The Demorest City Council will meet Tuesday, December 3, to consider a fire study, as well as sponsorships for Habersham Partnership for Growth and the Soque River Watershed Association.
The fire study comes on the heels of a recent fire department consolidation meeting held by the county. The conversation began with two recent policy changes, one from the state and the other from the Insurance Services Office (ISO).
The state now requires firefighters to become EMT-R certified to provide basic services beyond basic first aid. The mandate requires that cities and counties must have a medical director to sign off on the certification after firefighters receive the training.
Once certified, the fire department would have to purchase equipment, supplies, and retain a medical director needed to provide the service. Habersham County Emergency Medical Services previously provided the equipment and supplies to the cities. However, due to the requirement mandated by the state, the county no longer provides those items.
The second mandate is due to ISO revamping its audit program used to rate fire departments for insurance rating purposes. Demorest Fire Chief David Scheuer reported the changes to city management in September. The resulting changes would require Demorest to increase its fire department budget nearly $1 million to meet the new requirements to maintain the city’s current ISO 3 rating.
Other business
The council will consider a sponsorship request for funding from Habersham Partnership for Growth. The non-profit organization has requested the city sponsor its economic development initiatives within Habersham County in the amount of $5,000.
Another sponsorship request that will be considered by the council is from the Soque River Watershed Association. No specific amount has been revealed at this time.
The Demorest City Council will meet for its work session and regular meeting on Tuesday, December 3. The work session will begin at 6 p.m. with the regular meeting beginning at 7 p.m. or immediately following the work session. Both meetings will be held in the Demorest Municipal Conference Center located at 250 Alabama Street in Demorest.
