It’s a given that volunteer fire departments have difficulty staffing and funding. The question is what choice will government make? You only have four choices, so at least make one. Seemingly, it does not seem like long-term planning is in their wheelhouse. What makes you believe if you continue to allow the ongoing vast growth, without adding requirements to the developer to fund aspects of that growth, that any of your infrastructure and services are going to be able to keep up with demand?
Option 1: You can continue to put your head in the sand and expect it to solve itself. It will get worse before it gets worse. Additionally, there is no magic fairy that is going to come along with fix it. If you choose not to fund the system you established, the system will cease to exist in its present form.
Option 2: You can fund the system with varied and diverse funding sources, and actually place this process in the strategic plan, so you do not find yourselves right back at the same crossroads several years from now. Fire and rescue services are expensive, and the more growth you have, the busier the system becomes. Sustainability is what you must plan for. At some point, you are going to have to place impact fees on developers to help fund this and other services.
Option 3: You can plan on contracting to a third-party EMS provider to provide transport services and allow the volunteer fire service to just respond to fire calls. This cuts their volume and demand, reduces career staff and expenses, eliminates the need to purchase ambulances and allows fire companies to run 60% to 70% less responses.
Option 4: You can plan and implement a fully career fire and rescue service to provide all your response needs. If you believe this is less expensive to fund than a volunteer system, well, you just keep thinking that. This method assures that you provide 24/7 coverage but comes with a cost.
There is a saying in risk management, if it’s predictable, it’s preventable. If you do not find a method to manage growth and development, and assure developers assume some of the costs, you are going to be looking at an empty checking account.
You best listen to citizens, determine what they want that is reasonable and determine a method to implement those desires.
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