The Algood City Council voted Tuesday to table the idea of adding two full-time firefighters to the city’s fire department.
Mayor Lisa Chapman-Fowler said the proposal to hire the additional personnel would require the city to spend approximately $207,000 that was not included in the current fiscal year budget. Chapman-Fowler said the recurring expense would have to be drawn from the city’s fund balance, which gave her reason for concern.
“I don’t know what has changed in two months time or, well we passed the budget in May, but why the department, and this is not a criticism, this is just I don’t understand why it wasn’t done why it wasn’t presented to us at the time we were going through the budget process,” Fowler said. “And that might have been something we could have worked out then, but as of now, it’s a big ask.”
Fire Chief David Judd said the department needs to adapt its response model as the city continues to grow and attract new businesses. Judd said the department currently relies on two full-time employees and volunteers who often work outside the city limits during the day. The additional full-time firefighters would transform Algood’s fire protection to a 24-hour, 365-day operation, according to Judd.
“This one step won’t dramatically improve our insurance rates, but this step along with the equipment we have invested in, the training we have invested in, the water line that public works is investing in, all these together will culminate and hopefully, that’s the goal going forward is lower everybody’s insurance rates and save lives, protect property,” Judd said.
Judd said as the City of Algood expands, they also need to expand fire protection to cover new homes and businesses that enter the municipality.
“We have these businesses and stuff that’s coming in that are contributing, to me we need to protect those businesses,” Judd said. “I mean a fire at one of our large big box stores would be devastating to our local economy.”
Vice-Mayor Luke Hill said he supports the concept of 24/7 fire coverage but also expressed concern regarding the long-term financial impact on the city from the reoccurring expense. Hill said the council needs to be methodical about expansion because the city has already surpassed its current budget.
“The concept of paying for it out of out of savings is a little concerning to me, because if we’re just going to dip into that for this then we’re going to have to dip into it for the next year and the next year and the next year,” Hill said.
Judd said the department’s call volume has doubled during his four-year tenure as chief, creating a significant strain on the existing staff. Judd said the current schedule requires captain Nick Pulido to be on call from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. after working a regular shift.
“I’ve been chief for four years now, our call volume has doubled,” Judd said. “We are busier than the other smaller towns in Putnam County. And that’s a lot to put on two full-time guys.”
In other business, the council approved the purchase of a used service truck for $45,534 and a new vacuum truck for $285,540 for the Public Works Department. Bilbrey said the new vacuum truck will allow one employee to collect leaves and debris, freeing up manpower for other city projects.
The council also appointed John Bell as the city’s representative to the Tennessee Central Trail Authority.
