Newberry may merge fire department with county

NEWBERRY – A non-binding referendum may provide City of Newberry Commissioners with the information they need to decide whether to consolidate the city's fire services with Alachua County Fire Rescue or continue to maintain the service as a city-owned entity. That is the hope expressed by some commissioners at the Dec. 8 meeting.

A lengthy discussion began as Commissioner Jordan Marlowe expressed concern, “The citizens seem split on whether they want to do this [consolidate].” He suggested the idea of a referendum to help the city better gauge how the citizens really feel about the issue.

Commissioner Rick Coleman was not in favor of consolidation with the current Alachua County Commission. Commissioner Monty Farnsworth was in favor of putting the question on a ballot while Commissioner Tim Marden wanted to keep the fire department as is. “I don't think there is enough support for changing it,” he said.

Mayor Bill Conrad said, “There should be solid support for it [consolidation] before we make such a change.”

In a 4-1 vote, with Farnsworth dissenting, commissioners voted not to proceed with the consolidation issue without some type of referendum that they hope will clarify how the majority of Newberry citizens feel about it. A decision was made to make the referendum a non-binding straw vote when it was pointed out that the vote could be close, with only a few voters swinging the vote one way or the other.

Coleman expressed concern than an agreement forged with the current county commission could be altered over time by the county and the local fire department might end up being moved to Jonesville or somewhere else in the county. He also said the price the city would pay the county to maintain fire services would likely increase over the years and could end up costing the city more than the cost of maintaining it as a city-owned department.

City Manager Mike New said he believed the interlocal agreement could be forged to forestall some of the problems for which Coleman expressed concern.

City Attorney Scott Walker suggested the city should consider whether the ISO rating, which strongly influences the insurance industry's rates to property owners, might be altered by consolidation. He also commented that after consolidation, it would be up to the county whether the fire station remained in the city or was moved elsewhere in the county. Marlow and the other commissioners seem to agree that the fire station must remain in the city. "That's a deal breaker," said Marlowe.

City Manager New said the interlocal agreement could make sure the fire station remains in Newberry. The county could say either they can't live with that and the city will have to provide their own service or suggest items that need to be changed in order for the county to agree to consolidate.

"This would be a yearly agreement," said Conrad in a later interview. "The city can opt out of the agreement anytime they feel the costs may become unreasonable or if the county decides to move the department out of Newberry," he said.

In an effort to minimize costs for putting the question to a vote, Walker suggested the question could be made part of the general election in April.

Marlowe followed up with a motion to ask staff to research the costs and procedure involved in including the straw vote referendum on the next election ballot. Farnsworth seconded the motion which resulted in a 3-2 vote to approve with Coleman and Mardan providing the dissenting votes.

City Clerk Judy Rice is tasked with researching costs and procedures and discussing the city's options with the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections. A report is expected on that issue at the Jan. 12, 2015 commission meeting.

Mardan suggested that the city ask their approximately 1,400 utility customers how they feel about the issue utilizing a bill stuffer. Although City Manager Mike New said in a later interview that everyone in the city is not a city utility customer, the bill stuffer might provide added information for commissioners to help them determine the citizens' feelings on the issue.

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