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Tennessee Council Plans Vote On Fire Protection Plan
JASON HIBBS
WPSD
Reprinted with Permission
OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - "It was a great plan, but it never took off."
FireEMSBlogs Updates
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That's what the creator of a comprehensive, countywide fire protection plan said about a resolution that could have prevented the controversy surrounding last week's Obion County fire.
Richard Chestean designed the detailed plan in 1987. It would have given everyone in the county fire protection. County commissioners liked it and voted yes.
And then nothing happened for 23 years.
About two years ago, county leaders voted to scrap the whole thing and start over. The creator of the plan said county leaders ignored because no one could agree on how to fund it.
So, the debate on whether to tax or offer subscription service has gone on for decades, while houses in the county continue to burn to the ground.
Chestean is a humble man but admitted the resolution he created is pretty good.
"We felt really confident we were going to be able to pull this off," he said.
So confident that back in 1987, he and other Obion County commissioners voted yes. They separated the county into districts and even appointed a fire chief but one thing divided the leaders, halting the resolution.
"It just stalled because of the funding," he said.
Obion County Commissioners wouldn't raise taxes to pay for a service that many were getting for free from nearby cities.
"Before, they never had to have a subscription. They came out anyway," said Chestean of the area fire departments.
But now times have changed. After the fire that destroyed Gene Cranick's home, the heat is on.
A new plan is in the works. Dean Jowers, Obion County's fire commission chairperson, will bring it before the commission in a few weeks.
Jowers said it's similar to Chestean's plan, but doesn't raise taxes and is a subscription service.
"No way to enforce that they pay it, if you charge everybody," Jowers said. "So, a number of people will not pay it."
But Chestean is against this newest proposal because of the effect it will have on stations like Hornbeak. They now respond to all fires in the area and didn't ask for a dime. Under countywide subscription service, all of Obion County will be just like South Fulton.
"You may only have 40 percent of people within Hornbeak's five mile radius that signed up," Chestean said. "Those 60 percent of other people, if they call Hornbeak, they're gonna say, 'Sorry, you're not on subscription."
He's afraid under that system, you'll see homes like Gene Cranick's throughout Obion County go up in flames, and firefighters forced to watch them burn.
Chestean said that something is better than nothing. That's because under the current system, those departments that don't charge to go out to the county are not obligated to respond at all.
Some are afraid that with all this bad publicity, the departments will decide to no longer cover the county at all.
If something is put into place, it would guarantee some form of protection to those who are willing to pay.
County leaders will vote on that proposal Oct. 18.
WPSD
Reprinted with Permission
OBION COUNTY, Tenn. - "It was a great plan, but it never took off."
FireEMSBlogs Updates
South Fulton Fire Dilemma
Related
- Fire Plan Could Have Prevented Controversy
- Tennessee Firefighters Let Home Burn Over Subscription Issue
- Firefighter Netcast: Firefighters Watch as Home Burns
That's what the creator of a comprehensive, countywide fire protection plan said about a resolution that could have prevented the controversy surrounding last week's Obion County fire.
Richard Chestean designed the detailed plan in 1987. It would have given everyone in the county fire protection. County commissioners liked it and voted yes.
And then nothing happened for 23 years.
About two years ago, county leaders voted to scrap the whole thing and start over. The creator of the plan said county leaders ignored because no one could agree on how to fund it.
So, the debate on whether to tax or offer subscription service has gone on for decades, while houses in the county continue to burn to the ground.
Chestean is a humble man but admitted the resolution he created is pretty good.
"We felt really confident we were going to be able to pull this off," he said.
So confident that back in 1987, he and other Obion County commissioners voted yes. They separated the county into districts and even appointed a fire chief but one thing divided the leaders, halting the resolution.
"It just stalled because of the funding," he said.
Obion County Commissioners wouldn't raise taxes to pay for a service that many were getting for free from nearby cities.
"Before, they never had to have a subscription. They came out anyway," said Chestean of the area fire departments.
But now times have changed. After the fire that destroyed Gene Cranick's home, the heat is on.
A new plan is in the works. Dean Jowers, Obion County's fire commission chairperson, will bring it before the commission in a few weeks.
Jowers said it's similar to Chestean's plan, but doesn't raise taxes and is a subscription service.
"No way to enforce that they pay it, if you charge everybody," Jowers said. "So, a number of people will not pay it."
But Chestean is against this newest proposal because of the effect it will have on stations like Hornbeak. They now respond to all fires in the area and didn't ask for a dime. Under countywide subscription service, all of Obion County will be just like South Fulton.
"You may only have 40 percent of people within Hornbeak's five mile radius that signed up," Chestean said. "Those 60 percent of other people, if they call Hornbeak, they're gonna say, 'Sorry, you're not on subscription."
He's afraid under that system, you'll see homes like Gene Cranick's throughout Obion County go up in flames, and firefighters forced to watch them burn.
Chestean said that something is better than nothing. That's because under the current system, those departments that don't charge to go out to the county are not obligated to respond at all.
Some are afraid that with all this bad publicity, the departments will decide to no longer cover the county at all.
If something is put into place, it would guarantee some form of protection to those who are willing to pay.
County leaders will vote on that proposal Oct. 18.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Karr Quintero on
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i agree, equal tax= equal coverage.
theres got to be a gaurateed support for fire service.
this outcome and others like it should be the poster child for this whole issue, print out in the local papers average cost of vfd's and get the poeple involved other then just talking. let them protect their communities as we do ours. this whole time im wondering if this guy even had a garden hose at hand? he in my opinion would not make a good volunteer FF...lol
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the tax is fully costitutional due to nessesity, its not to make the "king" richer or to support an army.
thats why we have taxes today
Amendment 16
Income taxes
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
taxes ar not bad just badly used, and most are unjustified. but some we need like for our military,roads,schools,ect,and fire
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Karr, you missed the point.
Obion County has NO fire taxes. Congress doesn't have the ability to levy LOCAL taxes.
You can't force Obion County to increase their taxes to support a fire department when their citizens have repeatedly indicated that they want neither higher taxes nor a county fire department. What you want has essentially a zero chance for ever happening there.
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then what do they want? what they still have?
money gotta come from somewhere.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Karr,
This has been mentioned several different times.
Obion County has a County Mayor and County Commissioners. That is the government for the County. They assess and collect taxes to support the County. The 8 municipalities are NOT part of the County government, taxes levied on County residents go to support all county functions EXCEPT fire protection. There is NO county fire protection and the County Commissioners have chosen NOT to create a county fire department in order to keep taxes LOW. This is what the county residents want and will continue to get until/unless they change their county leadership.
At this point in time, the county government is only willing to go for a subscription service fee, which only continues the present situation. No matter, unless a majority of county residents decide that they would prefer (somewhat) higher taxes AND fire protection, the system in place now is what they are willing to settle for. What you think or how you think things should be just doesn't apply here, it's their choice.
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seems to be s sad situation...
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A little of it comes from the South Fulton city taxpayers and a little more comes from their subscribers who live in the county, and that's all they have.
That's why they can't afford to provide free fire protection to their non-subscribers.
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One of the major drawbacks of "big" government; they tend to provide need services to everyone.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Obion County Commissioners wouldn't raise taxes to pay for a service that many were getting for free from nearby cities.
And South Fulton is the bad guys here how.....
Some are afraid that with all this bad publicity, the departments will decide to no longer cover the county at all.
I say stop responding for free so the village idots (sorry county commissioners) will actually make the proposed plan or changes happen. Fund protection for all.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Them damn facts....gee, they always seem to get in the way of a good emotionally charged response, don't they?
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