- Gadsden County's Fire Service Contract was extended by 180 days back in October 2023.
- City leaders and county leaders are working to finalize a new contract.
- Watch video above to see why these contracts matter so much to the community.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Gadsden County leaders are working with city leaders to come up with an agreement on a new fire service contract.
The current contract was extended by 180 days back in October 2023. Now, leaders are coming together to meet in the middle on a new contract, to give Gadsden County neighbors adequate fire service.
Getting to an agreement on a fire service contract that has been in discussion since October 2023, "we're looking forward to getting this resolved well before the end of the current contract."
The current contract expires on April 27th of this year. County leaders extended the current one by 180 days back on October 30th, 2023. That contract was from September 30th, 2022, to October 1st, 2023.
"Our fire response system only works if we're all able to work together.”
A fire service contract is between the county and cities to provide fire service to neighbors across Gadsden County.
In this case Gadsden County will have two different types of fire contracts. Contract for the unincorporated departments and a contract for municipalities.
“In negotiating these agreements, it becomes a little difficult because you're talking about 6 cities working with our one county government."
Gretna's City Manager Antonio Jefferson says each city has their own abilities as to how they can serve neighbors when it comes to fire service. Some of the things that are in the contract include funding, equipment and insurance coverage.
"We've struggled to find a pathway because there’s only a finite amount of dollars to provide these services that the county is engaging the cities in so that's been one of the things that we try to work hard together to figure out the pathway of fairness."
As of right now each fire contract is a fiscal year long or 12 consecutive months. Many departments are asking the county for the contracts to be 3 years long, but leaders are hoping to find a solution soon.
"We meet in the middle just to ensure that we have the best fire coverage in the county for our citizens."
