Tenn. Residents Fight Closing of Local Fire Station

A north Shelby County neighborhood lost a fight this month to save its nearest fire station, prompting residents and some county commissioners to search for ways to gain more control over fire service in the county.

Fire Station 60 on Egypt Central Road, which had re-opened in 2012, closed Nov. 1 as its equipment is moved to another station. The area still has fire coverage from other stations.

The process to close the station proved to be a civics lesson for residents and for many county commissioners.

"That's the problem here," said Wayne Carrozza, who since 1980 has lived with his family on Rensslaer Drive off Old Brownsville Road. "It's a representative government, but the law has been written in such a way that our representatives are unable to represent us."

This summer, residents got wind of the plan to close the fire station and contacted David Reaves, their county commissioner.

He sponsored a resolution in September asking that the station stay open. It passed, but was only a request.

"We have districts and in those districts they feel very specific pain when this type of stuff happens," Reaves said. "And it seems we should be able to fashion some sort of remedy. But we can't."

While county commissioners must approve expenditures for new equipment or buildings, state law gives them no say over fire department operations, like the closing of a station or setting fire fees, which are set by the director of Public Works.

Fire fees are collected only in unincorporated areas of the county and range from $23.49 a month for the smallest residential property to $400 a month for the largest industrial buildings. The fees are the department's only funding source.

And even if the commission wanted to raise fees to give citizens better fire service, it's prohibited by state law from doing that, Reaves said.

Commission chairman Terry Roland proposes that a change to state law be part of the commission's legislative agenda when the Tennessee Legislature reconvenes next year.

"We want to create a utility district and have a board that's elected or appointed and that board will run the fire department," Roland said. "But we've got to go to Nashville and change a couple of things before we can do that."

But the commission's efforts won't be part of a collaborative agenda with Mayor Mark Luttrell's administration, said Harvey Kennedy, county chief administrative officer. The administration is "fine" with the current arrangement and will not be seeking a change, Kennedy said.

Meanwhile, Carrozza said his group won't stop fighting and will next seek out their state representatives.

"We're not above making a trip to Nashville and speaking to (Gov. Bill) Haslam," he said.

Follow more politics and policy coverage from the InforMemphis team on Twitter and Facebook.

———

©2015 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)

Visit The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) at www.commercialappeal.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.