Habersham County could potentially offer each of its municipalities consolidation of city fire services for a centralized, countywide department. And while some cities have expressed openness to the idea, one in particular believes that’s what’s best for its citizens.
County and city officials began a dialogue regarding a possible consolidation study at Demorest City Hall Thursday, Nov. 21. The meeting between county officials and all seven of Habersham’s cities wasn’t open to the public, and Now Habersham was barred from attending.
Habersham County Manager Alicia Vaughn said the meeting, exclusive to both elected officials and city/county personnel, was intended to foster an open dialogue among all municipalities. No quorum was formed by elected officials with the county or any of the cities.
“There’s a lot of reasons I feel like it’s important to have this conversation,” Vaughn said. “Most of those are geared around costs. If you look at everything, costs are going through the roof right now. And even though the county is large and the cities are small, we all have the same issues – and that’s trying to keep staff and (maintain) equipment.”
Baldwin Councilwoman Alice Venter, who felt the meeting should’ve been open to the public, live streamed just over 24 minutes of the discussion on Facebook. It began with a presentation by Thad Dixon, a representative of consulting firm SouthEastern Fire Consulting Company.
During his presentation, Dixon explained in vague terms what it would mean for a city fire department to surrender operations to the county.
“What you’re looking at doing is becoming a part of an overall, countywide fire system,” Dixson told nearly 30 people in attendance. “What you would be doing is merging into a county system, so instead of everything being dependent on you…you would be part of the countywide response.”
A potential cost of the study is not yet known, according to Vaughn. “Once we know how many cities are involved, then we’ll be able to define the scope of work and the consultant will be able to give us a cost,” she said.
Demorest’s ‘fact-finding mission’
Demorest City Manager Mark Musslewhite told Now Habersham on Thursday that Demorest is looking closely at participating in the study, which would come at no cost to the city.
Talks of launching the consolidation study and discussions over service delivery were sparked by Musslewhite earlier this year as he drafted the city’s 2025 budget.
With a limited taxbase, Musslewhite pointed to a variety of factors involving Demorest’s ISO rating that have now constituted a need to reexamine the feasibility of the city’s fire department. An ISO rating is a score that measures a fire department’s ability to protect people/property. Scores range from 1-10, with lower scores being considered a better rating.
ISO is a third party audit team for insurance companies, and ISO ratings are directly tied to insurance policies for cities and counties.
Demorest’s ISO rating is currently 3, though it’s at risk of falling in the near future, and Habersham County’s is 5. Standards to achieve better ISO ratings include various requirements – such as a minimum of four firefighters on staff and water pressure (PSI) standards.
Demorest Fire Department has two firefighters and one chief on staff. Habersham County’s Fire Department has 78 full-time positions.
Musslewhite said rising costs and a projected 2025 gross tax digest of just $470,000 – a dismal figure compared to surrounding cities like Baldwin ($1.1 million), Clarkesville ($1.7 million) and Cornelia ($3 million) – have brought a slew of financial challenges to the city of around 2,000 people.
“This is a fact-finding mission,” Musslewhite said. “A lot of it goes back to ISO. For Demorest, we can’t meet (those requirements). It’s an additional $725,000. I have a ladder truck that needs $150,000-worth of repair – because (Demorest) does have three-story buildings, and we do have to have 3,500 PSI. And right now, all we’ve got is 1,500 with an engine, so we’re missing a lot of things.”
Musslewhite noted that if a department maintains a high ISO rating, the city could lose insurance, setting up potential for catastrophic consequences. And since Demorest stopped taking in-county calls, the city has continued to operate a full department while only responding to three calls a day.
“Am I going to (pay) four firefighters sitting over there for 24 hours for less than five calls a day?” Musslewhite said. “That doesn’t make sense.”
He added: “If you cannot produce four firefighters on a call when (ISO) comes to do our inspection, you will automatically go to a 10. That means you don’t have anybody that will write your insurance coverage…if you can’t produce four firefighters, it’s over right there. They’re not going to the second inspection.”
A new requirement that also has posed a challenge for Demorest’s ISO rating is mutual aid, according to Musslewhite. Now, ISO “no longer counts your mutual aid,” he said. “That’s additional aid, and so they’re taking that away.”
The only other alternative for funding fire services would be drastic cuts, increased taxes or to ramp up transfers from the city’s water/sewer fund. But with Demorest supplying water to 75% of the county, and a need for much-needed investments in its water/sewer infrastructure, Musslewhite believes that is no longer an option.
“Forty percent of Demorest’s water will go toward testing for ISO,” he said. “If we have poor water pressure, that’s going to be a minus. The stronger my water department is – the better it is for the other fire departments.”
Demorest City Council is expected to take a vote on whether to officially enter into the county’s consolidation study on Dec. 3.
“If other cities don’t want (to enter) the study, so be it, but I want the facts,” Musslewhite said. “…the money is not there. I don’t have the money. And I’m trying to protect the city’s assets and the taxpayers. That’s the key to this – knowing (taxpayers) are getting the best coverage for the best dollar.”
Habersham County Emergency Services Director Jeff Adams said the financial implications consolidation could have on cities and the county won’t be fully known until after the study is complete.
“At this point, we don’t know yet,” Adams said. “This is probably a six month or year-long process…I think the first step is get the consolidation study done, and see where we all stand.”
Other cities
By comparison, with ample funding (a $1.5 million budget for fire services), Cornelia Fire Chief Billy Jenkins said it’s unlikely that his city will participate in the study. “As far as the (department), we don’t have any issues at all,” he said.
Baldwin Mayor Stephanie Almagno, who attended Thursday’s meeting, indicated her city is not interested in participating.
“At all times, it’s our job to protect our citizens, the assets our citizens have paid for and our staff,” she said. “At this point, with no information that came out of the meeting, I don’t see how our citizens would benefit from consolidation.”
Clarkesville City Manager Keith Dickerson said he plans to bring the county’s proposal to council and the mayor at their next meeting in December.
“It never hurts to take a look at it,” Dickerson said. “…I think we should all take a good look and make sure we’re in compliance with where we need to be. That’s kind of a starting point on whether (council) wants to do (the study) or not.”
The city of Mt. Airy relies on Cornelia and Alto on Baldwin for fire services.
Tallulah Falls has a volunteer fire department.
