Habersham County Commission members have approved a plan to buy 4.45 acres for a new fire station. The vote came after a closed executive session during Monday’s meeting.
While leaders hinted at the prospect of a new station during budget hearings last week this is the first concrete step in the process. “We haven’t closed on it yet.” Commission Chairman Andrea Harper cautions. “We just authorized (staff) to move ahead with the purchase.”
The new fire station would be on Orchard Road at Bear Gap Road in Turnerville. “This is something we told people we would do with SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) money,” Harper says. “That money hasn’t started to come in yet. We expect it to start by the end of May so we may wait for that before we close.”
During a recent budget hearing, Habersham Fire Chief Jeff Cain said he would rather not have a new station unless the county hires three firemen to man it round-the-clock. He says the county’s Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating won’t improve just because they erect a new building. “If we build a new station and don’t man it,” Cain explains, “that’s almost worse than not having it at all because we don’t get (ISO) credit for an unmanned station.” Cain also says unmanned stations have a more difficult time attracting and keeping volunteer firefighters. County leaders placed three new full-time firefighters in the budget for 2016.
The ISO tells insurance companies how much fire protection you have at your house and they adjust your premiums accordingly. If the county builds a new station within 5 road miles of your house, your insurance rate could drop.
