As budget time nears for the county, so does the talk about what should and shouldn’t be included in the budget for the upcoming year. It’s a discussion that can be heard at the tables at local restaurants, on social media, and of course, among the council members themselves.
One of the items that has received some discussion time is an engineer for the Station Six Fire Department, known to some as Bingham or New Holly Fire Department.
In the early formation of many of our fire departments, there were interested people in the community who worked together to form departments and then got buildings, etc. In the past few years, the county has built departments to benefit communities without the volunteers first, but felt there was enough interest in the community that volunteers would come quickly.
This has not been the case with the Station Six Fire Department. To the Herald’s knowledge, there has been only one volunteer who stepped forward to take the required training. That is unfortunate for and a poor reflection on a community that was very vocal at council meetings about wanting a department in their community.
It seems that the county should have gotten a firmer commitment from the citizens in that area to volunteer before they built a fire department at an estimated cost of $220,000. It would seem foolish to put any more money into the project in the form of an engineer unless and until the members of the community step up to the plate, volunteer as firefighters, and take the necessary training to be able to fight fire. An engineer with no volunteers would be virtually useless at a serious fire. It seems for now that Station Six will be merely a substation where other departments can pick up a truck instead of the real department that the community should have, but is not working for.
Sometimes the best way to get help is for the community to help themselves first. The members of this community need to step up and volunteer. Then after the community has demonstrated their interest through volunteering and completing the needed training, the council should consider an engineer. Until then, available funds should be allocated to the departments that are formed and are active and have needs that are immediate.
If you would like to volunteer for Station Six, call the County Administrator’s office at 774-1400.
Where, oh where, are the volunteers?
