Liberty County commissioners gave the county fire chief the go-ahead to make a pitch for fire coverage to Midway City Council.
Liberty County Fire Chief Brian Darby presented a proposal to commissioners that will provide fire services for Midway at a cost to the city. Chief Darby broached the idea to Midway’s city council earlier this month, but without cost figures.
Commissioners agreed to have Darby proceed with talks with Midway, following his presentation of a fully-staffed fire station providing coverage for Midway residents. The county chief outlined a five-year contract, to go into effect January 1, 2025, for Midway.
Midway’s all-volunteer fire department is no longer answering calls. Liberty County’s fire department, with its headquarters at Miller Park just a couple of miles from Midway, has been running calls for fire and for EMS when it needs a fire engine presence.
“We have been doing this for some time now,” Chief Darby said.
County Administrator Joey Brown stressed to commissioners that the costs for a fire coverage plan for Midway would be borne by the city and not the county. The costs to upgrade the equipment, buy new apparatus, including vehicles, and salaries would be covered by the city.
“There is no part of this that is not subsidized by the City of Midway,” he said. “It is envisioned there would be a contract and they would pay 100% of the cost of equipment, the new employees, so it would not pull away from your mission. It won’t take away from anything you’re trying to do.”
Darby pointed out there is a startup cost to bring the Midway department’s gear that is below standard up to par and provide equipment that is not on hand.
Under the proposal, a new station would be built in the Barrington Ferry Road area, covering a gap in the county’s coverage.
“We have a blank spot in our canvas on E.B. Cooper Highway,” Brown said. “It would need to be in a place not in Midway, not in Riceboro. We know Midway is going to grow, Riceboro is going to grow. At some point in time, that station is going to have be put in there anyway.”
Brown added it does not make sense to put money into the current Midway station, which is beset with problems, if there is a building outside the city limits covering the city and a larger area. Darby also pointed out that homeowners in Midway may not face higher insurance premiums, a result of higher ISO ratings without a station, if one is built between Midway and Riceboro.
“The city residents still fall within a five road-mile radius, especially from the new location, so they would not suffer any further degradation of their insurance premiums,” he said. “It does not have to be within the city limits for them to get that rate.”
Initially, there would be six additional firefighters and one engine assigned to Midway. Over the course of the contract, more personnel would be assigned, eventually getting to three firefighters and one lieutenant per shift.
For the first year, Darby pegged the cost at $814,000 to operate the six additional firefighters out of Miller Park, including salaries and wages and operations, such as training, bunker gear and radios.
By year five, with the additional staffing, the salaries would be just under $900,000 and the total costs, including equipment and station construction, are expected to be about $1.56 million. How the City of Midway would pay for that, Brown said, is up to the city.
Darby said he has not discussed numbers with the Midway City Council, which canceled its work session Monday because of a lack of a quorum.
Commissioners recalled talks with cities years ago on sharing fire coverage but getting rebuffed. Brown said the county could approach Riceboro about sharing in the proposed Barrington Ferry Road station.
Darby also noted time was of the essence to get a deal for fire protection accomplished.
“They’re on a time window,” he said of Midway. “Soon, their compliance will be pulled and it will default to the Liberty County Board of Commissioners.”
The chief also warned that the county’s continued coverage from the Miller Park station could impact residents outside of Midway’s city limits.
“We’re playing a very dicey game right now,” he said. “If we continue to handle these calls and it starts affecting our ability to respond to calls to the unincorporated citizens, it will affect their ISO and that is not fair to those taxpaying citizens.”
Commissioners also agreed to purchase a new tanker to replace one lost in a vehicle accident. The cost of the new tanker is approximately $540,000 and could be delivered as soon as 60 to 90 days, Darby said. Money left over from the special purpose local option sales tax VI funds will be used.