Deleon seeking `real partnership` with county over fire services

March 01--AVON PARK -- City Manager Julian Deleon said he will be looking for a "real partnership" when he meets March 9 with Highlands County administration to discuss supplementing the city's fire department with county fire services.

Deleon proposed on Feb. 11 a repeal of the residential fire assessment of $140 per home in place of teaming with the county's fire district, which has an annual assessment of $25 per home.

The city currently has a no-cost mutual aid agreement with the county, Deleon said Monday. "We are proposing a real partnership, where mutual aid is replaced with automatic service," he said.

Currently, the city cannot count on the county's fire districts' staffing, both paid and volunteer; fire-fighting equipment; and fire stations to improve the city's ISO (insurance) rating under just mutual aid, Deleon explained. The ISO is based on fire fighting capability, it is not based on medical calls.

"We do not need the county's fire district responding to medical calls," he said. "We need them responding to the actual fires automatically.

"I would propose that the city limits be handled in the same manner as the rest of the county," he said.

The majority of the calls for the Avon Park Fire Department are "medical" assist calls for service, he said. This is on top of the Highlands County Emergency Medical Services' paramedics, Deleon said.

The Avon Park Fire Department can continue making medical runs, but the city would not expect the county's fire district to make medical calls, unless it becomes their protocol, he said. Up to now, the majority of medical calls in the county are handled by EMS, not the fire district.

"I think that there are a handful of scenarios where the fire district responds to some medical emergencies, but the great majority are done through EMS, and a firefighter response is simply unnecessary," Deleon said.

"We would repeal the $140 per unit [fire assessment], and the county would charge the $25 per unit," he said. It would not be about mutual aid. This would be about inclusion of the city in a fire district, he said.

Without the fire assessment, the city will still be able to fund its fire department because state revenue sharing is up, along with franchise fees and utility tax monies, Deleon noted, and the city is getting ready to annex another square mile.

"We are proposing a good thing -- using existing infrastructure, while repealing a $680,000 annual fire tax on city residents and businesses," Deleon added.

Highlands County Public Information Coordinator Gloria Rybinski said about the March 9 meeting, "it is our understanding that the city wants to present us with an idea they have."

mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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