By a unanimous vote the Lakeland Board of Commissioners (BOC) voted tonight (6.8.17) to create a fire department, phase out the fire fee and seek a consultant to get the ball rolling.
Specific language of the resolution notes that the Shelby County Fire Department (SCFD) operates out of a fire station constructed and owned by Lakeland, providing countywide operations. Link to the resolution: https://www.lakelandtn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6374.
Resident Richard Gonzalez addressed the BOC, asking if the City would raise taxes in the future to support it.
Mayor Wyatt Bunker said, “We’re on the front end of this project. We are authorizing the City Manager to hire a consultant. We’ve probably been discussing this for two years. MTAS (Municipal Technical Advisory Service) did a study on the cost.”
He noted there are two reasons City officials are motivated for the project. “We want to provide enhanced service for our citizens with in-house fire services. And we have a fire fee we’d like to eliminate.” The fee is paid monthly on the MLGW bill and is not tax-deductible to citizens.
He said Lakeland pays Shelby County $2.4 million in fees for fire services but MTAS estimates the cost to operate fire service for the City is $ 1.6 million. “We might see an increase in time over what we pay now. But I don’t think we will see an increase any time soon. Lakeland generates more fees than it costs to operate.”
Mayor Bunker said the fee will be phased out as the City grows. “A consultant will help us transition and phase out that fee.”
He added that some citizens have commented that insurance rates would increase. “There is nothing to impact insurance rates negatively,” he said. “I suspect what we would do would improve our rating and benefit our citizens.” He said the County would still use the fire house and Lakeland would build a second station.
There is not a specific time frame on getting the fire department in-house and the SCFD must be given a year’s notice of the change.
The vote tonight was with a full complement of commissioners as the newest member of the BOC, Wesley Wright, was sworn in before the meeting started. Mr. Wright was elected May 25 to replace Michele Dial who resigned in March. He was nominated by his peers to be the liaison to the Keep Lakeland Beautiful Advisory Board.
In other BOC decisions, the vote was 5 to 0 approving the annual budget and tax rate starting July 1. The ordinance was amended to reflect $500,000 in cuts to balance the budget. Equal amounts of $250,000 each were removed from the general fund and road maintenance.
Jim Atkinson, city manager, compared road budgets from previous years to the new budget. For example, the amount was $116,147 in 2014, $221,008 in 2015, $415,136 in 2016, $1,150,000 in 2017 and for the new budget year, $900,000.
Josh Roman, vice mayor, said the 2017 figure allows the city to repair all the streets in a 15-20 year time frame which has been the goal of the BOC. “We are being more aggressive about street repair,” he noted, “while also dealing with some deterioration.”
Three items were removed from the regular agenda and moved to the next meeting: A contract for gateway signs; Windward Slopes Park improvement project and approval for a park concept plan.
In his monthly report, Mr. Atkinson reported:
- Work begins on Blue Spruce tomorrow (6.9.17) for two to three weeks, one lane open at all times.
- There is paving in Oakwood subdivision.
- There will be a lane closure on Canada Road around June 19, but it will only be overnight.
- The second of six LAMP concerts is June 24.
- May home sales were 29 at an average price of $269,179.
- Code enforcement had 77 violations for May.
- Road maintenance handled 56 issues last month.
- Litter control was $1.34 per pound and the good news is there is less trash now.
The Sewer Enterprise Fund Financial Plan for 2017-18 was approved along with five items on the consent agenda and the personnel pay plan for the next year.
Pastor Finley Cutshaw with East Side Baptist Church gave the invocation and said his church is looking at Lakeland property for a possible move from the Covington Pike location.
https://goo.gl/photos/K843x8zE1M9mrjiX6 – Link to photo album.
… photos by Jim Willis, Lakeland Currents.
