Tag Archive for: #danbrummitt

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County Awaiting Testing Results Before Resuming Fire Restructuring Talks

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100.1 FM / 1450 AM WIZS; Local News broadcasts M-F 8am, 12pm, 5pm

In a brief update to WIZS, Vance County Commissioner Dan Brummitt stated that restructuring of the volunteer fire departments, a topic that has been much discussed and debated in recent months, is currently in a holding pattern pending test results.

“Most of the fire departments underwent testing for fire ratings, and we are waiting on the results before we proceed,” said Brummitt. “Preliminary results indicate that they all did well, and we should see some ability for insurance rates to be lowered in some parts of the county.”

Under the current fire restructuring proposal, paid part-time positions would be added to the County’s volunteer fire departments with the exception of the Vance County Fire Department, which would remain as currently structured.

“As soon as we get official test results, we anticipate starting the conversation again,” Brummitt said.

Vance Co. Board of Commissioners Select New Chair, Vice Chair

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100.1 FM / 1450 AM WIZS; Local News broadcasts M-F 8am, 12pm, 5pm

News Brief:

Gordon Wilder was voted in as the Chairman of the Vance County Board of Commissioners at the Board’s December 9, 2019, meeting. Dan Brummitt was voted in as Vice Chairman of the Board.

WIZS congratulates these two gentlemen on their new roles!

Gordon Wilder was voted in as the Chairman of the Vance County Board of Commissioners at the Board’s December 9, 2019, meeting. (Co. of Vance photo)

Dan Brummitt was voted in as Vice Chairman of the Vance County Board of Commissioners at the Board’s December 9, 2019, meeting. (Co. of Vance photo)

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Town Talk: Brummitt Discusses Vance Co. Budget, Fire Restructuring

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On Tuesday’s Town Talk edition, Vance County Commissioner Dan Brummitt provided an update on discussions held at the June 3, 2019, Vance County Board of Commissioners meeting.

Continuing to hammer out the details of the FY 2019-20 Vance County budget – proposed at $48,362,611 – commissioners have a matter of weeks to finalize plans before the set July 1 implementation date.

One topic that has been much-discussed in recent months is the restructuring of the volunteer fire departments. Under the current proposal, paid part-time positions would be added to the County’s volunteer fire departments with the exception of the Vance County Fire Department, which would remain as currently structured.

Brummitt, who serves on the County’s Fire Commission, is not in favor of this plan.

“Under the current proposal, in order to accommodate adding part-time individuals to volunteer departments, the funds would have to come from somewhere else,” explained Brummitt. “I don’t agree with having a tax increase just to avoid going through some reorganization.”

“We can do more for the County and put more firefighters and first responders in our community for the same dollar amount we are currently spending.”

To hear the Town Talk interview with Dan Brummitt in its entirety, including more on his views of fire restructuring, listen to Town Talk by clicking the play button above. Listen live to WIZS’ Town Talk Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on 1450AM, 100.1 FM or online at www.wizs.com.

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Vance Co. Commissioners Brummitt & Wilder Talk Fire Restructuring Vote

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On Thursday’s edition of WIZS Town Talk program, Vance County Commissioners Gordon Wilder and Dan Brummitt discussed the Board’s recent 4-3 vote to move ahead with funding paid part-time positions in the County’s volunteer fire departments.

Commissioners Tommy Hester, Leo Kelly, Archie Taylor and Wilder were in favor of the vote, with Dan Brummitt, Carolyn Faines and Yolanda Feimster in opposition.

The question of what changes will be made to the Vance County Fire Department that serves the Golden Belt District is still under discussion. Wilder said nothing is off the table when it comes to reorganization options.

“I’m listening to [County Manager] Jordan McMillen and Finance Manager David Beck for some recommendations. I want us to look at every possibility. It may require some shifting around of funds and some creative measures.”

The original fire restructuring proposal, which went before the Board at their January meeting, included, in part, converting the Vance County Fire Department into a volunteer operation with some paid personnel while repositioning other paid personnel into volunteer departments throughout the county.

The Board voted at that meeting to hold a work session on January 23 to further discuss details and options before proceeding.

Wilder said his vote at Monday’s Board meeting in favor of adding paid part-time positions to volunteer departments while leaving the Vance Co. Fire Department as is for the time being was influenced by his conversations with people in the community and his understanding of the general consensus of the commissioners at the recent work session.

“There seemed to be in our work session a consensus that we need to put part-timers in the volunteer departments. I’m not saying in the future that we don’t reduce the paid staff in the Golden Belt and distribute them out [to volunteer departments], but budget-wise, I don’t think it’s wise right now.”

Brummitt, who has been working on fire restructuring measures since 2006, serves on the County’s Fire Commission and has been a strong proponent of the plan as proposed at the January Board meeting.

According to Brummitt, moving forward with funding new part-time positions in the volunteer departments is not what he considers to be the most fiscally responsible decision nor the one that will bring more equality between the various fire districts.

“Based on the motion made at the meeting, the Vance County Fire Department – the Golden Belt District – will be the only area with 24-7 coverage. The others will have part-time coverage Monday through Friday on an 11-12 hour basis. There’s no equity in any of that,” said Brummitt.

Citing previous conversations centering around improving response time and providing equal coverage to the various fire districts, Brummitt said he feels Monday’s decision was a step back. “I feel the decision made the other night was a step backwards to where we had already gotten. I think we’ve come too far to go backwards now.”

Wilder said he felt the decision to increase staffing at volunteer departments was helping to reach that initial goal.

“One of the goals at the outset of all this was the fact that you may live in Watkins, Townsville or Drewry, and being an outlying fire district, you may not be getting the same response time as someone a little closer. So the goal was to give equal response times, or the best we could, as efficiently as possible.”

Moving forward, Wilder said the Board’s work will turn to the process of putting part-time positions in the volunteer departments, filling those positions and resuming talks of a possible restructuring of the Vance County Fire Department.

To hear the WIZS Town Talk interviews with Wilder and Brummitt in their entirety, please click here.

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Brummitt and Carpunky Tackle Fire Redistricting Questions

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Doyle Carpunky, president of the Vance County Fire and Rescue Association and chief of the Vance County Rescue Squad and Vance County Board of Commissioner Dan Brummitt were on Monday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss the County’s recent fire redistricting proposal.

The proposal, which will go before the Vance County Board of Commissioners at this evening’s meeting, includes, in part:

  • Converting the Vance County Fire Department into a volunteer department with some paid personnel and designating the Golden Belt district it serves as a volunteer district.
  • Repositioning current paid personnel into volunteer departments throughout the county.
  • Converting savings from the operational expense of the Vance County Fire Department in order to provide daytime personnel at every fire department.
  • Creating a Vance County Fire Services Division under the fire marshal’s office for oversight of paid personnel.
  • Changing the current fire response structure from 3-alarm to 4-alarm, increasing the number of departments and personnel on the scene.

According to the proposal put forth by the County’s Fire Commission consisting of Carpunky, Carolyn Faines and Daren Small, this restructuring aims to improve response time, improve cost-effectiveness and establish a consistent level of service to all citizens of Vance County with an opportunity to integrate current paid staff into the volunteer departments.

“This isn’t a locally invented process,” explained Brummitt. “The fire commission conducted a fire study that was completed in 2008. That study set forward a lot of the process to bring our fire services up to a higher standard.”

This newest fire redistricting proposal is the next phase in a larger plan that began approximately four years ago when paid part-time workers were placed in volunteer fire departments including Bearpond, Townsville and Hicksboro, according to Brummitt.

In response to local concern regarding the validity of data that was compiled in a study conducted 10 years ago, Carpunky said the census numbers have not changed. “From the 2008 study to today, the census has not changed on the amount of personnel in our county or the population of our county.”

Carpunky addressed a number of concerns and questions regarding the redistricting proposal with figures he said he received from the County. The majority of the information focuses on the Golden Belt Fire District and the concern with making Vance County Fire Department into a volunteer district. According to Carpunky’s stated figures:

  • The Golden Belt Fire District is the largest single district in Vance County with a total population of 8,042. The total population for the rest of the fire districts throughout the county is 22,033.
  • The Golden Belt Fire District accounts for 29% of the property value of the county; 71% of the property value is from the current volunteer district.
  • The Golden Belt’s primary district is 138.86 road miles of fire district; current volunteer fire districts cover 476.53 road miles.
  • The Golden Belt district responds to an average of 1,100 – 1,200 calls per year; volunteer districts respond to approximately 21,000 calls. Carpunky clarified that a percentage of these calls involve motor vehicle collisions or first responder calls, and are not fire-related.

“I understand the Golden Belt’s the largest district, has the highest population in a single district and has the highest percentage of property value in a single district,” said Carpunky. “What about the other districts of our county? That’s what this fire restructure is concentrated on – every citizen as a whole, not one fire department or one fire district.”

According to Carpunky, the Golden Belt Fire District would remain unchanged for now with the exception that it would become a combination paid/volunteer department “like the rest of the volunteer departments in the county.”

Brummitt stated that the County does anticipate changing fire districts in the future, which could affect the Golden Belt. “We do anticipate changing the fire districts, so this mega-district [Golden Belt] that was created because it was a paid department will decrease in size, decrease in property value and will experience a decrease in number of citizens served.”

With all of these changes, Carpunky said one of the concerns he’s heard from citizens is in regards to insurance increases. “For those concerned that changes will increase their insurance rates, an insurance change would not happen with the proposed restructure. If they [Vance County Fire Department] were to go to a combination department today, their current rating would stay the same.”

Another concern mentioned in the interview was the job of current Vance County Fire Chief Chris Wright. The current proposal calls for each volunteer fire department to have their own chief for their district and calls for the creation of an assistant fire marshal position.

When asked about talk that Wright would be slated for the assistant fire marshal position if the proposal was approved, Brummitt responded, “No, that’s a rumor that was created somewhere along the way. At no point did we propose staffing positions. We [fire commission] presented to have a fire marshal and an assistant fire marshal. The Vance County Board of Commissioners doesn’t handle personnel assignments. It will be up to the County Manager [Jordan McMillen] to evaluate what individuals he wants in specific positions.”

Brummitt stated that even if the Board approves the proposal at tonight’s meeting, it would still be some time before all phases are active. “If the Board says ‘we’re going forward with it,’ that doesn’t mean tomorrow morning we start moving fire trucks. We’ve got a process we’re developing so that certain elements would be staged so that once we’ve accomplished level one, we’d move on to level two.”

The proposal may be one step closer to implementation after tonight’s Vance County Board of Commissioners’ meeting, although some in the community, including Commissioner Tommy Hester, have expressed their opinion that the County should invest in an updated fire study before approving the proposal.

The meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. with a public hearing on the fire redistricting proposal to begin at 6:15 p.m. will be held in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room, 122 Young Street in Henderson. The public is highly encouraged to speak; advanced sign up is not required for this particular hearing.

To hear the interview in its entirety, please click here. 

 

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Vance Co. Commissioner Brummitt Says Fire Plan to Create, Not Cut, Paid Positions

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Vance County Commissioner Dan Brummitt, a 12-year representative of District 4, was on Tuesday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk program to discuss plans to improve response time to fires and emergencies in the county.

Working with a fire plan crafted by the Vance County Board of Commissioners approximately seven years ago, Brummitt said several “tweaks” have been made over the years to better serve residents.

“We’ve put paid firefighters in during the day in Bearpond, Hicksboro and Townsville [fire departments] and are looking at putting paid staff in all of the volunteer fire departments on a part-time basis,” said Brummitt.

According to Brummitt, the County’s new CAD software will allow for faster and more accurate tracking of calls and response time. “With the new system, we can identify specifically what kind of calls we receive and where they are occurring so we can more accurately predict behaviors and put people in the right place to ensure quicker response times.”

The Board’s Public Safety Committee hopes to have an approved proposal to take before the full Vance County Board of Commissioners this fall. “We hope to have more accurate numbers after three months or so of data collection with the CAD system before we present the plan.”

While Brummitt was thankful to the various fire departments and the Volunteer Association for their feedback and support of the plan to monitor calls and redistribute firefighters where needed, he admitted unemployment rumors have created concern. “There has been apprehension that people were going to lose their jobs. We’ve been very deliberate from the beginning of the process to ensure that no person is going to lose their job.”

“You may not wake up in the same fire department that you’re in now, but your job is not going away,” said Brummitt. On the contrary, Brummitt said payroll could increase if current unpaid volunteer work becomes paid part-time employment.

Brummitt reiterated that nothing is set in stone and that commissioners are still developing the plan and receiving input from the community. He also stated that any previous plans presented or reported are simply concept plans and not a final, approved version.

“We are still developing the plan, still receiving input from professionals, volunteers and the community; all input will go into developing the plan. It is a totally open process.”

Brummitt believes all of the input and restructuring of the current fire plan will pay off if citizens in Vance County are better protected in emergency situations. “The end-all is that we want to get quicker with response time to people out in the county and we’re working on that now.”

Emeron Cash Honored by local Educators

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Members of the Vance County Board of Education were joined by people from throughout the school system and local community in honoring Emeron J. Cash Sr. on December 12 as he retired after 24 years of service on the board.

They attended a nice reception held in the Administrative Services Center prior to the board’s regular monthly meeting to pay tribute to the former teacher, coach and retiring board member. During the reception and at the beginning of the meeting, colleagues, educators and friends visited with Cash, his wife, Patricia, and their son, Chris. They all praised a man who has dedicated his life to helping youth across Vance County and beyond.

Gloria J. White, chairwoman of the board, presented Cash with a resolution by the board recognizing his many contributions. She also joined Superintendent Anthony Jackson with

giving him a handsome, framed collage featuring his many achievements over the years. He also received a wooden, rocking chair with the school system’s seal engraved on the headrest. Vance County Commissioner Dan Brummitt gave Cash a framed certificate of appreciation from his board.

White led comments shared with the audience at the meeting in praising Cash as a great colleague and someone who truly cares about children and education.

Cash thanked everyone for their support over the years and for the many gifts he was presented.

Chris Cash also spoke and thanked everyone for their great relationships and positive work with his father.