January 18, 2005

Published in Wake Forest, NC

            Now it appears some directors on the fire department board are ready for the town to take over fire services although the board as a whole has not voted and the board president, Thomas Walters, does not agree. It is also something the town manager is not eager to do.

            “That’s in the future, way down the road,” Walters, a former town commissioner, said Tuesday. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

            During the town board retreat last week, Commissioner Stephen Barrington said, “The majority of the [fire department] board members have shared with me their feeling that this is the right time for the town to take it over.” He did not identify those board members.

            One of the major reasons, Barrington said, is retirement for employees. There are 30-plus paid full- and part-time employees and there are plans to add more as the department adds stations. The department also has 40 volunteers.

            The nonprofit independent fire department contracts with the town and Wake County, with 85 percent of its budget coming from the town, 15 percent from the county.

            Town employees are a part of the state employees’ retirement system, but the fire department cannot offer that because it is a nonprofit.

            “It does hurt us a little bit not to be able to offer state retirement,” Chief David Williams Jr. said this week.

            Commissioner Margaret Jones Stinnett said during the retreat that a volunteer board of directors which usually only meets one night a month is handling a $2.5-million budget. “That’s a lot of money, a lot of responsibility for volunteer directors to handle.” She served on the fire board several years ago and her husband is a board member.

            “It’s a well-run organization,” Walters said, with outside auditors and checks and balances. “We do everything the right way.” Walters said the department’s internal organization mirrors that of the town, a structure that would ease any transition.

            Right now, Walters said, the town has enough to deal with. And, he said, since the town no longer provides water and sewer service, it is struggling to define its purpose.

            Walters had not heard about the fire board members speaking to Barrington and to Mayor Vivian Jones, who said the fire department directors should make an official request “rather than talking to you [Barrington] in the background or me in the background.”  

            “If there is a problem in the way they’re providing service, then we would seriously consider taking it over,” Town Manager Mark Williams said. He has had conversations with board members and fire chiefs in the past and said it was always felt it made sense for fire protection to become a town function at some point.

            The big issue for Williams: “When a municipality takes it over, the cost of providing service goes up considerably.” He pointed to Apex and Morrisville. There is also the question of whether the department would lose volunteers, although the fire chief did not think that would be a problem.

            Williams suggested that a good starting point would be the town board’s February work session when the Chief Williams and Walters are on the agenda to talk about funding for the third fire station, which will be on the Parker-Hannifin property on Wake Union Church Road.

            Williams also said the town would need to do a study as Apex and Morrisville did to identify all the costs and any needed tax rate increase. The requirements are also a little different, he said, when the fire department is part of the town. Currently, 10 cents per $100 valuation of the town’s property tax rate of 54 cents is earmarked for the fire department. Wake County also has 10 cents of the property tax rate set aside for fire protection, but some of it goes into a capital fund for all departments serving rural areas.

            Chief Williams, who was eased out of his $61,000 position last month by the board, has another reason for the town to take over the fire department. “It wouldn’t be so political.”

            As for the board’s decision that he must either be in the office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or resign, Chief Williams said, “I’m OK with the decision that was made. I just don’t like the way it was made.” He will remain as the fulltime paid chief until a new chief is selected, and he also will stay with the department as a volunteer, probably as an assistant chief, Walters said.

            Walters did not vote for Chief Williams to resign. Walters had a lot of praise for the young chief’s accomplishments in a little over a year since he was named an interim chief. All of the goals that the late Jimmy Keith, the department’s first fulltime paid chief, had set have been met by Chief Williams, Walters said. “He’s done a great job.”

            Wake Forest Fire Department Inc. was formed in 1983 by members of the town and rural fire departments – their rosters were identical – and in that same year came to an agreement with the town about providing contracted fire protection. The department has been adding paid employees since 1993.

            For a full history plus other information, go to the department’s web site at http://www.wakeforestfire.com.