City officials hope problems are resolved before drastic measures occur

rseaborn@pickenssentinel.com

PICKENS - Fire protection provided by the City of Pickens to surrounding rural areas could end as soon as May 1 if problems between the city and rural fire board continue to escalate, City Administrator Chris Eldridge said Monday during a meeting of council.

According to Eldridge, members of the fire board, along with some Pickens County Council officials, have called into question the amount of money the county pays the city through a contracted agreement, and have made statements proposing a cut in those fees, he said.

"We negotiated a ten-year contract with the Pickens area fire board in 2004," Eldridge said. "It was passed by Pickens City Council and approved by the fire board.

"It was passed by county council, but now (Councilman) Ben Trotter is saying that there is nothing in the Pickens County Council minutes of its approval," he said.

Yet, the county has consistently increased the fire fees for homes and businesses in the rural district annually, as stated in the contract, and also provided the City a check for $50,000, a portion of the money used to purchase a new brush truck - also as stated in the contract, he said.

"They have followed the content of the contract to the letter," Eldridge said. "And our legal position is that we have a contract for the next six years."

Under the contract, the City of Pickens provides fire protection to the rural areas in a five-mile radius surrounding the city, he said.

"Even if the county builds a fire department somewhere within that radius, some residents on the other end of the radius will come up short, with little or no protection," he said.

Eldridge later said that two members of the rural fire board, Carol Black and Freddie Duncan, expressed their concerns that the City was over-charging the county for fire protection services.

However, many of the fire department's expenditures are not included in that department's budget, he said.

"We've improved the water system, and 50 percent of insurance rates are based on water," he said.

In addition, based on the Pickens County Auditor Tax Levy information, fees collected in the rural Pickens district for fire coverage are at the low end when compared to other districts, Eldridge said.

While Pickens charges a flat rate of $45 for protection, the nearby community of Pumpkintown levies a rate of $73, the City of Liberty receives $75, and Holly Springs charges $70 for their services, the tax information shows.



"I don't know what they are thinking," he said. "Just work it out, dollars for dollars.

The City of Pickens' budget begins May 1, and fire protection monies must be included in that budget, he said.

Hopefully, the issue concerning the cost of fire protection to rural Pickens will be resolved by this budget year, Eldridge said.

"We can't provide fire services for free," he said.