What's up with Lake Dallas opting out of the current fire department structure and going on their own. Sounds like a risky move and I hope it doesn't complicate things to the point where fire coverage is interrupted. There may be a fine line between politics and common sense but this move creats a third category, not sure what.

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keep the lake cities liveable

Here is the article for a point of reference:


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Struggles to provide an equitable way to fund the Lake Cities Fire Department have been the topic of discussion for the cities of Corinth and Lake Dallas as well as the towns of Hickory Creek and Shady Shores for many years.

For the first time ever during a public meeting, on Thursday the Lake Dallas council heard a proposal to disband the Lake Cities Fire Department, as it is currently known and to allow Corinth to assume control, ownership, and responsibility for the Fire Department and contract with the other cities for the services.

According to Lake Dallas City Manager Earl Berner, the proposal to be considered came from Corinth Mayor Vic Burgess and Councilman Joe Harrison, also of Corinth. This proposal essentially states that the City of Lake Dallas would assume ownership of the Lake Dallas Fire Station, located on Main Street, including paying the mortgage up to $62,014 for the remaining 13 years of the note, and assume maintenance responsibility for the station.

In addition, all the Department's equipment and Station #2, located in Corinth, would become the property of Corinth.

According to the proposal, Corinth would charge each of the other cities involved a flat fee annually with an escalator factor tied to the consumer price index plus one percent.

The fee proposed for Lake Dallas is $800,000.

"With the assumption of the building debt and some maintenance responsibility for the building the City may see some slight savings this year under the proposal,"Berner told council.

According to Berner, the proposal states any new station construction; equipment and personnel would be incurred at Corinth's expense.

An additional charge is being considered for any city whose call volume rose faster than the current trends.

According to Berner, Lake Dallas' base rate is proposed at 700 calls. If and when the City's volume reaches 777 calls, the additional charge would take effect. Currently the city's call volume is estimated to be 650 per year.

"If the City enters into this agreement there will obviously be some negotiations on the details. For instance the call volume is a static threshold and perhaps it should be some percentage above the increased call volume of the entire system," Berner said. "For example, if the threshold was a 5% increase in total system calls and the city hit 7%, then a charge per call would kick in," Berner said.

Berner said the cost figure used by Corinth in the proposal will per call must also be negotiated if the proposal is to be considered. "They stated that a call cost was $1,500-using just variable costs (costs that are caused by usage like fuel, tires, batteries and, etc.) I think the call cost is closer to $550," Berner told council. "Regarding call volume, we have to have a way to verify the call volume-Chief Ristagno suggested the idea of having the Corinth dispatch service notify the Lake Dallas Police Department on each and every call," Berner said.

The City's flat rate may be a negotiable item as well.

"For instance, since we could be taking over Station #1's debt and Corinth is going to take over the other capital, they ought to assume the debt for Station #2, which for the Lake Dallas would reduce our flat rate by another $20,000." Berner said.

"There are probably other considerations that will need to be thought of and negotiated before this deal could be finalized," Berner said.

The council also received information regarding a proposal by The Town of Hickory Creek involving a two-year funding plan. The plan is based on using a model developed in February by consultants hired by the fire department board of directors. This proposal would reduce the City's expense by approximately $10,000. "Members of Hickory Creek City Council have approached the other cities with this funding formula. In the discussions the mayor and I had with Hickory Creek, Mayor Johnson offered that this would be an acceptable funding formula if the other cities agreed to it and if there was agreement, in writing, that no new stations would be built during the two-year time period," Berner said.

"There was other discussion by Hickory Creek Council persons that there could be additional savings in excess of over $200,000 if the firemen were paid by Hickory Creek and therefore came under their health insurance program versus the way it is currently handled and the benefits go through Corinth," Berner said.

During the meeting Johnson said she wanted to state for the record she is angry that rumors have been spread in the Lake Cities area that Lake Dallas is considering using a volunteer crew to provide fire service. "I want everyone in this town to be certain, we have never, nor would we ever consider providing less service than what we are used to right now. I believe the rumors were spread to frighten citizens and as a negotiating tool to strengthen another towns position as it related to funding. Of course, our council members and staff have had many discussions on what we need to do as a cit to protect ourselves, and that has included the thought of going on our own. But rest assured, we would not do that unless we are absolutely sure it would benefit our city. We would be very foolish and remiss in our duties to just sit around and wait to see how the other town's plans affect us. We are proactive as a council and aren't afraid to make hard decisions for our citizens," Johnson said.

The council will meet in executive session Thursday Sept. 20 to discuss options.

I think we all know that this has been an issue for years and I have read the article and still find much of it as unresolved and confusing. Are we not the Lake Cities? I believe that this kind of diviseveness may help someone for the short run but then it will be back to square one. I hope we can make a concerted effort to hang together because the economy may ultimately dictate it anyway.

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keep the lake cities liveable

Updated information on Fire Department split idea
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Shady Shores council members heard their first official overview Monday of a plan to discontinue the operation of the Lake Cities Fire Department as it currently functions and place ownership and operation with the City of Corinth.

Lake Cities Fire Chief Jason Collier made a presentation to the council during their October meeting. Collier was careful to explain to the council that everything presented was merely a proposal and that all specific details of the plan must be negotiated by each council and their attorneys per a contract. "What will happen is each city will negotiate directly with Corinth, versus now where each of the four cities are now negotiating with each other. I think that will simplify things in some ways," Collier said.

According to Collier, the plan for the change came from Corinth Mayor Vic Burgess. Burgess said last week he had thought "long and hard" about finding a method of funding the department which would meet with favor from all the cities involved. "There had to be a way for this to work and it was certainly worthy of our time and attention," Burgess said. "The cities need a way to control their costs and to know how much to include in their budgetary forecasting. This plan should be able to help with those issues," Burgess said.

In Collier's presentation, he told council Corinth is pushing hard for another station to build on the city's west side. "They really need it as there is just no coverage over there," Collier said. He added that approximately 50 percent of the residents in the area live on the west side of I35E.

Both Collier and Shady Shores Fire board member Kathe Stranz explained to council that when Fire Station #2 was approved over five years ago on Shady Shores Road near the boundary lines of Denton, Corinth and Shady Shores in the far northeast area of the Lake Cities, a promise was made to Corinth officials by the Fire Department board that a new station would be build in five years on Corinth's west side. "Well, this is that fifth year, right now," Collier said.

Collier said officials in Lake Dallas have not been agreeable at this point to taking on the new debt needed to build a new station. "But with this new plan, they would not be responsible for any costs associated with the new station," Collier said.

According to Collier, during peak traffic times, due to traffic on FM 2181, the response time to calls on the west side of Corinth can reach up to twelve minutes in some cases. Typically the fire department's response rate average is well under five minutes.

Collier gave the council the same information shared in a Lake Dallas council meeting two weeks ago. He said the plan calls for Lake Dallas to assume ownership of the Lake Dallas Fire Station, located on Main Street, including paying the mortgage up to $62,014 for the remaining 13 years of the note, and assume maintenance responsibility for the station.

Collier stated all the Department's equipment and Station #2, located in Corinth, would become the property of Corinth, and Corinth would charge each of the other cities involved a flat fee annually with an escalator factor tied to the consumer price index plus one percent.

According to Collier, the consumer price index is usually about three percent per year in the DFW metroplex.

Collier said a timeframe has been put in place to have the transaction completed by January 1, 2008. "All the councils will be talking with their attorneys in executive sessions and doing over the details. I think it will take a pretty concentrated effort to get the deal done, but it can happen,"

Council member Jerry Williams asked Collier and Stranz their personal opinions of the plan. Collier said he sees both pros and cons to the plan. He said from the perspective of being a chief, he now reports to four cities equally and therefore has four bosses. He said he believes having just one boss could simplify his job.

He also said he believes having Corinth take over the department would provide a level of stability to the employees in the department. "It's pretty hard on the firefighters to not now how or even if they will have their jobs each year when all the debates go on about the funding formula," Collier said.

Stranz said she has been involved with the department for many years and while she hates to see it come to an end as it is known, she concedes there are many merits to the plan.

She jokingly said she would welcome more free time in the future as a result of not attending board meetings.

Shady Shores Mayor Olive Stephens said she has mixed feeling about plan. "That's taking my baby away," she joked. "I've been working with the fire department for thirty years, and I never wanted to see it break up, but I'm with Kathe, after this year, with all the problems we have had, something different has to happen. I hate to see it go, but I guess I'll have to give my baby up," Stephens said.