PDF: Joint resolution to merge fire departments
CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A long-term plan to combine Cleveland and Bradley County fire, rescue and medical services got the endorsement Wednesday of the Cleveland City Council in a unanimous vote.
The Bradley County Commission also discussed the plan, proposed by City Councilman Richard Banks, on Wednesday, but the commission was not in a voting meeting.
Combining the two fire departments has been one of three options the city and county have debated for months.
The county pays the city $1.8 million a year for fire service to urban county areas just outside the city limits. The county's full-time department, plus a force of volunteers, provides rural fire service.
The other options are crafting a new contract or maintaining separate fire departments.
If the current contract expires, the city has said, it could have to lay off fire department members or raise taxes to replace the revenue.
Banks said Wednesday he is trying to avoid those outcomes.
"I would like to say we at least attempted to relieve the fiscal crisis or stopped layoffs," he said.
Noting he served on merger-related committees in 2003 and 2009, Banks said he does not want to serve on any more committees.
He listed the numerous regional industrial announcements made in 2010 and said, "We are at a crossroad, and we have to seize the moment."
Banks said he has discussed the merger plan with several county commissioners but avoided fellow City Council members so as not to violate open meetings laws.