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Tuesday, August 14, 2007
is manning the northeast lamar county fire station...
on parker branch road more important than manning others in the county - say, redbone or piedmont?
or is this a district-specific priority for one commissioner?
38 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The real answer is in how the population is distributed, and how long it takes to get other areas from the manned station.
I know it is fashionable to pick on someone who isn't a GOB (good ole boy) that marches with the system, but time would be better spent with facts.
Why not do an article Walter with real research? Then you could show where we need our resources!
Manning Parker Branch Fire Station is the project of one loquacious Commissioner who has a 60WPM mind and 100WPM mouth. To frequently he fails to engage brain before utterances!!!
All to often he sticks his foot in his eating cavity...
Fire Stations without pressured water and hydrants are extremely inefficient. Our Commissioners would be better servants if they worked with the Water Authority to get water lines throughout the county.
Once water is available, then manning of fire stations will make more economical sense. For the most part, volunteer fire departments are good foundation savers!!!
In the meantime, home owners should try to mitigate fire risks as they have done for so many years.
If we continue to elect myoptic thinkers we will only have more of the same!!!!
If our leadership would stopping looking to the future and look back to the last century, we would have fully manned fire stations throughout the county with water mains everywhere!
I've lived, worked & played in 44 states & 4 countries, but Lamar county is the first I have the pleasure of having no real infrastructure.
The first answer is closer to the truth. Only one fire station is built for manning, besides Grove St, and that is the one on Parker Branch. Then when you consider the majority of growth is on the north end of the county it is a no brainer it should be manned.
Speaking of research, why doesn't someone look at the fire station on Morgan Dairy. It has been there, sort of, for close to five years. Why isn't it a full fledged station? It's disgraceful.
I for one am glad Brown speaks his mind. He is a tremendous improvement over the person he replaced and except for Horton, the only one that has vision past next week.
One person offers personal attacks against George Brown, and does some name calling.
Another person states that the population is more concentrated in northern Lamar County and that is the only location besides Grove that is ready or easily ready to be manned.
A little research on the web has shown the second person is correct.
I'm not sure about the first person. I can't find anything documented about a foot in George Brown's mouth or how fast he talks or thinks, so that might just be a personal opinion.
My own personal opinion is we either need to increase efforts to recrute volunteers or pay for some full time firemen.
We ahould do this even if taxes have to be raised, because we will all save on fire insurance if the fire response is timely.
It's amazing how our leaders like Hardwick want to pour more money into questionable things like the IDA, or want to ask county employees to lie and change county codes improperly, but don't want fund firefighters.
A manned fire station does NOT prevent homes from burning down, just ask the people in counties that have a full time fire department county wide, homes are destoryed every day by fire in these counties.
Hidden identities allow people to say some really stupid things they might not say if their names were given. Like this:
"A manned fire station does NOT prevent homes from burning down, just ask the people in counties that have a full time fire department county wide, homes are destoryed every day by fire in these counties"
The question is if it REDUCES damage or REDUCES the number of homes totally destroyed by lowering response time.
I understand all the commissioners are in favor of manning parker branch. two just want to jump the gun and man it with out any thought, vision, fiduciary responsibility, looking at cost benefit of consolidation, actual cost over the next three years, what it truly means to the ISO rating. The two are Brown & Horton. Brown acts on emotion and Horton acts on Brown's emotion. Brinkly, Hardwick and Mathews have vision, make decisions on facts and reality. Thank goodness we have some who will recognize that we must take care of matters today and clean up shop before we can move forward to sufficiently fund our needs down the road for years to come. I have heard all 5 commissioners say they understand the need to but only 3 understand the how to. Commissioner Brown said he will not support the budget without the funding now for manning parker branch. Guess what Comm. Brown 1,2,3 you're out!
The odd couple (two commissioners) are limited in their abilities when it comes to budget matters and fiduciary responsibilites. Earlier comments (3:41) concerning the manning of Parker Branch was also hit the mark!!!!
Fortunately for the citizens who understand budgetary matters and the pitfalls of deficit spending, the odd couple are always in the minority...no pun intended!!
There is always funds in the county budget to do any good task. It is not a matter of money, it is a matter of priority. If the gang of 3 thought that fire protection was a priority for the north end of Lamar they would simply rearrange funding. It happens all the time.
Don't let "them" get away with wanting to be "responible" with your tax dollars. If you look back at history, Brinkley and Hardwick were responsible for one of the largest tax hikes in Lamar County history.
What are their priorities? It is not the north end of the county!
Gene Hardwick wanted to increase funding to the IDA, and George and Benny wanted to man a fire station.
Gene and Ray (and maybe Jay) wanted the city to get half of the county money for some reason with the Ag deal.
Benny and George didn't.
Gene wants to serve on the IDA so badly that the ONLY copy of the county code showing it is legal is the copy at the courthouse. That copy was changed. The copy everywhere else including the library says he can't serve. (Hurry Gene, get Patty to replace that copy!!! Oh sorry, she lost her job and you couldn't help her by changing records like she helped you.)
Now I wonder who the self-serving people are? Is it Gene, or is it George?
Please tell me what I am missing when representatives of county and/or city are on the IDA. I don't have much book sense, but a little common sense, and it seems you should have representatives from local governments on the IDA. Just call me stupid!
It has nothing to do with politics. Who's sniffing whose butt?
Several people really care about what’s going on in the county. They are far outnumbered by those people that want to impress our city and county officials with loving comments and efforts to obtain that shiner of a brown nose. Serious matters never get serious attention. It’s shameful that we are led by who’s friends with who more so than who can get the job done the best.
I wonder who George Brown and Benny Horton have promised jobs to on the fire department.They sure do have a stiff-on to get funding for 3 more fulltime positions.
hey scoop: i could not help myself and visited the other web site a moment ago a noticed greg is still promoting the gmac law suit against the county for the ag property land swap. it states a NOTICE FROM CITIZENS GROUP encouraging $$$ contributions be sent to Jack "a$$" Harris on behalf of gmac to support the leagl expenses. I wounder who all is this CITIZENS GROUP. i know gmac, jack "a$$" harris, greg, and the recent confession from COMMISSIONER BROWN as stated on gregs web page in the excerpts from a budget workshop that Commissioner Hardwick got him on. As Brown so diplomaticly said "DAMN RIGHT" he was egging on a law suit against the county.
Are we going to sit back and allow a commissioner encourage a law suit against the county? I will not. I am looking into the avenues of removing an official from office for such actions. This county is small enough to find out who all is supporting this LAW SUIT. if a county employee is part of it then the county should suspend them until it is over. and fire them if the county prevails. they are keeping a confidential list of contributors incase the city or county has to pay for thier legal fees. i say we should have that same group repay the county for legal fees when they loooooossssee!!!!!!!!!!
The last six blogs are very interesting and informative. None of them deal with the merits of the issue. The issue is should funding additional fire personnel be a priority for the county commission?
When you have the facts on your side, you argue the facts. When the facts aren't on your side you argue anything but the facts. That is where personality comes in.
Whether you like George Brown or Bennie Horton, or the other three commissioners is not the point. The point is does the north side of the county need fire protection and will the commission make it a priority?
In my opinion the facts are unmistakeable, we need to expand our fire protection.
Annon 9:09 your comments about expanding fire service is very true and spot-on.
The question arises how do we pay for it? How much of a tax increase are we willing to pay? Are creating fire districts with attendant taxes per household an attractive method of financing? Are taxpayers willing to indulge deficit spending to support additional firemen. If we man Parker Branch or Morgan Dairy or Piedmont how much do we improve fire protection? These decisions have to be made within the context of the lack of water and hydrants throughtout the county.
One school of thought has been to merge the city and county fire departments in conjunction with manning of additional fire stations. At first blush, this seems rather practical. However, probably not feasable due to turf protection.
Being against additional fire protection is like being against motherhood and apple pie; however, we must look at the manning of additional fire stations as a compromise between cost and incremental fire coverage improvements.
Unfortunately too many view the discussion from an emotional prospective rather than providing logical solutions. Certain commissioner(s) find it easy to stir emotions but are void when it comes to providing logical and effective solutions. The rock quarry, the airport and now the fire stations are vivid examples!!
A well known public figure commented to me the other day, "it appears some newcomers to the County are trying to provide employment for themselves!!!" I do not know if this is true or not but there seems to be some merit in these comments.
I do know that sometimes the answer is not in the back of the book. This is one of those times!!!!
Thanks 9;43 anonymous for proving my point. You are a prefect example of a brown nosing butt sniffer without any regard to what is right or wrong in Lamar County. You rank very high on the stupid meter.
I am convinced the IDA has gotten too much power. They appear to want to override anything that conflicts with their Agenda, that they appear to change daily.
Wow, alot of good points made! Please excuse my ignorance here. I just stumbled upon this blog and I have an interest in the discussion. Out of curiosity.... What is the track record, thus far, for this area? What I mean is, Response time, fatalities, property loss, etc...? Basically, does the history drive the need?
hesitatenot if you want actual facts as far as "response time, fatalities, property loss" you will definitely need to go somewhere else. This blog is strong on opinions and weak on facts.
anon 10:08am you should not remain anon because you make too much sense and should be proud of your comments. keep up the good work of keeping the bloggers in check and bring to our attention the lack of vision and leadership some of the commissioners have. i wish we could have a fire station and ambulance on every corner in lamar county but the cost / benefit ration does not support it. i favor impact fees, fire districts, water districts, etc. to pay for critical infrastructure in population centers. i live on piedmont rd. and i donot want my taes to go up to man parker branch station just as folks on parker branch would not want thier taxes to go up to man piedmont station. i checked with my insurance agent and my insurance would not be reduced if piedmont station was manned. a fire hydrant 500 to 1000 feet from my home would do more to help my insurance cost. my agent shared some interesting stats with me. she said that stats show that even when rural areas built, equiped, and manned stations that fire damage and loss rates did not significantly decrease. many stats show an increase in fire loss and damage. (side note to stat: number of homes went up in area) percentage decrease but number of homes increased. (pure numbers game)the stats also indicate the response time to fires in rural areas did not significantly increase, if any, when a station was built, equiped, and manned versus an "on-call" volunteer department. these were some stats that were shared with me when i asked why my insurance rates would not go down. having a fire station close to your house will not prevent it from burning down. homes burn down everyday in america with hugh fully staffed and equiped fire departments. even a manned station is dependent on volunteers to show up and fight fire. the response time will not improve enough to prevent substantial damage to homes.
ANON 3:19 thanks for your postive comments on my 10:08 input.
Also, thanks for being up-to-date on fire protection statistics, keeping yourself informed, being reasonable in your comments and not presenting emotional rants.
Unfortunately, to many posters are being led around with some commissioner(s) whose only contribution(s) seem be keeping the natives riled up about contentious issues.
Personally I would like to see all the fire stations manned; however, our country budget just will not allow it at this time and probably not in the immediate future, without massive tax increases!!
Once the County Manager can get caught up on the bills that lingered for months without being paid, get a better control of spending and institute proper accountability controls, then maybe we can get some improvements throughtout the county.
The taxpayers of Lamar County cannot imagine how bad our fiscal situation was when the new Chairman and acting County Manager came on board last January.
Just beleive me, it was a disaster and I mean disaster. We are now having to come to grips with the lack of leadership and an ineffective commission we have had in the county over the last few years.
Facts are facts and Lamar County has been lacking in leadership for many years. With new Chairman and acting County Manager we are now instituting controls have have been non-exitent for to long in this county.
The lack of preceived fire coverage (real or imagine) is just a microcosm of problems here in the county.
In the meantime, the complainers complain, remain ignorant to the real facts, stay emotional and offer very few solutions.
Very frankly, I believe we are at least one and maybe two election cycles away from having a commission that has a vision, verses always looking in the rear view mirror.
These are the facts: In 1989 the state of Georgia did a study in Lamar County When this study was undertaken, projected growth to the year 2000 was 14% in Lamar County. However, the population grew by 22% from 1990 through the year 2000. Since 2000, the population has continued to increase rapidly with residential construction booming. Northeast Lamar County has seen even more dramatic growth and grew at the rate of 32%. There is a need in the north end of Lamar County for a manned fire station. To expect a County to provide basic services and to hold them accountable for not providing them TO ALL CITIZENS IN THE COUNTY is not whining, complaining or being emotional. It is being a good citizen and the commissioners who are pushing it are doing their job. It is also smart. The post regarding insurance rates was incorrect. Insurance companies rate residential fire protection by assigning rating codes 1 (best) through 10 (worst). Various factors affect the ratings. The ISO examines three components in evaluating a fire department: Water System – worth 40 points ( the ability to access sufficient water to extinguish fires). Communication – worth 10 points (the 911 center that receives and dispatches calls). Fire Department – worth 50+ points. This category is the largest of the three ISO components. It evaluates manpower, training and equipment in assigning a value to this category. Various factors affect the rating. Some of the most important are: The number and qualifications of the department employees – (the plus equates to the number of employees. The more employees, the more points); Type and amount of equipment available; Age and condition of the equipment; Distance of the residence from the nearest fire station; and, availability of water to fight fires. As you can see, the largest factor is whether there is a manned station, how it is manned, and the equipment. Secondary, is the availability of water.
A simple look at the Lamar County map will show that the one manned fire station that we have is situated near the lower 1/3 of the county while the greatest growth in population and homes is in the North and Northeast part of the county which is the farthest from the Grove Street Station. It is important to note that Rock Springs Church is in the northeast end of the County and regularly sees 1500 to 2000 in attendance and has facilities that cost millions. Yet there is no manned fire department in the area and there is water. The county recently received a $100,000.00 payment from Florida Rock which was not part of the budget. This money could have been applied to give back to the community that is going to suffer the ill effects of this devastating quarry but no one (but the commissioners) knows where that money went.
In the end, is it so irresponsible to ask our County to pay for basic fire services whether in Piedmont, Morgan Dairy or elsewhere? We can pay for softball fields, skate board parks, give land away to the City of Barnesville, and give more money to the IDA, but we can't man a fire department. It is just a matter of priorities.
How much increase in your taxes are you willing to pay to man the fire stations in Lamar County???
One should have known that sooner or later the Rock Springs Chruch would be brought into the discussion. Maybe since it is such a icon in the community it should have its own fire station.
How much in taxes does the Rock Springs Church pay???? Worth millions, how much does it pay???
Again, how much as a property owner, are you willing to pay???
anon 10:08 & 7:29 your above average vocabulary and comments give you away. i know who you are and appreciate reading your comments. keep up the good work in keeping everyone in check with reality. the truth hurts but we need to hear it.
I love people who hide behind anonymoous posts and attack people personaly and use no facts to support their opinions. For those of you who attacked me personaly and professionally, I noticed you have no facts to support your opinion. That's okay. People tend to do that when they have nothing else to offer.
As for a solution, I offered one. Stop wasting money on fences, skateboard parks, the IDA and giving property away that rightfully belongs to the county. I offered that there had been a $100,000.00 payment from Florida Rock that was unexpected windfall. Why not use that to start manning fire stations? Oh that's right. It's been spent in just months.
As to how much I am willing to pay in increased taxes, I am already paying increased taxes. My taxes are going up whether there is a manned station or not. My property has been reassessed 3 out of the last five years and my taxes have gone up every time. I venture to say that I am paying for more than my fair share but I have noticed that services have remained the same, ie nonexistent. No Cable, no water, no trash pick up, no litter enforcement, and no manned fire station. While those in the lower 3rd of Lamar have a manned fire station, a library, and parks, for what they pay in taxes, we on the North end of Lamar have nothing. If you want to see our park, just drive by the sign on the vacant land on 36 which is located within blasting distance of the rock quarry.
I don't mind being attacked personally but attacking a church is something else, whether it is Rock Springs or First Baptist. Churches are not taxed in this country because of the First Amendment. Our government has removed God from the public school system and the town square. If it could tax churches, it would tax them out of existence. Anyone who knows why this country was founded knows why churches are not taxed. Wtih respect to the fire department, is it wrong to want a fire department close by to protect people in case of a fire while the building is occupied? I don't think so. While Rock Springs Church does not pay property taxes, it invests in the lives of people in the community. The jail ministry leads many people to the Lord. The street ministry is leading people to the Lord. Lives are being changed. Many in the community have their power bills paid by the church or they are helped through a financial crisis. The elderly have deacons make household repairs. People are challenged to be better than what they are and to be like Christ. I would say that this contribution is much more important than paying taxes.
I have to agree with Mr. Sexton. Manning an additional fire station is not a matter of money, it's a matter of priorities. The Parker Branch fire station is the only fire station besides Grove St. that was built with the facilities to allow full time personnel. Redbone isn't, nor is Piedmont or Morgan Dairy or Milner.
When you add to the fact the north end of the county is rapidly growing in size, it only makes sense it is the next station to be manned.
The county has a large and complex budget. Does it have monies that could be reallocated for the fire station on Parker Branch? Of course it does. It is merely a matter of priorities.
Mr. Sexton, I find 10:10 your post rather contradictory, first you say you have been personally attacked, (I see not evidence of any personal attacks); then you say you do not mind being attacked. Which is it???? CVS in Barnesville sells a very good skin toughener crème!!!
I see no evidence that your church was attacked. Someone did ask about how much taxes the church paid. A perfectly legitimate question. If you consider this an attack, you really have thin skin. After reviewing the various posts, it was you who brought the church into the discussion!!! As Harry said “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Funny thing about some religious zealots, they have little tolerance for criticism and/or other religions. Many citizens, acting on their own, Jews, Mormons, Hindus, Buddhist, Muslims, Agnostics, etc, perform charitable and philanthropic activities every day in this country. However, they are not braggadocio about it. Further more, they do not expect tax exemptions; they do it out of benevolence toward their fellow citizens.
A wise ole sage said one time “watch those self-anointed paragons of virtue, they are usually wearing a very thin veneer”.
As for those to post anonymously, fine....allowing them to express their opinions is more important than knowing their names. Some people do not feel comfortable in discussing issues without a certain amount of anonymity. Conversely, some people want everyone to know who they are!!!
For the record I called the Chairman tonight at 8:52pm and he told me that he as well as the entire commission is committed to manning parker branch station. He stated that he could not sit in a budget workshop on August 6 and say sure fund it for 08 when they are trying to get a handle on the 07 budget to make it the remaining months of this year. He told me he is looking at what revenues are coming in each day versus the expenses each day and where we are each Friday. He said that many important items were cut or delayed in funding them for now not just the manning of parker branch. i asked him what his priority was in funding and he said that getting through August, Sept Oct Nov. and Dec 07. But the fire station was at the top of list to put in 08 budget once things start looking better. i told him i live on highfalls park rd and manning parker branch was important but the most important is to keep the landfill out. Thank you chairman for you time and I understand more since we spoke of what the commission is up against. MONEY!
Thin skinned, I probably was, it was late when I posted. Contradictory, I don't think so. The other posts speak for themselves. Religious zealot? If the implication is that I am zealous for my religion, then I'll take it as a complement. I think I'll just take the advice of Anonymous 4:02. It contained some some real wisdom. For the record, I just spoke with George Bush on the phone and all of the presidential candidates, and they all want us to have a manned fire station on Parker Branch Road in 2008
Finding money to man a fire dept seems to be a lot harder than finding money to fund the Rudy scandal ever was,300,000.00 plus would have went a long way towards fire protection.
38 comments:
The real answer is in how the population is distributed, and how long it takes to get other areas from the manned station.
I know it is fashionable to pick on someone who isn't a GOB (good ole boy) that marches with the system, but time would be better spent with facts.
Why not do an article Walter with real research? Then you could show where we need our resources!
Tom Rauch
not a GOB or just another faction?
if i owned a house next to the last station manned and it burned to the ground, resource allocation priorities would be of little solace to me.
Manning Parker Branch Fire Station is the project of one loquacious Commissioner who has a 60WPM mind and 100WPM mouth. To frequently he fails to engage brain before utterances!!!
All to often he sticks his foot in his eating cavity...
Fire Stations without pressured water and hydrants are extremely inefficient. Our Commissioners would be better servants if they worked with the Water Authority to get water lines throughout the county.
Once water is available, then manning of fire stations will make more economical sense. For the most part, volunteer fire departments are good foundation savers!!!
In the meantime, home owners should try to mitigate fire risks as they have done for so many years.
If we continue to elect myoptic thinkers we will only have more of the same!!!!
If our leadership would stopping looking to the future and look back to the last century, we would have fully manned fire stations throughout the county with water mains everywhere!
I've lived, worked & played in 44 states & 4 countries, but Lamar county is the first I have the pleasure of having no real infrastructure.
The first answer is closer to the truth. Only one fire station is built for manning, besides Grove St, and that is the one on Parker Branch. Then when you consider the majority of growth is on the north end of the county it is a no brainer it should be manned.
Speaking of research, why doesn't someone look at the fire station on Morgan Dairy. It has been there, sort of, for close to five years. Why isn't it a full fledged station? It's disgraceful.
I for one am glad Brown speaks his mind. He is a tremendous improvement over the person he replaced and except for Horton, the only one that has vision past next week.
Keep up the good work George!
So here we have multiple positions.
One person offers personal attacks against George Brown, and does some name calling.
Another person states that the population is more concentrated in northern Lamar County and that is the only location besides Grove that is ready or easily ready to be manned.
A little research on the web has shown the second person is correct.
I'm not sure about the first person. I can't find anything documented about a foot in George Brown's mouth or how fast he talks or thinks, so that might just be a personal opinion.
My own personal opinion is we either need to increase efforts to recrute volunteers or pay for some full time firemen.
We ahould do this even if taxes have to be raised, because we will all save on fire insurance if the fire response is timely.
It's amazing how our leaders like Hardwick want to pour more money into questionable things like the IDA, or want to ask county employees to lie and change county codes improperly, but don't want fund firefighters.
Regards,
Tom Rauch
A manned fire station does NOT prevent homes from burning down, just ask the people in counties that have a full time fire department county wide, homes are destoryed every day by fire in these counties.
Hidden identities allow people to say some really stupid things they might not say if their names were given. Like this:
"A manned fire station does NOT prevent homes from burning down, just ask the people in counties that have a full time fire department county wide, homes are destoryed every day by fire in these counties"
The question is if it REDUCES damage or REDUCES the number of homes totally destroyed by lowering response time.
15-20 minutes is far too long.
Tom Rauch
I understand all the commissioners are in favor of manning parker branch. two just want to jump the gun and man it with out any thought, vision, fiduciary responsibility, looking at cost benefit of consolidation, actual cost over the next three years, what it truly means to the ISO rating. The two are Brown & Horton. Brown acts on emotion and Horton acts on Brown's emotion. Brinkly, Hardwick and Mathews have vision, make decisions on facts and reality. Thank goodness we have some who will recognize that we must take care of matters today and clean up shop before we can move forward to sufficiently fund our needs down the road for years to come. I have heard all 5 commissioners say they understand the need to but only 3 understand the how to.
Commissioner Brown said he will not support the budget without the funding now for manning parker branch.
Guess what Comm. Brown
1,2,3 you're out!
9.33 you got to be the biggest nut with no brains that ever wrote on the blog. stupid you is.
ANON 9:33...you are right on!!!!
The odd couple (two commissioners) are limited in their abilities when it comes to budget matters and fiduciary responsibilites. Earlier comments (3:41) concerning the manning of Parker Branch was also hit the mark!!!!
Fortunately for the citizens who understand budgetary matters and the pitfalls of deficit spending, the odd couple are always in the minority...no pun intended!!
There is always funds in the county budget to do any good task. It is not a matter of money, it is a matter of priority. If the gang of 3 thought that fire protection was a priority for the north end of Lamar they would simply rearrange funding. It happens all the time.
Don't let "them" get away with wanting to be "responible" with your tax dollars. If you look back at history, Brinkley and Hardwick were responsible for one of the largest tax hikes in Lamar County history.
What are their priorities? It is not the north end of the county!
Let's see,
Gene Hardwick wanted to increase funding to the IDA, and George and Benny wanted to man a fire station.
Gene and Ray (and maybe Jay) wanted the city to get half of the county money for some reason with the Ag deal.
Benny and George didn't.
Gene wants to serve on the IDA so badly that the ONLY copy of the county code showing it is legal is the copy at the courthouse. That copy was changed. The copy everywhere else including the library says he can't serve. (Hurry Gene, get Patty to replace that copy!!! Oh sorry, she lost her job and you couldn't help her by changing records like she helped you.)
Now I wonder who the self-serving people are? Is it Gene, or is it George?
Tom Rauch
Please tell me what I am missing when representatives of county and/or city are on the IDA. I don't have much book sense, but a little common sense, and it seems you should have representatives from local governments on the IDA. Just call me stupid!
It has nothing to do with politics. Who's sniffing whose butt?
Several people really care about what’s going on in the county. They are far outnumbered by those people that want to impress our city and county officials with loving comments and efforts to obtain that shiner of a brown nose. Serious matters never get serious attention. It’s shameful that we are led by who’s friends with who more so than who can get the job done the best.
Probably don't matter if the station is manned or not - when it matters, the radio will be broken & another house will burn to the ground.
I wonder who George Brown and Benny Horton have promised jobs to on the fire department.They sure do have a stiff-on to get funding for 3 more fulltime positions.
hey scoop: i could not help myself and visited the other web site a moment ago a noticed greg is still promoting the gmac law suit against the county for the ag property land swap. it states a NOTICE FROM CITIZENS GROUP encouraging $$$ contributions be sent to Jack "a$$" Harris on behalf of gmac to support the leagl expenses. I wounder who all is this CITIZENS GROUP. i know gmac, jack "a$$" harris, greg, and the recent confession from COMMISSIONER BROWN as stated on gregs web page in the excerpts from a budget workshop that Commissioner Hardwick got him on. As Brown so diplomaticly said "DAMN RIGHT" he was egging on a law suit against the county.
Are we going to sit back and allow a commissioner encourage a law suit against the county? I will not. I am looking into the avenues of removing an official from office for such actions. This county is small enough to find out who all is supporting this LAW SUIT. if a county employee is part of it then the county should suspend them until it is over. and fire them if the county prevails. they are keeping a confidential list of contributors incase the city or county has to pay for thier legal fees. i say we should have that same group repay the county for legal fees when they loooooossssee!!!!!!!!!!
did brown really admit to being part of a lawsuit against the county?
to anon 9:21pm: I have seen brown & horton several times in the recent past talking with Neal DeVane. i only guess about a job at parker branch.
The last six blogs are very interesting and informative. None of them deal with the merits of the issue. The issue is should funding additional fire personnel be a priority for the county commission?
When you have the facts on your side, you argue the facts. When the facts aren't on your side you argue anything but the facts. That is where personality comes in.
Whether you like George Brown or Bennie Horton, or the other three commissioners is not the point. The point is does the north side of the county need fire protection and will the commission make it a priority?
In my opinion the facts are unmistakeable, we need to expand our fire protection.
Annon 9:09 your comments about expanding fire service is very true and spot-on.
The question arises how do we pay for it? How much of a tax increase are we willing to pay? Are creating fire districts with attendant taxes per household an attractive method of financing? Are taxpayers willing to indulge deficit spending to support additional firemen. If we man Parker Branch or Morgan Dairy or Piedmont how much do we improve fire protection? These decisions have to be made within the context of the lack of water and hydrants throughtout the county.
One school of thought has been to merge the city and county fire departments in conjunction with manning of additional fire stations. At first blush, this seems rather practical. However, probably not feasable due to turf protection.
Being against additional fire protection is like being against motherhood and apple pie; however, we must look at the manning of additional fire stations as a compromise between cost and incremental fire coverage improvements.
Unfortunately too many view the discussion from an emotional prospective rather than providing logical solutions. Certain commissioner(s) find it easy to stir emotions but are void when it comes to providing logical and effective solutions. The rock quarry, the airport and now the fire stations are vivid examples!!
A well known public figure commented to me the other day, "it appears some newcomers to the County are trying to provide employment for themselves!!!" I do not know if this is true or not but there seems to be some merit in these comments.
I do know that sometimes the answer is not in the back of the book. This is one of those times!!!!
Thanks 9;43 anonymous for proving my point. You are a prefect example of a brown nosing butt sniffer without any regard to what is right or wrong in Lamar County. You rank very high on the stupid meter.
I am convinced the IDA has gotten too much power. They appear to want to override anything that conflicts with their Agenda, that they appear to change daily.
Wow, alot of good points made!
Please excuse my ignorance here.
I just stumbled upon this blog and I have an interest in the discussion.
Out of curiosity....
What is the track record, thus far,
for this area?
What I mean is, Response time, fatalities, property loss, etc...?
Basically, does the history drive the
need?
Thanks for any replies.
hesitatenot if you want actual facts as far as "response time, fatalities, property loss" you will definitely need to go somewhere else. This blog is strong on opinions and weak on facts.
anon 10:08am you should not remain anon because you make too much sense and should be proud of your comments. keep up the good work of keeping the bloggers in check and bring to our attention the lack of vision and leadership some of the commissioners have. i wish we could have a fire station and ambulance on every corner in lamar county but the cost / benefit ration does not support it. i favor impact fees, fire districts, water districts, etc. to pay for critical infrastructure in population centers. i live on piedmont rd. and i donot want my taes to go up to man parker branch station just as folks on parker branch would not want thier taxes to go up to man piedmont station. i checked with my insurance agent and my insurance would not be reduced if piedmont station was manned. a fire hydrant 500 to 1000 feet from my home would do more to help my insurance cost. my agent shared some interesting stats with me. she said that stats show that even when rural areas built, equiped, and manned stations that fire damage and loss rates did not significantly decrease. many stats show an increase in fire loss and damage. (side note to stat: number of homes went up in area) percentage decrease but number of homes increased. (pure numbers game)the stats also indicate the response time to fires in rural areas did not significantly increase, if any, when a station was built, equiped, and manned versus an "on-call" volunteer department. these were some stats that were shared with me when i asked why my insurance rates would not go down.
having a fire station close to your house will not prevent it from burning down. homes burn down everyday in america with hugh fully staffed and equiped fire departments. even a manned station is dependent on volunteers to show up and fight fire. the response time will not improve enough to prevent substantial damage to homes.
ANON 3:19 thanks for your postive comments on my 10:08 input.
Also, thanks for being up-to-date on fire protection statistics, keeping yourself informed, being reasonable in your comments and not presenting emotional rants.
Unfortunately, to many posters are being led around with some commissioner(s) whose only contribution(s) seem be keeping the natives riled up about contentious issues.
Personally I would like to see all the fire stations manned; however, our country budget just will not allow it at this time and probably not in the immediate future, without massive tax increases!!
Once the County Manager can get caught up on the bills that lingered for months without being paid, get a better control of spending and institute proper accountability controls, then maybe we can get some improvements throughtout the county.
The taxpayers of Lamar County cannot imagine how bad our fiscal situation was when the new Chairman and acting County Manager came on board last January.
Just beleive me, it was a disaster and I mean disaster. We are now having to come to grips with the lack of leadership and an ineffective commission we have had in the county over the last few years.
Facts are facts and Lamar County has been lacking in leadership for many years. With new Chairman and acting County Manager we are now instituting controls have have been non-exitent for to long in this county.
The lack of preceived fire coverage (real or imagine) is just a microcosm of problems here in the county.
In the meantime, the complainers complain, remain ignorant to the real facts, stay emotional and offer very few solutions.
Very frankly, I believe we are at least one and maybe two election cycles away from having a commission that has a vision, verses always looking in the rear view mirror.
Remember, we get what we vote for!!
These are the facts: In 1989 the state of Georgia did a study in Lamar County When this study was undertaken, projected growth to the year 2000 was 14% in Lamar County. However, the population grew by 22% from 1990 through the year 2000. Since 2000, the population has continued to increase rapidly with residential construction booming. Northeast Lamar County has seen even more dramatic growth and grew at the rate of 32%. There is a need in the north end of Lamar County for a manned fire station. To expect a County to provide basic services and to hold them accountable for not providing them TO ALL CITIZENS IN THE COUNTY is not whining, complaining or being emotional. It is being a good citizen and the commissioners who are pushing it are doing their job. It is also smart. The post regarding insurance rates was incorrect. Insurance companies rate residential fire protection by assigning rating codes 1 (best) through 10 (worst). Various factors affect the ratings. The ISO examines three components in evaluating a fire department:
Water System – worth 40 points ( the ability to access sufficient water to extinguish fires).
Communication – worth 10 points (the 911 center that receives and dispatches calls). Fire Department – worth 50+ points. This category is the largest of the three ISO components. It evaluates manpower, training and equipment in assigning a value to this category. Various factors affect the rating. Some of the most important are: The number and qualifications of the department employees – (the plus equates to the number of employees. The more employees, the more points); Type and amount of equipment available;
Age and condition of the equipment;
Distance of the residence from the nearest fire station; and,
availability of water to fight fires. As you can see, the largest factor is whether there is a manned station, how it is manned, and the equipment. Secondary, is the availability of water.
A simple look at the Lamar County map will show that the one manned fire station that we have is situated near the lower 1/3 of the county while the greatest growth in population and homes is in the North and Northeast part of the county which is the farthest from the Grove Street Station. It is important to note that Rock Springs Church is in the northeast end of the County and regularly sees 1500 to 2000 in attendance and has facilities that cost millions. Yet there is no manned fire department in the area and there is water. The county recently received a $100,000.00 payment from Florida Rock which was not part of the budget. This money could have been applied to give back to the community that is going to suffer the ill effects of this devastating quarry but no one (but the commissioners) knows where that money went.
In the end, is it so irresponsible to ask our County to pay for basic fire services whether in Piedmont, Morgan Dairy or elsewhere? We can pay for softball fields, skate board parks, give land away to the City of Barnesville, and give more money to the IDA, but we can't man a fire department. It is just a matter of priorities.
A typical lawyerly rant!!!!
How much increase in your taxes are you willing to pay to man the fire stations in Lamar County???
One should have known that sooner or later the Rock Springs Chruch would be brought into the discussion. Maybe since it is such a icon in the community it should have its own fire station.
How much in taxes does the Rock Springs Church pay???? Worth millions, how much does it pay???
Again, how much as a property owner, are you willing to pay???
Stop the presses...the discussion is over...after all the personal injury lawyers know best!!!
As an earlier post ask...how much are you willing to increase your taxes to man the Parker Branch Fire Station? Very simple question, how much???
Why not offer a viable alternative rather than repeating and rehashing the mistakes that has gotten us into this financial mess.
Just look back 4-5 years and you can see the reasons, after all four of the five commissioners are still in office!
anon 10:08 & 7:29 your above average vocabulary and comments give you away. i know who you are and appreciate reading your comments. keep up the good work in keeping everyone in check with reality. the truth hurts but we need to hear it.
I love people who hide behind anonymoous posts and attack people personaly and use no facts to support their opinions. For those of you who attacked me personaly and professionally, I noticed you have no facts to support your opinion. That's okay. People tend to do that when they have nothing else to offer.
As for a solution, I offered one. Stop wasting money on fences, skateboard parks, the IDA and giving property away that rightfully belongs to the county. I offered that there had been a $100,000.00 payment from Florida Rock that was unexpected windfall. Why not use that to start manning fire stations? Oh that's right. It's been spent in just months.
As to how much I am willing to pay in increased taxes, I am already paying increased taxes. My taxes are going up whether there is a manned station or not. My property has been reassessed 3 out of the last five years and my taxes have gone up every time. I venture to say that I am paying for more than my fair share but I have noticed that services have remained the same, ie nonexistent. No Cable, no water, no trash pick up, no litter enforcement, and no manned fire station. While those in the lower 3rd of Lamar have a manned fire station, a library, and parks, for what they pay in taxes, we on the North end of Lamar have nothing. If you want to see our park, just drive by the sign on the vacant land on 36 which is located within blasting distance of the rock quarry.
I don't mind being attacked personally but attacking a church is something else, whether it is Rock Springs or First Baptist. Churches are not taxed in this country because of the First Amendment. Our government has removed God from the public school system and the town square. If it could tax churches, it would tax them out of existence. Anyone who knows why this country was founded knows why churches are not taxed. Wtih respect to the fire department, is it wrong to want a fire department close by to protect people in case of a fire while the building is occupied? I don't think so. While Rock Springs Church does not pay property taxes, it invests in the lives of people in the community. The jail ministry leads many people to the Lord. The street ministry is leading people to the Lord. Lives are being changed. Many in the community have their power bills paid by the church or they are helped through a financial crisis. The elderly have deacons make household repairs. People are challenged to be better than what they are and to be like Christ. I would say that this contribution is much more important than paying taxes.
Kent K. says....
I have to agree with Mr. Sexton. Manning an additional fire station is not a matter of money, it's a matter of priorities. The Parker Branch fire station is the only fire station besides Grove St. that was built with the facilities to allow full time personnel. Redbone isn't, nor is Piedmont or Morgan Dairy or Milner.
When you add to the fact the north end of the county is rapidly growing in size, it only makes sense it is the next station to be manned.
The county has a large and complex budget. Does it have monies that could be reallocated for the fire station on Parker Branch? Of course it does. It is merely a matter of priorities.
WOW…the temperature is rising!!!!
Mr. Sexton, I find 10:10 your post rather contradictory, first you say you have been personally attacked, (I see not evidence of any personal attacks); then you say you do not mind being attacked. Which is it???? CVS in Barnesville sells a very good skin toughener crème!!!
I see no evidence that your church was attacked. Someone did ask about how much taxes the church paid. A perfectly legitimate question. If you consider this an attack, you really have thin skin. After reviewing the various posts, it was you who brought the church into the discussion!!! As Harry said “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Funny thing about some religious zealots, they have little tolerance for criticism and/or other religions. Many citizens, acting on their own, Jews, Mormons, Hindus, Buddhist, Muslims, Agnostics, etc, perform charitable and philanthropic activities every day in this country. However, they are not braggadocio about it. Further more, they do not expect tax exemptions; they do it out of benevolence toward their fellow citizens.
A wise ole sage said one time “watch those self-anointed paragons of virtue, they are usually wearing a very thin veneer”.
As for those to post anonymously, fine....allowing them to express their opinions is more important than knowing their names. Some people do not feel comfortable in discussing issues without a certain amount of anonymity. Conversely, some people want everyone to know who they are!!!
For the record I called the Chairman tonight at 8:52pm and he told me that he as well as the entire commission is committed to manning parker branch station. He stated that he could not sit in a budget workshop on August 6 and say sure fund it for 08 when they are trying to get a handle on the 07 budget to make it the remaining months of this year. He told me he is looking at what revenues are coming in each day versus the expenses each day and where we are each Friday. He said that many important items were cut or delayed in funding them for now not just the manning of parker branch. i asked him what his priority was in funding and he said that getting through August, Sept Oct Nov. and Dec 07. But the fire station was at the top of list to put in 08 budget once things start looking better. i told him i live on highfalls park rd and manning parker branch was important but the most important is to keep the landfill out.
Thank you chairman for you time and I understand more since we spoke of what the commission is up against. MONEY!
Thin skinned, I probably was, it was late when I posted. Contradictory, I don't think so. The other posts speak for themselves. Religious zealot? If the implication is that I am zealous for my religion, then I'll take it as a complement. I think I'll just take the advice of Anonymous 4:02. It contained some some real wisdom. For the record, I just spoke with George Bush on the phone and all of the presidential candidates, and they all want us to have a manned fire station on Parker Branch Road in 2008
Finding money to man a fire dept seems to be a lot harder than finding money to fund the Rudy scandal ever was,300,000.00 plus would have went a long way towards fire protection.
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