Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Meeting on new FIre substation - Coosa 20 Date:   10/10/2020 4:00:47 PM

There is now a sign on the place where they would build the new fire station - it's between the "do not dump" spot and the Henley water tower, on the opposite side of the road.  

I went to the meeting this morning.  Right now we have a very low Insurance Service Organizaion (ISO) rating (actually a rating of no fire protection, because we do not have a fire station within 5 miles of our homes), and that has caused spikes in our homeowner's insurnance.  Putting up the substation should take care of that and give us a fire station within 5 miles of the houses.  One thing I learned this morning is that if we call 911 today,  both Equality and Ray will respond from their perspective locations.  I previously thought we were only covered by Ray.  

They have the architect's design and they have picked a builder.  Now they need money.  They would like each homeowner in the Coosa 20 corridor to make a one time gift of $1000 (tax deductible) to the building of the fire station.  They need appoximatey $120,000 to build.   tThe  money you donate will not be co-mingled with the current operating funds of the Equality Fire Department, but placed in a separate interest bearing account for  the Coosa 20 fire station.  If you donate today, they will not deposit your check until they have enough to build.  If they don't get enough money, then your check will be returned.  The new station will be equipped with one fire truck and one tanker initially, but the building will have 4 bays so that it can accomodate more equipment in the future. They already have the Fire Truck and I'm not sure about the tanker.  

Right now, Coosa County gives the Fire Deparment $30 per house in their district for fire fighting.  This comes out of our property taxes. That's it.  For example, Equality's current operating cost for the fire department, for the year is about $53,000 a year.  They get approximately $37,000 from the county and the rest is made up in fundraising and donations.  I asked the question if there wan't a way for the county to do a special assessment of the Coosa 20 households that all would be required to pay, but was told there is no support in Rockford for that, and it would require a vote, before anything like that could be enacted. The only choice is to ask for donations from the homeowners to get this built.

They will also apply for grants and have a grant writer on call to write their grant applications.  Mostly the grant money will be used to equip the fire station -  they have received grant money before and seem pretty confident.  

So what do we get out of this?  One we get a closer fire station.  Two, with the improved ISO rating, we should see a reduction in our individual homeowners insurance. 

There is another meeting on the 17th, and mostly the same information will be provided, so if you have questions, I recommend that you attend the meeting and ask your quesions.  

If you can't attend, can you please get the word out to your neighbors and friends on the Coosa 20 corridor, especially the part timers.  In my view this is a win for us, so we shoud do everything we can to make it happen.  (and I'm sure if you can't donate the full $1000, they will be open to taking any amount to get closer to the $120,000 they need to start building).  The point of contact for all of this infomation is the Equality Volunteer Fire Department.  And BTW, they are looking for volunteers for firefighting and a number of other positions.  The new Fire Station if built, will have a separate board from the current Equality Fire Department.  

With this post, I am just trying to be a good citizen and get the word out.  You will likely get additional corresponcence from the EFD.