Fruitland Park commissioners will consider a controversial move on Thursday night that would shut down the city’s fire department and replace it with a higher level of service.
Commissioners are being asked to consider a contract with Lake County Fire Rescue to provide medical and fire protection services to the original portion of the city. The new contract wouldn’t affect fire protection in The Villages portion of the city, as that is provided by The Villages Public Safety Department.
Under the contract, Lake County Fire Rescue would begin servicing the original part of the city on Jan. 1. But a provision exists to enlist that agency’s services earlier, presumably if there are issues with continuing to staff the current department until it is disbanded.
The agreement calls for the city to pay the county $645,246 for providing the services through Sept. 30, 2021. Payments will be made in equal monthly installments of $71,694 on or before the 15th of each month. Those payments will come from the fire assessment fees that are being paid by Fruitland Park residents.
The agreement also calls for the city to continue maintaining its fire station that is located next to City Hall on Berckman Street. A Lake EMS unit will continue to work out of the firehouse and the county will purchase a variety of equipment from the city in installments of $50,825 over two years. That includes a 2005 Pierce Contender engine, a 2000 ALF Freightliner engine, a 1997 Ford F-350 brush truck and a 2020 Chevy Tahoe, among other things.
The new arrangement also would mean that the residents of the original portion of the city would see their medical services go from basic to advanced life support, as the Lake County Fire Rescue crews will include firefighter/paramedics. The current department provides basic life support, with Lake EMS providing the higher level of service when ambulances arrive at calls.
The commission will consider the issue during its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, Dec. 10. The 6 p.m. meeting will be held in the commission chambers at City Hall, located at 506 W. Berckman St.
The ongoing issue of having Lake County Fire Rescue replace the city’s current fire department last came to a head on Nov. 12 when commissioners instructed City Manager Gary La Venia to explore the possibility. The decision came after La Venia presented commissioners with an email he received in October from Lake County Deputy Manager John Molenda that said Lake County Fire Rescue often was being called upon to cover the original portion of the city when it’s fire department goes “out of service.”
Molenda said Fruitland Park’s Station 56 was out of service 61 times in the first seven months of this year. He said there were more out of service days in the first five months of this year than in all of 2019, when there was an average of 3.7 times per month as opposed to the current eight times per month.
Molenda added that “it is imperative” that the Fruitland Park station stay available to respond to calls as the closet unit in the older part of the city and as a backup or secondary unit on specific incidents assigned by the countywide dispatch system or the Lake County medical director. He added that there’s already a “demand” placed on surrounding fire units because the Fruitland Park department provides basic life support versus advanced life support like most other fire departments throughout the state.
Fruitland Park Fire Chief Donald Gilpin said many of the out-of-service calls involved mandatory training days, which takes the city’s only staffed engine out of service, as well as some instances for equipment maintenance. But he said he wasn’t sure how many of the 61 out of service instances were because of training versus a lack of staffing – a response that angered Mayor Chris Cheshire, who chastised Gilpin and said he wished he were more prepared to answer pertinent questions about his department.
Gilpin and Commissioner Patrick DeGrave, who spent 39 years in local government in Wisconsin and Illinois, tangled over various questions about the fire department. DeGrave said it always seems to become an emotional issue when the department is discussed – a similar discussion erupted during a meeting in January and in October 2019 – and pointed out that the issue has been on the table for the two years he’s been in office.
After a long discussion, DeGrave said the issue had been talked about enough and contracting with Lake County to provide services would be a much better deal, both financially and in the coverage provided. Commissioner John Mobilian agreed, adding that it simply comes down to finances for him and the fact that the city can’t afford to fund its own fire department as it continues to grow.
Gilpin argued that it would be possible to have such a department and suggested that he’d seek a variety of grants to help pay for it. He said the department could operate full-time with six firefighters and part-timers to fill in on shifts when needed.
After the discussion went back and forth between the commission for several minutes, Cheshire had had enough. He scolded Gilpin, who earlier had said he had been seeking a workshop with commissioners to discuss the fire department. He said Thursday night would have been the perfect time to have that discussion if he had been prepared. He added that he was “done” with the issue and an obviously upset Gilpin quickly left the meeting.