A fire district membership program that will be offered to owners of property located outside the city limits was approved Monday night by the Bethany City Council.
The tax-supported Bethany Fire Department currently provides fire protection to residents living within the city limits. That leaves property owners living outside the city limits, who aren’t in a neighboring fire district, without guaranteed fire protection.
City officials have been attempting to address that issue following numerous complaints from non-residents who have had to pay large fees for fire calls.
Under the plan approved by the City Council, fire district memberships would be offered at an annual cost of $50. City Administrator Jan Hagler said courthouse records indicate that about 758 property owners who live outside the city would be eligible for membership.
The fire memberships would reimburse the city for the cost of sending firemen to fight structural and grass fires outside the city limits where property owners do not pay property taxes to the city.
Casey Guernsey, who has been working with the city on establishing the membership program, said the fire department currently only receives $60,000 a year from the city’s general fund. He said the department needs about $100,000 a year to make it possible to replace protective equipment for the firemen and fire vehicles.
Eastward Councilman Todd Williams agreed with Guernsey, saying “our fire department needs money to get up to speed and to begin to replace equipment.”
The council set charges for fire calls outside the city limits at $1,000, whether it is a structural call, a grassfire or vehicle fire. Those purchasing an annual membership would not be billed for fire calls.
City officials said they doubted that the membership system would make up the shortfall in the fire department’s budget but it would be a step in the right direction.
City Administrator Jan Hagler said city employees used a bucket truck last week to inspect the ceiling of the library’s parking lot where pigeons are roosting and causing a mess. Some of the asbestos ceiling tiles have fallen out, creating a nesting spot for the pigeons.
Council members expressed concern that preventive maintenance had not taken place at the parking lot to fix the problem.
“We have a tremendous asset there and we need to keep it that way,” said Westward Councilman Steve Miles.
Eastward Councilman Lance Johns endorsed Todd Williams’ suggestion that the damaged tiles could be replaced with plywood panels painted to match the other tiles. Johns said the city could budget next year to remove the tiles and replace them with another ceiling if that is necessary. Williams estimated that it would cost more than $25,000 to replace the ceiling.
Hagler said the city purchased a used snowplow with a computerized spreader at an auction cost of $14,962. MoDOT crew members will assist the street department in calibrating the spreader.
Mediacom has been working on moving cables along 25th Street, north of Oakland, to accommodate planned work this summer on the LED street lighting project.