An intergovernmental workshop was held on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 between the Town of Havana and the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues related to the county fire service contract, and for the Board of County Commissioners to offer direction in resolving those issues.
The meeting took place in the Commission Chambers at the Edward J. ButlerGovernmental Complex in Quincy and began at 5 p.m.
Following a brief introduction to the meeting’s purpose by the County Administrator, Edward J. Dixon, Havana Councilmember Tabatha Nelson and Havana Town Manager Kendrah Wilkerson were invited to the podium to address the Board of County Commissioners.
Councilmember Nelson began with a request for funding in the amount of $105,000 with an 18 month contract.
Town Manager Wilkerson then explained that the amount requested was based on a budget analysis of the past several years, along with the sheer volume of calls for fire service in the county.
Wilkerson also stated her concern that the current contract amount would not be adequate to cover the necessary costs of fire protection.
“When all of the funds are used up in the first quarter, what then?” Wilkerson asked the Board.
For purposes of clarity, Board Chair and District 5 Commissioner Ronterious Green asked Wilkerson what the current contract stipulated.
“The contract as written is that the town will fund half of the stipend (compensation provided to responding firefighters) for responding to calls within town limits and the county would pay 100% for calls outside of town limits,” Wilkerson answered.
“We’re pretty much here to say that we like the Quincy Fire Department Contract,” said Nelson. “It’s clear, it’s an appropriate contract. We don’t like that the contract we were given was different. It has a lot of expectations in it that a volunteer fire department just can’t commit to. We’re volunteers, not paid firefighters. We have to hold up standards expected of paid firefighters. We don’t have the time to put into the fire service that a paid firefighter does. But we do all those standard services.”
Nelson went on to state that their contract went from two pages to ten, and that “the requirements are outrageous.”
“And then we found out that you wanted everything to be cohesive, and then you gave Quincy a different contract. We like Quincy’s contract. It doesn’t have all of the wording in it that does not allow the volunteer fire department to exist. It’s not feasible.”
Nelson added that they are not looking for a three year contract, but a one and a half year contract and then a review at the end of that period.
Nelson also said that they feel like the county should be paying for 86% of their calls due to the fact that 86% of the calls they covered in the past three years were out in the county.
The Board also heard from Councilmembers Matt Wesdowki and Lawrence Reed, who reinforced Havana’s message that they wanted to be of service to the county, but could not afford to do so under the current contract.
The Board then invited citizens who wished to speak on the matter to come forward.
Doug Crowley was next to speak, stating that although he lives outside of Havana, he is dependent on the town to provide fire protection.
Crowley also expressed concern that Havana, along with other towns, had lost their ISO rating, and that this was an issue that every effort should be made to remedy.
Karen Watson also spoke, and brought up the point that her homeowner’s insurance has jumped to over $7000 as a result of the poor ISO rating and the confusion of the current fire services contract.
County Administrator Dixon brought up the point that the low ISO ratings were a county-wide issue, and had been an issue for many years.
As for Quincy having a different contract, Dixon explained that they were looked at differently because they manned their station 24/7.
Dixon also mentioned that the board had instructed him to stabilize the situation.
District 4 Commissioner Brenda Holt stated that she is happy with the current contract, and wanted the county to fund a station on the East side of the County to be manned 24/7, which would take a lot of pressure off the Havana department.
Holt also stated that the verbiage of the Havana contract could not be the same as Quincy because Quincy is full time and Havana is not.
Another issue brought up by Holt was that the County is currently seeking funding from the State in order to fund its fire services, but they would only do so if a better system exists to report data needed to assess how new funding would be utilized.
Commissioner Green asked what would happen if Havana and the County were unable to resolve the contract, to which Administrator Dixon replied that the next step would be to increase staff and relocate resources to the Dogtown Station. Because County EMTs and paramedics are required to have fire training, they would have around 20 certified firefighters to call on.
After some further discussion and clarifications, Commissioner Green thanked the Town of Havana and everyone who attended the meeting, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Stephen Klein – Gadsden County News Service