East Hope debates city's fire protection services
EAST HOPE — If there’s a fire, who will respond, how quickly with what equipment and at what cost to the city are the questions the City Council is discussing while debating whether or not to disband the local fire department and annex into Sam Owen Fire District.
During two workshops this week, officials learned the details of operations of both the Hope/East Hope Fire Department that has been a joint operation between the two cities for over eleven years and the Sam Owen Fire District that surrounds them. A detailed list of questions was presented to both departments and the structure of the workshops was to have all of them answered in order for officials to make a reasonable comparison.
Council looked into annexation two years ago and concluded that it was not in the best interest of the city to hold workshops for discussion. The subject was raised again recently during budgeting sessions by council member Eileen Klatt revolving around the city’s need for a new water system and upgrades to city streets.
“Two things converged for me,” Klatt said in a recent conversation. “First the fire chief requested $21,000 for a new fire engine then, the water facility plan called for a great deal of water to be dedicated to fire protection at a cost of $250,000 to $300,000. The city provides three services, public safety, streets and water. I had to ask myself, what can we send to another provider and the answer was the fire department.”
Klatt said her request to look into annexation had nothing to do with the ability of Hope/East Hope’s volunteer fire fighters to do their job.
“This is not a condemnation of our existing fire department,” she said. “It’s about money and it’s the city’s responsibility to consolidate resources. We’re spreading ourselves financially too thin. It makes sense from an economic standpoint not to fund a fire department.”
Hope/East Hope Fire Chief Robert Moore resigned from his seat on the East Hope council to focus on his responsibilities to the fire department. He and his supporters and volunteer fire fighters have distributed an information sheet to local residents outlining their case for continuing fire service.
“We’ve tried to get the ‘Did You Know’ information to as many homes as possible,” Moore said. “I’ve put a lot of miles on my shoes to get members of the community to know what’s going on because the public doesn’t come to council meetings.”
Wednesday evening’s workshop at Sam Owen Fire Department focused on their abilities. Training, the number of volunteers, the type of equipment, mutual and automatic aid agreements with other fire departments were the primary topics of discussion.
Since the Hope/East Hope Fire Department is a collaboration between the two cities, if one decides to discontinue participation as would be in this case, they need to give the remaining city a year’s notice. In an email to the city of East Hope, the Hope mayor, Joe Dean, stated that they were not interested in annexing to Sam Owen Fire Department at this time.
“It’s up in the air,” Hope council member Bob Lizotte said at Wednesday’s workshop. “We need to consider cost and the fact that some people feel better with a fire department in the city. Change is always hard. I’m not sure what will happen.”
As for the East Hope council, Mayor Jake Both said, “We’ll be taking a vote next Tuesday.” Council meetings are held at city hall at 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month.