By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Greg Shaffer with the Hitchins Fire Department addressed the Carter County Fiscal Court at their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, June 9, concerning emergency coverage of Willard. Shaffer said that he was at the meeting because someone from Webbville Fire Department had opened the discussion about that coverage.
“They (Webbville) ended up in this county by a handshake,” Shaffer told the court. “Me and Buzz Johnson, Jim French, and Jim Slone were in that group.”
“They wanted to come down into Carter County to cover some of the area,” Shaffer said of the Webbville Fire Department, which is actually part of Lawrence County. “We agreed to, with a handshake, to cover down to 1496 and out to 486 when it first started,” Shaffer continued. “But there is no written agreement stating that they (Webbville) can do this.”
Shaffer said that he was at the meeting to provide the court with information.
“A handshake, if it’s not written up in KRS, won’t stand up in a court of law,” Shaffer said. “So, in this handshake was also an agreement with all four of us standing there, that if we didn’t like it we could put them back across into Lawrence County at any given time. I’ve tried before, but it takes someone else to do it,” Shaffer added.
“Most of the time it’s the fiscal court. Whether you do it or not is up to you,” he told the court, “But what I’m asking for is that I won’t have to come to every fiscal court meeting to keep them from attacking my department.”
Shaffer provided additional information to the court, stating that last year Webbville only responded to 22 calls in the Willard area, five of which the Hitchins Fire Department was also present for. He also discussed the ISO, or the rating from the Insurance Services Office, which assesses fire department capabilities to determine a community’s fire protection rating (PPC). This rating impacts insurance premiums and is based on various factors like training, equipment, communications, and water supply.
According to Shaffer, Hitchins provides savings on insurance within five miles of their station. These savings to residents do not extend to Willard, and cannot be provided to residents by Webbville because ISO does not recognize that department as covering that area. Shaffer said that although people might think there is a Willard Fire Department, there actually is not. He told the court that had Hitchins been able to secure the First National Bank building he would have been able to station a fire truck there, effectively becoming the state recognized fire department for Willard.
The fiscal court determined that more research was required before making a decision on the matter, and all affected parties would be invited to be present to make their individual cases in determining the boundaries of fire coverage.
In other business, the fiscal court examined bids for materials such as gravel, pipe, and paving. Bids were accepted from Mountain Enterprises, and Hudson Materials. All bids to supply the county with gravel were rejected and would necessitate a rebidding process. A motion also passed to sell a chip spreader to Lawrence County for $10,000.
The fiscal court also discussed Senate Bill 63, concerning the ATV Ordinance. The court will take time to look over the ordinance, but hopefully have the first reading before the end of the month, and have the second reading at the next scheduled meeting in July, Judge Executive Brandon Burton said.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
