Fort Oglethorpe City Council meeting wrap-upFort Oglethorpe sets new meeting timesFort Oglethorpe City Council members unanimously adopted, on first reading, a resolution to alter the time of council meetings. The second and fourth Monday of each month will continue as meeting days but they will no longer begin at 6:30 p.m. If approved after a third and final reading, the second Monday’s meeting will commence at 6 p.m. and the fourth Monday’s meeting will begin at 9 a.m.All meetings will continue to be held at City Hall and special meetings will be held as needed.Routine expenses approvedCouncilmen authorized Public Works director Jeff Long to spend about $6,500 to purchase new safety wood chips to replace chips that have decayed or been washed away.The council also approved spending $193,333 to renew the city’s liability insurance, a savings of about $57,000 over the current contract, and approved purchase of $51,000 of wetlands/stream credits for work on the West Chick sewer project.The credits are required as a provision of the Clean Water Act to mitigate any damage to the nation’s waters.Mayor Ronnie Cobb said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency require this expenditure.”Every sewer project involves this same principle,” Cobb said, adding that the city continues to plead its case that the wetlands will be returned to the same state they were in before work began, but to no avail.After voting to approve purchase of the wetlands credits, the council approved advertising for bids to continue Phase III of the West Chickamauga Creek sewer project.Council upholds officer’s terminationThe Fort Oglethorpe City Council upheld the April termination of Patrol Officer Gary Brown, who served with the city’s police department for about two years. In a 5-0 decision during an appeal hearing last week, council members agreed Brown had been derelict in performing his sworn duties as an officer.City Manager Ron Goulart originally terminated Brown’s employment with the city on the recommendation of Police Chief David Eubanks.The reason given for Brown’s termination was that he violated standard operating procedures and failed to perform his duty on the morning of April 23.City Attorney Robert Stultz presented the city’s case for the termination, while attorney Larry Stagg represented the former officer during his appeal.
Whether or not Fort Oglethorpe residents and businesses will be protected by a trained fire department has never been in question.
But who will provide that service and how it will be funded has been subject to debate and discussion for several years.
During last week’s City Council meeting, it was decided to help fund the nonprofit Post Volunteer Fire Department for one more month.
After more than nine months of negotiations and discussion between city and Post VFD officials, it seems the city will be served by one, not two fire departments in the near future.
“If at the end of 30 days we don’t reach a decision, then we get on with city business,” said Councilman Eddie Stinnett, who favors a city-run fire department.
Post VFD has been a driving force since Fort Oglethorpe’s founding nearly 60 years ago but the role of firefighters has changed over the years, according to Capt. Robbie Testor, chairman of Post’s board of directors.
Today’s firefighters are first responders trained to deal with medical calls, hazardous materials, car crashes, natural disasters – any emergency – and not just to spray water on burning buildings.
It is harder to find volunteers willing to undergo the non-stop training and drills required of today’s firefighter, and the city has been asked to provide stipends when they respond to a call.
Such payments pose problems. City officials are uncomfortable signing over taxpayer money to an organization (Post VFD) over which they have no control, unlike the city’s own firefighters.
Also, if volunteers are considered paid employees, they are eligible for workers compensation, liability and other insurance offered by the city.
City officials have been spending non-budgeted funds to keep Post VFD solvent while the future of Post and of city fire protection has been debated. Three months ago the council approved a monthly “contribution” of about $31,000 to Post VFD for the services it provides but made it known that such support would not go on indefinitely.
“We feel we can no longer continue as two separate entities,” Capt. Testor told the council. “We feel we’re at the brink of making a decision.”
Two options are available, he said, either to “roll the city’s department into Post” or to dissolve Post and have it become part of a unified Fort Oglethorpe Fire Department.
“Option two is preferred, but both are open,” said City Manager Ron Goulart.
Post’s board and the city council favor the second option. Capt. Testor asked that the city continue funding Post VFD while details of the single service are decided.
Councilman Louis Hamm suggested that contracts addressing each option be prepared so that at the end of the 30-day funding period the matter could be decided.
“We need to move forward,” Mayor Ronnie Cobb said. “It’s been too much of a burden on everyone.”