At their Feb. 15 work session, the Habersham County Commission discussed their thoughts on their proposal regarding extending fire services to the City of Demorest. Demorest councilman Nathan Davis reached out to the Demorest council in January to inquire about their interest in county fire services, and the council voted to hear the county’s proposal during their Jan. 26 meeting.
Habersham County Manager Phil Sutton suggested appointing two members of the commission to discuss the proposal with two members of the Demorest City Council. Sutton, Habersham County Emergency Services Director Chad Black, and other relevant officials would join this conversation to build a joint proposal between the City of Demorest and Habersham county.
“Looking at fire departments budgets, it would appear that we may be able to reduce their [Demorest Fire Department’s] costs by half because of the economies of scale because we could bring in emergency services workers in their fire station to supplement the work of the fire service staff,” Sutton said. “We would increase the response capacity […] because that facility is in a great location.”
According to Sutton, for this merger to be possible the Demorest Fire Department would need appropriate and functional equipment, referencing the discussions in Demorest surrounding a new fire truck. They would also need a long-term funding plan. “It’s critical that if we’re going to take over the fire service for Demorest that we have [… the] appropriate level of apparatuses that [are] functional,” Sutton said. “That would be a big thing.”
Commissioner Bruce Harkness brought forth some concerns voiced by the citizens of Demorest, including their concerns that in a merger with the county, Demorest citizens would lose the protection they currently have. According to Black, if the county and the city come to an agreement, the county would provide five new firefighters to Demorest’s department, as well as use SPLOST funds for Demorest’s fire station. Black also noted that 65 percent of the calls the Demorest Fire Department responds to are outside of the city.
No votes have been taken on this proposal. The full work session recording is available here.
