Fire Department office staff won’t be at office on Fridays for four months
Beginning next Friday, May 29, the administrative staff, including Chief Don Adams of the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District, will not be in the Milwaukee Fire Station office and the lights will be turned off along with the computers and any other devices used by staff employees. There also will be nobody to answer the phone and nobody to take payments on bills there on Fridays.
It’s an effort to save money, the chief told the Board of Supervisors Thursday afternoon that staff would work 10-hour shifts for four days and not five. The offices of the East County Water Control District (ECWCD) do not open on Fridays and have not been open for several years, he said.
Adams compared the schedule to employees who work 10 hours a day, four days a week at the water drainage district board. They would still continue to get paid for 40 hours and part-time employees would continue to get their pay.
The board after considerable discussion approved the chief’s plan, but for only for four months. Board members said they want to see if any savings come about, said Jeff Berndt, the board’s chairman. Firefighters will continue to be stationed there for emergencies, the chief said.
The Lehigh Acres Fire District may be facing serious financial problems if tax revenue from ad valorem taxes falls off as expected. That money from taxpayers is what supports the fire district. Some have said the District may see a 40 percent drop in tax revenue for the new budget which takes effect on Oct. 1, 2009.
But the figures aren’t official yet, and Adams told the board that when County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson releases official figures on June 1, it could fall to 30 percent.
No matter the number, it could mean the laying off of firefighters, less ambulance service and the closing of one or two stations. The board could also raise taxes from 2.79 mills to 3 mills which is the legal cap to raise revenue from landowners.
The chief says he is doing everything in his power to keep the layoffs to a minimum level. To date, no firefighters or EMS people have been laid off at the Lehigh Acres Fire Dept. However, it was announced that Cape Coral had laid off close to two dozen firefighters on Thursday.
“We’re just taking it one day at a time,” the chief said. The board also asked the board’s counsel to cancel the purchase of a new fire truck and see if it could be leased, saving the District money. They also asked if the money already paid could be returned to the District and used in the future when economic times are better. Attorney Richard Pringle said he would look into that matter and report back.
Two people spoke at the comments period and basically told the board that they should have seen seen “what was coming,” basically the loss of home values in Lehigh Acres and less revenue for the District. Another person complained that a fire piece of equipment was parked at a local restaurant while firefighters were eating inside and said it was expensive to let firefighters use equipment to go and eat lunch.
A soft-spoken fire chief fire shot back that the men had been on a work call and had called in to ask if they could stop and eat their lunch at the restaurant. The chief said if there had been an emergency call, the truck was ready to roll and so were the employees.
A third person became upset after hearing the complaints and stood up and applauded the efforts of the fire department and said people should be proud of what this department does in Lehigh Acres. The two who had complained kept silent.
In other business, Pringle was directed to negotiate with LCEC, the local power utility, which wants to run a heavier line down Milwaukee Blvd. for future development.
Supervisor Ralph Hemingway suggested that the utility be told the board would prefer the lines to be put underground because of the possibility of storm damage during hurricane season if they are on pole. Presently, utility wires are on poles along the property.
Pringle was told to negotiate with LCEC to see if the change could be made for the new request to put new electric cable underground.