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Sylva’s public safety committee hears fire department concerns
By Justin Goble
Sylva firefighters need larger quarters, Chief Mike Beck said last week during the town’s public safety committee meeting Jan. 31.
The biggest concern facing the department is facilities, Beck said. The current station has been in operation since 1980 without renovation, and is now inadequate to meet the growth in truck fleet, department membership and call volume.
Renovation to the current facilities has been suggested, but Beck said expansion would be difficult and expensive because the land the station is on is mostly rock. The other option would be moving the station, but that could be just as, if not more expensive, Beck said.
“We can’t do much on the current site,” Beck said. “We had a core drill done, and most of that land is rock. It takes a lot of money to do things on rock. But real estate in town is expensive too.”
Due to the cost of finding another site and the convenience of the current location, the most likely option is remodeling, Beck said.
“It’s not a bad location,” Beck said. “We have easy access to N.C. 107, and we can go to Dillsboro without having to cut through town. If we do move, the new location has got to be in the center of the district. We can’t move very far. We’ll probably have to do something with the building we already have.
“We have had an estimate of $1,035,000 to remodel the building,” Beck said. “The next thing we are trying to do is get some drawings done. The cost may not be that high once we get down to it. It’s very preliminary. It’s possible to find funding for it. You can approach the county if you want to, but they view us as a town department.”
Also of concern was more turnout gear for members. Beck said each firefighter had one set of up-to-date turnout gear, which works well as long as the department has one call a day.
“Equipment that is wet after use in multiple calls does not protect as well as the dry gear,” Beck said.
New gear will cost around $1,500 per person, totalling $52,000 for the department, Beck said.
While trucks have been the main focus of department expenditures in the last few years, Beck said what the department currently has can last until the building needs are addressed.
“We have pretty good trucks,” Beck said. “The plan is to rotate the old trucks out. We’re looking at the building now, since it’s been there since 1980.”
Committee and town board member Harold Hensley said the town needs to seek grants to fund the projects, since the money generated by taxes is tight.
“There’s 2,500 people that have to pay all these bills,” Hensley said. “I’m starting to see how far these dollars have to stretch.”
Town Manager Jay Denton told committee members grants could be sought out to fund the improvements, but it is unlikely many will be received due to the various requirements a department must meet to obtain them.
“We go after what we can,” Denton said. “We can start looking, but there’s all sorts of catches to those things.”
As a means to ease the financial burden, Hensley suggested private industry help supply funding, since the fire department helps protect businesses in the town as well as homes.
“Private industry has to step in,” Hensley said. “It’s a two-way street. Industry is good to the fire department, and the fire department is good for industry.”
Holding fund-raising activities was also brought up as a means to provide the money needed without putting a strain on the town’s tax dollars.
Beck said he wants current needs to be addressed so town officials can look into the need for a paid fire department, which he predicted would be necessary in the future to deal with an increase in calls. Though a paid department would mean the station is manned around the clock (making response time to incidents quicker), it would stretch and already tight budget, he said.
“We need to get all this built before we start paying people.” Beck said. “We’re really going to be tight when we start having a paid staff.”
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