Chief hopes to put Hot Springs rural fire tax on ballot in November

Lina Portman4 weeks ago

0 4 minutes read

HOT SPRINGS — Hot Springs Fire Chief Josh Norton hopes to work with county commissioners to put a Hot Springs rural fire tax on the ballot.

At the June 3 Hot Springs City Council meeting, Norton said the Hot Springs Fire Department received a grant this year for a substation in the Firefly Mountain community, a small, upscale residential community. range with what Norton estimates to be 14 to 22 residents.

“That's the only area, for the most part, with the exception of, I think, one house along River Road, right at the end, that was beyond our 6 miles,” Norton said. “So it's a $37,000 project that we're not paying anything for. We're covering this whole community. It's growing there. There are more and more homes being built there, and it's a vast area that exceeds 6 miles, which, if you know anything about insurance, once you exceed 6 miles, it's difficult to obtain.

“This way we have a nominal substation for them, and they are even more likely to send more donations, this and the other. So, I will need a little help, tweet , from the city council to the county commissioners about this putting this on the ballot as soon as I can get the petition signed in November for a vote.”

As reported in the North Carolina State Fire Marshal's Office,

“A rural fire district may extend its boundaries more than five road miles, but less than six road miles, from an responding fire department if, in addition to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this rule, the department fire department enters into a written automatic aid contract with another jurisdiction that requires the responding party to respond with at least one fire apparatus capable of carrying at least 1,000 gallons of water.

“So Mars Hill, Marshall and Ebbs Chapel have full-time employees,” Norton said. “Mars Hill has a rural district, and outside of that rural district, the city manages all of its money. You can do it a few different ways: the county can do it, and you can have a board like Spring Creek and Country does it, or the city can do it.

“The way the city would be responsible for doing that is when that money comes to the city, there's a specific line item that would be the rural fire tax in Hot Springs. That's where that money would go, and this money would not be used for anything but this specific neighborhood.

North Carolina's general statutes authorize county boards of commissioners to create fire service districts and rural fire protection districts – once approved by ballot – to levy property taxes and set tax rates. taxation in these districts. The governing body of the districts is the board of commissioners and they contract with the fire departments to provide fire services within the district.

Also at the June 3 meeting, Norton stressed to attendees that the department needed volunteers.

“We just got another one that might be moving out of town, away from the department,” Norton said. “We’re still looking for help.”

Mark Snelson, Hot Springs resident and director of Madison Medics, appeared before the council to discuss the issue of the city's planned placement of its automated external defibrillator, or AED, as the city council and mayor deliberated during 'a meeting earlier this year about where to place his AED. , which was delivered to the city by Madison Medics in partnership with RACE-CARS, a seven-year trial led by a team of researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute in partnership with EMS agencies, hospitals, 911 emergency service , participating firefighters and rescue services. , law enforcement agencies and communities across North Carolina.

In previous City Council deliberations, council members questioned whether placing the AED in the vestibule of the city's Welcome Center would be an appropriate location, but questioned whether the device would be tampered with there, because the lobby is not locked.

Additionally, board members questioned whether the city would be liable if the device was tampered with.

“We should have no responsibility for this,” Snelson said. “This won't be shocking unless you're in a defibrillation situation. You can't get around them. A fire extinguisher is more dangerous than these. The only way to hurt someone with this is to hit them in the face. head with.”

But Mayor Abby Norton noted her concern about potential vandalism at the welcome center.

“We work with Duke Hospital on these products, and we have distributed about 30 or 32 of them throughout the county, and they told us if they were stolen, they would replace them,” Snelson said. “It needs to be placed somewhere that everyone knows, kind of like Spring Creek Church, the Laurel Community Center, where the majority of the community knows where that place is.”

Board member Daniel Myers said he felt the welcome center was the best place in town for AED.

“It’s centrally located, it’s not locked,” Myers said.

Read more: County receives over AED 30All 9 Madison County Fire Departments Receive Emergency Automated Defibrillators

Learn more: Spotlight on Madison EMS workersMadison County EMS workers 'bear witness' to residents' tragedies

Norton announced upcoming state Department of Transportation improvements and installations, which include proposed impact ramps, driveway connections and a push-button crosswalk sign system at Meadow Lane or office post office, located on Bridge Street.

“The only problem I see is they're talking about the driveway connection for Park Avenue, and he (Jacob Evans, a DOT engineering technician) said they'd go back and they'd have to interject, I think he said 4 feet, and he's going to make that slope steeper at the bottom.

Board member Jeanne Caldwell Gentry said the area already has a steep slope.

Lina Portman

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