7/8/08…Commission Meeting….
VFD …THE TOWN MANAGER….SEA RANCH LAKE…….THE COMMISSION…. THE EQUIPMENT……THE VOTE…..
Agenda items…5b… VFD Reports….and Old Business item 13b….neighboring community SRLakes…fire service….Resolution 1st reading …item 9a…..
Sea Ranch Lakes turned down the RFP from the VFD….no reason given….a 3rd RFP will be made….
BCbythesea…hears it was due in part from the amount AMR came back with…approx. $3-400 thousand….and SRL wanting to put out RFPs for a combo service to get a lower price….
BCbythesea…The Town Manager opined that SRL may be deciding to forgo fire service and count on the required mutual aid for service…. for free….this was repeated by others…. so …..if SRL was not thinking this way…they are now!….
Besides dealing with SRL and negotiating….the VFD is also dealing with the Commission and the Administration….who all see things differently….
The VFD sees it as a “neighborly” tradition…of long standing…that provides service….and gives back to the town with monies….while making SRL pay 100%….of the $130 dollar fire assessment…due to excluding the Fire Marshall service…that is included in the $130 dollar fire assessment for LBTS….resulting in an increased cost for the same service for SRL of 10-12%….
Comm. Clottey does not see that as enough of a discrepancy….and offered up a larger percentage….would be more in line …….due to SRL past use of “piggybacking” off our fire service…at a pittance of what LBTS residents paid …..over the years….
BCbythesea…in presenting this view…. the Commissioner was acting in the same manner of representing her constituents…as was the case with the floating gas port….from the dais….a few weeks back….
The Town Manager disagreed with the explanation given by the VFD Chiefs …over the full LBTS fire assessment not going to the VFD….when it was stated by the VFD that the assessment is $950 thousand- $1 million….and the VFD is paid $840 thousand…..She “dressed them down” by telling them they “needed to get their facts ahead of time”….explaining that all the funds received from the fire assessment are used for for fire safety….through the VFD/the Fire Marshall/ the Fire Inspector and the segregated account labeled for fire assessment….
The unreturned and damaged equipment…from BSO….again was brought up…after being asked by the VFD Commissioners…..who must have been aware of…. should have been aware of the Manager’s statement…when asking…. yet again…. about the Town using some legal recourse…against the BSO….
The Town Manager…First replied that this was the first she had been informed of the stated equipment….and followed up with the following….
“For the record I’ll say it one more time Lauderdale By The Sea did not give all those assets to BSO….all assets turned over by the Town at the time of the transition were received by the VFD. This equipment was given AFTER …. (to the BSO)….directly by the VFD…so…we cannot go back and request an asset I don’t know was received or did not receive …all town assets were returned.”…..
BCbythesea…with the daily visits these 2 VFD Commissioners have with the Town Manager…why this line of questioning from the dais?….
If the VFD did not have to purchase the $30 thousand dollar truck…why is there not enough money for them to purchase the $10 thousand dollar equipment?….
BCbythesea….It seems once again the VFD/LBTS lines are “blurred”….and need to be more defined….
What has changed from the previous VFD/LBTS?….
BCbythesea….At this time…it seems that the Commission….Administration…need to to “back off” from the VFD until they are officially our fire service…. in October….and honor those “defined” lines…..
With those “defined” lines though….will continue to come the questions….of a private entity…a corporation….being unable to be terminated without a vote from the proposed Referendum….
This item for 1st reading….was addressed by many residents…as to the legality…the fairness… and the consequences….along with the support…from those VFD supporters and Commissioners…still harboring the hurt and the anger from the past Commission’s….termination of the department…
The Vice Mayor…did back down from the Nov. election…seeing that the votes on the dais were not there….and agreed to table it…for further research…a possible “safety clause” for the Town to be included…and a chance to “bundle” it with other items for Referendum sometime in March….giving residents the opportunity to see the new VFD in action ….
more to come…..
Tags: LBTS Agendas/Meetings, Scoops, VFD
