Fruitland Park Commissioner John Mobilian made a surprise motion Thursday night to have City Manager Gary La Venia gather information about having Lake County take over providing fire services to the non-Villages portion of the community.
The motion passed 4-1, with Mayor Chris Cheshire voting against the plan. He said the city looked into a similar proposal a couple of years ago and ultimately decided to maintain its own fire department, which is funded through an annual $256 assessment. Homeowners in The Villages portion of the city pay $194 annually and their fire protection services are provided by The Villages Public Safety Department.
Cheshire said there eventually will have to be changes made for the city to maintain an effective fire company, especially if it provides advanced life support services. Currently, the assessment fees pay for a “bare bones” department without using any general fund money to supplement it.
Vice Mayor John Gunter agreed, adding that he pays more than $900 a year in fire assessment fees on a small house he owns in Volusia County. He said he doesn’t want to see Fruitland Park residents paying that kind of money. But he has said in the past that he knows the department can’t continue to operate on just $256 per household.
Cheshire said he’d rather start the conversation about making changes with Fruitland Park Fire Chief Donald Gilpin and his firefighters before seeking the advice of others. He said that is a much more “respectful” way to move forward in the process. And he supported Gilpin’s suggestion that the commission hold a workshop along with members of his department to discuss how they want to proceed.
“If you decide to go with the county, at that point you lose all control,” Gilpin said. “Right now you have control of your fire assessment and where it’s set at. When you move to the county, they have control of that fire assessment.”
Mobilian, who lives in the Village of Pine Hills and represents District 2, said his motive in seeking information from Lake County is quite simple – to keep the cost of fire services down for Fruitland Park residents who live outside The Villages.
“I thought if the county could take over the running of the fire department, the cost to the people in Fruitland Park would drop dramatically,” he said.
Mobilian added that he wasn’t attempting to disparage Gilpin or his department.
“I think they do a great job,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep the cost down for the people of Fruitland Park. That’s all.”
