CHURCHVILLE -- Two Augusta County supervisors and the county's chief of fire and rescue provided information to the Churchville community Saturday to allay concerns about the local fire and rescue department's effectiveness, and whether more paid personnel are needed.
Supervisors were presented with a petition signed by 400 Churchville area residents at their Jan. 23 meeting calling for more paid fire and rescue personnel. Churchville resident Steve Morris told supervisors Jan. 23 that there were doubts in the Churchville community about the speed of the response to fire and rescue calls.
Supervisor Tracy Pyles of the Pastures District and Marshall Pattie of the North River District and Fire/Rescue Chief Carson Holloway offered data about Churchville on Saturday. They described a department that has improved its response time to fire and rescue calls in the past couple of years, and a department that is the fourth busiest in Augusta County.
Pyles also said the department is a cost effective one. Financial data presented said that while Churchville had just over 1,400 fire and rescue calls in 2012, the department costs taxpayers about $237,000. That is contrasted with departments in more populated areas such as Preston L. Yancey in Fishersville and Company 10 in Staunton. The annual bill for those departments is $1 million for Company 10 and $1.5 million for Yancey.
"Churchville's cost per call is about as good as it gets,'' Pyles said to the crowd of Churchville residents and fire and rescue personnel meeting at Churchville Elementary. Pyles also said Churchville's volunteer staff spends many hours raising money for the department.
The supervisor also emphasized the connected nature of county fire and rescue departments because of Augusta County's 970-square-mile size. He said three departments are dispatched to answer each fire call.
Holloway said he thinks Churchville's leadership recognizes the need to continue to recruit volunteers. He explained the department covers an area where the roads can be difficult to travel. And Holloway told the audience that an entry level firefighter now must complete 265 hours of training.
"The heart has not gone out of the volunteers,'' said Holloway, who said the training requirements are making it more difficult for volunteers to offer their time.
Pattie said supervisors would examine the need for addtional paid fire and rescue staff when the 2013-14 budget is put together starting in March.
One Churchville resident asked the supervisors to go ahead and increase taxes, saying it is time to fully fund the fire and police needs in Augusta County.
Churchville resident Michael Goings said the county "is really on the edge'' in providing the fire and police services, and should increase taxes. He said it is time to "fund the county properly."
Pyles said low taxes do not necessarily mean poor service. And Pyles assured Goings that when the county's reassessment is finished in the next couple of years, real estate taxes will increase.
After Saturday's meeting, Pyles said he thinks those in attendance understood that the Churchville department performs well. Pattie said he was disappointed that more people who signed the petition presented at the Jan. 23 meeting did not turn out.
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