Why is it that we keep hearing that our emergency services are free when we citizens pay a fire tax that raises some $14,000,000 annually. That money is in turn handed out to our volunteer organizations. The law states the county commissioners have no say in the running of these departments since they are non-profit contractors. So let’s get his straight…......we hand out approximately $14,000,000 to organizations where we have no say in how they spend the money. Further, the county has now added a paid EMS service because response times weren’t being met. That funding comes from the general fund and not from our fire tax. No wonder we needed to raise more tax money….....we have fiscal leaks every where. It is time to overhaul the entire system!
4eyes, nobody will touch this with a ten foot pole. You talk about Career EMT’s and Paramedics in the County. Did you know the Volunteer Departments still earn money from the Career response? Thats on top of the fee your charged for transport by the career EMT or Paramedic. This County needs to establish one Department run by one Fire Chief and they need to abolish the Fire Tax System. West Lake was just approved to purchase a Tower Ladder which will spend most of its time in PG. The cost of that adventure; about 1 million dollars equipped.
Carl, I agree that this is a touchy subject but allow me, if you will, to offer a different perspective. I was a volunteer fire fighter and paramedic in a different Maryland county for many years. I was fortunate enough to be attached to a fire company that was located in an incorporated town. That means that we received funding from the Fed, State and local governments. We, at the time, were considered the best equipped and best trained firefighters in the state (there was an element of pride and arrogance associated with that, I can assure you, but it was in a good way!). We had a heavy rescue unit that was second to none and we responded to calls with that unit over a large chunk of northern Maryland. I tell you all this because I mistakenly believed that we were, in fact, the best of the best. When I moved to Charles County, I learned by monitoring emergency services frequencies regularly that our firefighters serve a increasingly larger number of citizens than I thought possible for a volunteer organization. While CC maintains some paid positions for public safety reasons, the benefit of having the best equipment and dedicated people to do the job far outway the cost if it’s your butt in a sling! I can remember times in my department when we couldn’t put an engine on the road in 3 or 4 minutes (an eternity when your house is burning). The Waldorf and La Plata departments seem to be rolling before the dispatch is complete. I seriously doubt that the Fire Departments in Charles County are “for-profit” entities. The money they collect (from whatever source) goes to training, equipment and pensions for folks who put it on the line for you and me everyday.
I’m all for fiscal responsibility and the fire departments are no different. The dollars they receive should be accounted for (every penny). They should be well-managed and, when necessary, audited. The public should always be kept abreast of expenses and needs. But, when my mom needs an ambulance, I don’t care how much I have to pay, who I have to pay or how much I have paid in taxes, as long as they get there fast and are trained well enough to save her. As for responding outside of their call area (eg; P.G. County), all departments in Maryland participate in a “mutual aid” agreement. P.G. County units routinely roll into Charles, Charles goes to St. Mary’s, the paid Navy firefighters come off-base into Charles, etc. It’s all about public safety and protection of life and property. Sure, fix any county management issues but let’s start with some of the really stupid things that beg for correction. There are plenty!
Birdman, I never questioned nor was it my intent to question the ability/inability of the volunteers in CC. My point (poorly done I guess) is that the system needs to be updated to the 21st century and not run like its the 60’s. One Department, One Fire Chief with budgetary authority along with a plan for the future as well as now is needed. Accountability to the citizens is required and at present doesn’t exist. Training, Operations, SOP’s, and Standards vary from V/Company to V/Company. Finally, the point I make about a 1 million dollar investment is it should primarily serve the citizens of Charles(who purchased it) and not be purchased because some 24 year old chief thinks it would be cool to have one. I clearly understand the need for mutial aid and strongly encourage those types of agreements. Just the point of view of someone who has 32 years in the Fire Service; both in the volunteer and career service.
Roger that! I think we’re on the same page. I misunderstood and thought you were not happy with what we pay for our emergeny services. My bad. I didn’t think about that last statement regarding a young chief making the call on a $1M piece. Where I came from, our chief was a 30 year veteran with a wealth of experience. The decisions to purchase equipment were researched by committee, presented to the executive board and, if approved, presented to the membership for a vote. As I said, I’m all for controls but the last thing I want to happen is for the Fab Five to hold operational control over the counties fire departments. When it comes down to it, having a 24 year old chief officer making the call or the Fab Five… Hmmm… Jury’s still out on that one! LOL.
You obviously have a lot more experience than I do, Carl, can you give me the pros / cons regarding a single chief officer for the county? Wouldn’t that be an awesome responsibility for a volunteer? I would assume that there would be batt. chiefs in various locations but wouldn’t that result in a huge organization that would be somewhat difficult to manage for training and things like that? It almost sounds like the formation of a paid service. I really don’t know one way or the other about this. I am interested, though, because we do need to keep up with the times.
Couldn’t all of this fall under the umbrella of the Department of Emergency Services? They already have control over the paid EMS. They have an EMS Chief who oversees all of the paid EMS staff and has to coordinate services with all of the volunteer EMS.
Are you both proposing the idea of creating a Fire/EMS Chief (or adding another as the Fire Chief) under the Department of Emergency Services, and they would have the authority over all Fire and EMS (volunteer and paid) Services in the County? This would be in the interest of the County, but would surely upset a lot of the volunteer guys. I do see the need to standardize operations from one fire house to the next; but I think the hard sell will be to the members of each volunteer company.
If I understand you all correctly, you’ve already sold me.
What I am proposing is the establishment of a Fire/EMS Department;(lets call it the Charles County Fire/EMS Department) recognized by Code Home Rule and headed by one Career Fire Chief that would be responsible and have the authority commensurate with his/her position. This position would include training standards for volunteers to include F/F’s and Chiefs. Operational authority on all emergency incidents and also responsibility for writing SOP’s to deal with those emergency’s. Budgetary authority to include all appartus purchases and assignments. Planning responsibility to develope the location of future Fire/EMS Departments, and their staffing levels (when it is neccessary to hire Career F/F’s). Guidelines for discipline and background investigations. Most importantly; accountability. Accountability to the customers the department serves and most importantly the Tax Payers.
This department should obsorb the EMS and Haz-Mat Divisions already established. Dog Catchers and Communications should fall under Homeland Security. The County already has a Public Safety Director so I see no need for an Emergency Services Chief, Haz-Mat or EMS Chief. I would put someone in charge of EMS and Haz-Mat at about the rank of Major. They both would answer to the F/C as would every single Volunteer Chief.
The other problem with transferring oversight to the existing Dept. of Emer. Svcs. is that it would create a de facto “paid” department. As I understand volunteer departments, they basically act as corporations (all be it non-profit). In fact, in my old stomping ground, the department was literally called “Aberdeen Fire Department, Inc.”
To be honest, this isn’t in my area of expertise, but from what you guys are proposing makes absolute sense to me. Birdman & Carl, I fail to see the difference in putting a Career Fire Chief to oversee a newly created Fire/EMS Department and putting a career Fire Chief inside the already created Department of Emergency Services.
You all may or may not realize that the Department of Emergency Services already has much of the structure you are mentioning without creating a whole other governmental agency.
Under the Department of Emergency Services you have:
Director of Emergency Services
-Chief of 911 Fire/EMS Communication
—911 operators/dispatchers (does not include police communication officers who are in the same building)
-Chief of Animal Control Services
—Animal Control Officers
—Tri-County Animal Shelter
-Chief of Emergency Medical Services
—paid EMS/Paramedics
-Chief of Hazmat/WMD
—Hazmat/WMD
—Tactical Response Team
-False Alarm Reduction Unit
It would stand to reason that your proposal could be merged into the existing Department of Emergency Services and replace the titles of Chief of EMS and Chief of Hazmat/WMD with a single Chief of Fire/EMS Services, in a newly created (or expanded) Division of Fire/EMS Services. As you stated these current chiefs could be given another rank or title and would fall under this Chief, as would all volunteer services.
Currently, operational authority on all emergency incidents falls onto the Director of Emergency Services (or their designee, except for law enforcement functions, which fall to the Sheriff), so your proposal would coincide with the authority, and many of the duties, SOPs and responsibilities already present in this Department. The Department already has employees dedicated to budget issues, procurement, purchasing, billing, etc., so their duties would just be expanded, as they’re already doing them anyway.
I’m all in favor of bringing things into synergy and have uniform standards across the County. I do hesitate if this means creating another governmental bureaucracy. I think your ideas can be achieved with many of the resources that are already in place.
The biggest reason I would be in favor of one department with one F/C is because it would place all 14 VFC under 1 command, provide for a clear command structure that covers career and volunteer personnel, plan for future growth and deployment of resources, coordinate emergency operations, standardize training, ensure compliance with the miriad of state and federal regulations governing fire fighting; not to mention health and safety issues of our career and volunteer members. I again would recommend that the Fire Tax be eliminated. This would eliminate the ability of VC to purchase million dollar apparatus that is not needed or is in the wrong place.
Quack,
ESD has a number of problems; Chief among them the inclusion of the 911 center and animal control within its domain. ESD has no budgetary or operational oversite of the individual volunteer companys and with several divisions (Haz-Mat and EMS) being run by a Chief there is not a clear direction. Not to mention that those two functions under 1 command ( Fire/EMS Department) would eliminate a duplication of effort and expenditure.
Also, as for your fear of another government agency I believe that to be unfounded as it already exists in the form of 14 volunteer fire companys and 1 ESD. I believe the creation of one unified Fire/EMS Department with legislative authority would save you money, improve service delivery, and make us safer. Every single jurisdiction around us has a Fire/EMS Department except Calvert and St. Marys. Howard, Montgomery, AA, PG, DC, Arlington, Fairfax, King George, Loudon, Prince William, Baltimore County and City, all have Fire/EMS Departments. Its time to move out of the 60’s.
Having said all of this; no one will touch it and the commissioners don’t seem to be moving in that direction.
While public safety trumps most issues, it should be provided in a manner that we as taxpayers and recipients of such service would agree. On July 1, 2008 an Executive Committee made up of all of the fire department chiefs and/or delegates was asked by the Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department for the authority to present to the Board of Fire and Rescue, a request to build a $4-$5 million dollar department (before cost overruns) on Cobb Island. This request will reach the Board of Fire and Rescue in its July 2008 meeting.
Keep in mind that Cobb Island is routinely closed when inclement weather causes the one road in and out to flood. (Check out this site: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/hes.htm) In fact, just several weekends ago Charles County experienced a heavy rainstorm which forced Cobb Island to that Sunday night because Route 254 was flooded, causing some emergency equipment to be stranded on the island.
In attendance at this Executive Committee meeting were numerous visitors who wanted to hear the CIVFD’s explain it rationale for such a request. The visitors were advised that they could not speak during the meeting and had no standing in the discussion. They would only be allowed to observe. As that subject was reached on the agenda, in a classical political maneuver, one member of the committee objected to the visitors being in attendance and wanted them removed. He stated that tradition suggested in his 58 years of attending meetings no visitors were ever allowed to observe the inter working of their meetings. Even the Charles County’s Chairperson of the Board of Fire and Rescue was asked to leave because he was not one of them. Because Charles County’s volunteer emergency organizations are considered “private non-profit contractors” the Executive Committee chairman advised the committee that it could vote to close the meeting and request all of the visitors to leave. This would assure that anyone whose views and opinions were on the wrong side of that “red line” would be kept at bay. After the votes were tallied, your Charles County Volunteers voted to keep their discussions surrounding the spending of millions of your dollars a secret! They voted to dismiss the visitors and not allow them to hear how your money was going to be spent.
For over 60 years volunteers like the CIVFD has been noble and serving organizations maintaining a rich heritage. However, many citizens believe the leadership of this organization is embarking on a path that will ultimately put lives and property in the Cobb Neck area in jeopardy. The suggestions, made by previous writers on this forum, recommending the consolidation of our current system to one leader with a transparent public oversight deserves more attention and discussion. Too many times decisions by these organizations are made based on tradition, emotional arguments, and the ability to manipulate votes as opposed to a complete review of the data.
Because of space limitations I am offer the following case study in parts for your consideration. Part I to follow:
In 2007 a “Maryland Independent” article quoted Commissioner Wayne Cooper as saying “They are a non-profit organization” …... “The Fire Department’s decision to either rebuild or relocate the current station was up to the department and the community, not the government” when he was asked about the proposed new site on Cobb Island. (Source: “Maryland Independent”) It insinuated a complete governmental disregard for public safety in the Cobb Neck Area. The Charles County Commissioners are by Code responsible for Public Safety, Fire, EMS, Police, and Animal Control. Through agreement and Chapter 54 of the State Law, which creates the Board of Fire and Rescue as well as County Code, the Commissioners collect and distribute the fire tax funds to provide fire/EMS service to predefined areas or districts. Before other County, State, and Federal grants are considered Charles County citizens provide more than $14,000,000 through the fire tax in Charles County. It is currently estimated that some 60-70% of that money is currently used for debt service.
In December 2007 another “closed meeting” task force, created by the Board of Fire and Rescue, delivered its response to an independent study completed in December of 2006 by Endicott and Associates. The 2006 report analyzed Emergency Services in the Cobb Neck Region. That task forces response to the Endicott study made clear to the Board of Fire and Rescue and the Charles County Commissioners that “As Charles County law is written, neither the Charles County Commissioners nor any part of County government has the ability to direct operational matters or considerations”. In other words, the citizens of Charles County have no say in emergency services provided by these non-profit private corporations even though they are completely funded by your tax dollars and donations. At a minimum they should be considered Quasi-governmental and held to higher fiscal and long term reviews that coincide with the County’s growth plans. As a tax payer, I am appalled by the notion that I have no say in matters that affect our safety and the spending of our tax dollars. This is especially true since Charles county citizens elect officials whose primary responsibility is our collective safety and fiscal responsibility.
The Charles County Commissioners levy a fire and rescue tax on the citizens of Charles County which is in turn distributed to the County’s Volunteer Fire Departments by way of the Board of Fire and Rescue. It is inconceivable that this board has the ability to render a well thought decision when at least one of its members is in a leadership role at the CIVFD. Isn’t this the equivalent of letting the fox in the hen house? A review of Charles County call statistics revealed the Volunteer EMS system was not responsive to our county’s growing needs, and a paid EMS system was created, however, it is not being paid for with our fire tax. Kudos go to Commissioner Hodge who recently pressed the 911 call center for evidence of its increase in call volume. Once pressed it was reported that call volumes in Charles County were grossly overstated. There is an old saying “that which gets measured, gets managed.” Listen to the scanning system in Charles County and you will pick up on another little trick to increase call volume and earn points towards retirement packages for volunteers. Some EMS units don’t have Volunteers with the strength to carry patients. The call is then made for “Manpower Help”. It would be interesting to see how many of these calls are made and by which departments. I assure you it would be enlightening. The paid EMS system was created because the volunteer system was not meeting the national call standards. The paid EMS system is funded through the county’s general fund, not the Fire Tax, further stressing the county’s budget. The County implemented a pay as you go ambulance tax to pay for the ballooning County paid staff. The volunteers opposed this. In one letter to the editor at the “Maryland Independent” a Volunteer spokes person hypocritically opposed the fee by claiming that the Volunteer system should remain free! We pay a Fire Tax which means our emergency services are not free! The real rub was that the Volunteer system wasn’t going to get a cut of the collection.
Charles County Charles County has delayed the future building of high schools due to budgetary constraints, yet the County might find a way to justify the funding of a multi million dollar facility on an island routinely cut off from its first due area when flooding occurs. From a purely fiscal perspective, another fire house recently built in Charles County, while gorgeous, was built with tremendous cost overruns and is rumored to border on insolvency. Do we have more “Capital Clubhouse” type bail outs on the horizon? Why not bring these departments under the county before we are forced to because of bad money management.
At the very least the Volunteer Fire Departments should be considered quasi governmental organizations in Charles County. The volunteer system is how our county has chosen to provide emergency services to its citizens. The Charles County Commissioners can not afford to take a hands off position in the south eastern portion of our county when it comes to public safety. The growth projected in Swan Point alone requires that our commissioners and our Board of Fire and Rescue support an up to date comprehensive review of how the Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department intends to invest our tax dollars, when professional full time national independent emergency services consultants, a decade apart, agree this new primary fire house should not be built on Cobb Island.
The proposal to build a new Station on Cobb Island offers a case study in why an overhaul of the entire system is warranted. The CIVFD persists in the pursuit of building a new facility in spite of more than 13 years of “professional full time emergency services consultants” suggesting to the County Commissioners and the Board of Fire and Rescue the project should not be pursued as projected. The facts in this case are as follows:
1. In 1996 the Charles County Commissioners commissioned a comprehensive study performed by Capital Safety Systems that recommended moving the station off of the Island. Just one catastrophe cutting off Cobb Island from access to the Cobb Neck area would leave major geographic area in Southern Maryland without emergency services.
2. The Charles County Volunteer Fireman’s Association formed a committee which was tasked to review the 1996 study. The task force agreed that the CIVFD should “discontinue renovation of their station and seriously endeavor to construct a new station in a location off the island…” (Goal 15, Item 12, Page 21, rating summary-Recommendations of the Comprehensive study plan for Charles county Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medical Services.)
3. In the 10 years subsequent to the issuance of the 1996 Capital Safety Systems report, Cobb Island Road (254) has routinely been closed due to Hurricanes and Northeasters. Forecasters predict that hurricanes will have greater and more frequent impact in the future. When given enough warning, the CIVFD’s own contingency plans include moving its equipment off of the island. If the Cobb Island area were to experience an unforeseen emergency, volunteers may not be able to leave their full time jobs fast enough to move equipment off of the Island.
4. A review of the response statistics evidence that the majority of emergency calls are not on Cobb Island but inland. The “closed committee” report presented statistics suggesting the majority of the CIVFD’s calls were on the Island. However, an independent review of the call data evidenced the overwhelming majority of calls occur off of Cobb Island, contrary to the committee’s analysis. A number of the addresses, including those up to ½ mile inland and boat runs, were incorrectly included in the committee’s “on island” statistics. A review of the corrected rescue boat and address data shows the EMS “off island” calls increased from 63% in 2006 to 65% year to date 2007. The 2006 “off island” fire calls increased from 72% in 2006 to 77% in 2007. In fact one of the “on island” fire calls embedded in the 2006 fire call data was started by three CIVFD members in order to “have a fire call” according to police reports. (Source: Maryland Independent.)
5. The “closed committee”, referred to in Part I, was offered the opportunity to review the Sea Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes Model (SLOSH modeling), and prepared by the Army Corp of Engineers, as a means of reviewing the weather related surge and tidal implications of building on Cobb Island. It should be noted that visitors were asked to leave these meeting as well. In fact the Charles County’s attorney office endorsed the closing of the meetings thereby assuring a lack of transparency in the discussion process. Since the public was not allowed to take part in the committee it also refused to review the SLOSH model for the Cobb Island area based on the assumption it would yield irrelevant information. Experts in emergency planning, not volunteers in emergency planning, respectfully disagree. SLOSH modeling allows planners to view building plans from a different perspective. As opposed to a two dimensional drawing, SLOSH modeling enables professional emergency planners to evaluate a site for its susceptibility to emergencies, which in this case the evacuation of Cobb Island and the surrounding region. SLOSH calculations are applied to a specific locale’s shoreline, incorporating the unique bay and river configurations, water depths, bridges, roads and other physical features, all of which are in question at the proposed site. The SLOSH (http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/hes.htm) model for Charles County clearly evidences that depending on Hurricane strength everything south of Tompkinsville is in harms way. The Charles County SLOSH model not only validates building on Cobb Island would be imprudent, but the contingency plan of the CIVFD to relocate only to Breeze Point in an emergency keeps our emergency equipment and personnel in harms way. Paragraph 3 of a recently completed study, delivered to the Charles County Commissioners and the Board of Fire and Rescue, prepared by the former head of emergency services in Charles County states:
“As a result of repeated storm damage request for assistance applied for at the State and Federal level Charles County engaged with the State of Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Corp of Engineers to complete a Sea Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) modeling. The report and information with several scenarios was developed for all of Charles County. This provided emergency planners a tool to use for future storms. The SLOSH modeling demonstrated that in a Cat 1 hurricane, Cobb Island, and much inland area, could be flooded. The report shows there could be danger up to the Tompkinsville area. This report is of significant importance and was ignored and left out of the report sent to the Board of Fire and Rescue. Ignoring this report and omitting it is, in my opinion, irresponsible.”
6. The sole artery, Route 254, on and off of Cobb Island is often blocked due to parking and trailers that line the shoulders on both sides of the Cobb Island Bridge. Many people park their automobiles and trailers along the shoulders on both sides of the Cobb Island Bridge which leaves no room for emergency vehicles to pass if an accident were to occur on the bridge. It is ironic that the CIVFD recommended that two additional access lanes be inserted into the Swan Point road plan to ensure that the Swan Point neighborhood would not be cut off in an emergency yet they seem ambivalent to the same possibility happening on Cobb Island. Photographs enclosed reflect summer road congestion on and off Cobb Island at the north and south end of the Cobb Island Bridge. One enclosed picture documents the Captain John’s and Shymansky’s boat ramps. They both sit at 90 degree angles to route 254 which forces automobiles and trailers to block route 254 all together when loading and unloading watercraft. Should an automobile break down, which has happened, it would block any and all emergency response vehicles from passing.
7. During summer months the streets on Cobb Island are congested with cars, boats, and trailers parked on the shoulders of our roads. Roads are only 40 or 50 feet wide and don’t offer appropriate turning radius’ for longer tankers and ladder trucks which are expected in the future because of Swan Point growth. A fire department in Northern Virginia recently had this dilemma because it could not turn ladder trucks at intersections. It was forced to move its department completely out of the subdivision for public safety reasons. Any weekend site visit will reveal the parking issues that routinely create traffic and pedestrian congestion.
8. Two adjacent tracts of land totaling five acres owned by the Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department exist in Tompkinsville. A simple movement of a county owned road offers the CIVFD a complete 5 acre building site. Building at this location offers unencumbered ingress and egress to CIVFD’s entire first due area. The site borders a main state highway providing access to all points on Route 257 and beyond. (Plat attached) Recent developments in septic and mound systems and lack of wetlands issues virtually assure the ability to build at this site. In addition, this site provides greater opportunity to recruit from a much larger diverse population of volunteers. Lastly, the 2006 Charles County SLOSH model depicts Tompkinsville as the first geographic opportunity to avoid a disaster should the Cobb Neck region take a direct hit of a category 3 Hurricane.
9. At least two bridges in Maryland have been hit by boats or barges over the last several years eliminating all traffic until the struck bridge was deemed structurally sound. In fact on a weekend in June 2007 a Coast Guard vessel left the Captain John’s Marina at full speed and headed for the Cobb Island Bridge in order to exit on the Wicomico River. Neighbors watched as the Coast Guard vessel was headed directly toward one of the bridges pilings. At the last minute the operator turned hard to avoid a collision with the pilings. Had that vessel hit the bridge it would have been an example of why the CIVFD should not invest millions of state and county dollars in the construction of a new building on the island.
10. CIVFD officials quoted in the “Maryland Independent” conceded in 2007 “that placing a new station in Tompkinsville would make logistical sense and would likely reduce response times…”
11. An independent study completed in December 2006 “Cobb Island Fire Department Location Analysis, Charles County, Maryland” came to the same conclusions as the 1996 County funded study. It concluded in this post 9-11 environment and these fiscally strapped times we should not allow any new emergency services organization to be built on an island known to be cut off from access to the mainland when tidal surges occur. The report recommends a more comprehensive study of this matter by an “independent” professional consultant.
12. CIFVD officials have suggested that volunteers would not maintain their membership if the building was moved off the island. This scare tactic has been levied many times by the leaders of the CIVFD. Threatening ultimatums alone should be enough reason to move the department because it is logistically the right thing to do and then hire professional firefighters and EMS representatives to staff the organization, as opposed to allowing Cobb Neck’s safety to be held hostage. A new department should be for the public’s safety, not for the convenience of its membership. Visual observation and a review of other departments within Charles County suggest that mass resignations will not occur. When the CIVFD alarm is sounded there are typically a number of private cars speeding over the bridge to get to the department so the volunteers can amass and then attend to the emergency. In addition, a number of the current CIVFD members also are running members at other Charles County Departments. Further, the county and state have established many benefit plans supporting the Volunteer system. Maryland Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP) was started in 1973 to encourage participation in the Volunteer system. Administered by the Charles County Commissioners, it provides for retirement, disability, pensions, survivor benefits, and tax credits for serving members. Volunteers in some Charles County departments drive from as far as Baltimore in an attempt to learn their craft so they can ultimately join the professional ranks of firefighting elsewhere.
13. According to Master Plan Amendment request for the Villages at Swan Point, the Department of Emergency Services and the CIVFD is responsible for devising a plan for improving the response times. In addition the plan must fill the equipment and water supply needs of Swan Point before the General Development Plan for the Villages at Swan Point can be approved. Lastly, the Master plan Amendment stipulates that CIVFD is supposed to build a station on either the Tompkinsville site or a site donated by the Swan Point developers prior to approval of any preliminary plan or site development plan. With this inevitability, Charles County must intercede and offer professional emergency planning in the Cobb Neck region.
14. An “urban legend” spread by some suggests that insurance rates will go up for citizens on Cobb Island if the facility is moved to Tompkinsville. This is nothing more than a scare tactic alarming local citizens inappropriately. Modern Insurance Companies predominantly use the ISO Public Protection Classifications ratings when establishing rates and coverage. State Farm Insurance Company won’t issue new policies on Cobb Island at all because the Island is prone to flooding and Hurricanes. Many other Insurance companies won’t offer insurance, or will at increased rates, on Cobb Island because the CIVFD has an “ISO Class10 rating” which is defined as “no recognized fire protection.” This classification is due to several realities that won’t change with the construction of this department or its location. No “round the clock” on premise volunteers and inadequate water sources are just two contributors to the lowest ISO rating that any station can be assigned. After an exhaustive review of top Insurance companies it can be concluded that insurance rates will generally remain constant for the entire Cobb Neck area regardless of the location of the new Firehouse.
If the CIVFD were a true government agency, the Charles County Commissioners and the Board of Fire and Rescue would have implemented the recommendations put forth in the Capital Safety Systems report in 1996. When the Board of Fire and Rescue reviews the CIVFD request to obtain formal permission to build a new facility on Cobb Island, this citizen trusts the members of that committee to truly think about the long term impacts on public safety as opposed to the emotional and traditional arguments. As opposed to its historical rubber stamping of requests, the Board will be challenged to review the studies themselves and take a leadership role by looking at emergency services in the Cobb Neck area in a more comprehensive manner. A true “independent” committee to review safety issues in the Cobb Neck area should be formed and not leave the review of this request to parties who have a vested interest in the outcome of the review.
4eyes,
I’d like to start by commending you on your informative four part piece. While I have not had a chance to investigate all your data, the digging I did leads me to believe the information provided is accurate and factual. I am new to the area and am not up to date on all the politics that may have taken place pertaining to this matter. It seems to me if county officials have not taken the time to visit these issues they do not have the safety of Charles County citizens on the top of their priority list. Topics like this should defiantly be considered when electing our next group of Commissioners. Hopefully, this forum will motivate the group to attack this topic head-on and secure their positions another term. I serious doubt we will hear a response from the Charles County Commissioners on the subject, nevertheless, one is warranted!
I have spent the past couple days visiting the Courthouse, library and other information centers. These hubs of knowledge have enabled me to become much more enlighten pertaining to the subjects of the Fire Tax and suspicious actions of our “Pontius Pilot” head commissioner. Gentlemen, this snowball has traction and soon you will be presented with an immense iceberg.
Boys, the balls in your court and I advise you not to wash your hands of these issues. It’s your serve, and you should start with 4eyes prior post. Man up.
The issue should not be about the conduct of individual volunteers in Kentland or Cobb Island. It should continue to focus; in my opinion, on wether or not the Fire/EMS system and the way it is funded needs to be overhauled. The answer I believe is yes.
I too agree that including the link to the Channel 5 Kentland’s Fire Department news article link was in poor taste. I offer my deepest apologies for a sincere attempt to initiate conversation on this matter. I have dismantled the link. There are many noble and hard working individuals in the volunteer and professional systems, many of whom I call friends.
However, Abu Ghraib reminded us all that individuals often receive tacit approvals by those in leadership positions turning a blind eye to their actions. I will resist providing the “dozens” of links to St. Mary’s Today articles identifying many “clubhouse” antics of specific organizations in our own county that our local papers seem to timid to present.
On July 17 the CIVFD will present its request to the Board of Fire and Rescue to build a new fire house on Cobb Island. 12 years of professional, nationally known consultants, and peer reviews have validated building this facility in a trapped flood zone is a reckless spending of our tax dollars. As a tax payer and someone who is keenly interested in our collective safety, I am trusting the Board will review all of the facts and long term prospects for the Cobb neck region. With the most recent heated fiscal debates (or dare I say rubber stamps) such as County Tax Increases, the Capital Clubhouse, and the Regency Stadium , Charles County can ill afford to allow another $4-$5 million dollar clubhouse boondoggle.
As I understand how the BFRC works the public does not have any say in how the Fire Tax monies are spent. Not to disallusion anyone but I don’t believe that attending the meeting will accomplish anything. The BFRC basically has the authority to disperse the funds in the way that the volunteer corporations want. (That is if all of the VFC agree). I firmly believe that the way to bring change is through legislation that does two things. First, establish one Department headed by ONE Fire Chief. Second, repeal the Fire Tax. Funding for the agency should come from the General Fund and be subject to public scrutiny and Governmental oversite.
I believe the current head of the Board of Fire and Rescue is a man of integrity and if you review previous BFR meetings one will note he has been a dissenting vote on several expenditures. However, the BFR is made up of several Volunteer Fire Department members or supporters who have worked their way onto the BFR. For example, Sam Bowling is a Charles County Commissioner appointed member of the BFR and a 50 year member of the CIVFD. You connect the dots. For too long the BFR has been allowed to exist in obscurity.
Departments must first present to their peer group called “The Executive Committee”. In the movies they call these individuals the heads of the family, but I digress. This is a member committee made up of individuals elected by popularity. They vote on matters before them which then allows the submitting member the right to present their request before the BFR. Since the members of the executive committee do not want to endanger future plans they might have for their individual department an affirmative vote is routine. My apologies for making an assumption here. But remember, the last meeting in which visitors where in attendance, including the new head of the BFR, they were voted out of the room, assuring a closed and secret process. I’ll resist the movie analogy again. The BFR distributes the “Fire Tax” assessments semi annually to the EMS and FD stations in shares and they fear the “Fire Tax” pie runs the risk of being diluted. This is why the paid EMS service comes from the County’s general fund. The backlash and political pressure the commissioners would endure won’t currently allow them to tap the “Fire Tax” fund to pay for the paid service. This is another tax boondoggle. The cost for the paid service has run into significant cost overruns for the county and a part of why tax increases on each of us became necessary. So now we actually have two “Fire Taxes”. One called a “Fire Tax” and the other buried in your regular taxes. For those companies that are fortunate enough have EMS and Fire units they get to double dip. They get two shares of the pie making them more powerful. (Keep connecting those dots in the case of the CIVFD building and the funding of elections support) The BFR, however, has the veto authority on projects and its meeting is an open meeting. The current head of the BFR is committed to allowing public comment in an attempt to provide a more transparent approach to spending of our tax dollars. However, the member make of of the BFR promotes a rubber stamping process without truly questioning the facts presented. If you watch the televised BFR meetings one will note that the presentations by the Volunteer system are taken as Gospel and without validation of the facts.
The County has always responded, when asked about the direction of a vote, no one attended the meeting thus it was assumed there was no problem. To not attend and be silent is just what the county wants so that debate is held to a minimum. Home rule has allowed this group to runamuck. When one examines how Home Rule got its start you will find that the Commissioners at that time used county funds to pay for promoting this change in government, which brings up many legal questions. That however is the topic for another post in the future.
I suggest letters to the BFR
Mr. John Conlon
Chairman
Board of Fire and Rescue
P.O. Box 2150
La Plata, Maryland 20646
The retaliation possibilities you risk once this group puts a face with a name enough to scare anyone.
I have already drafted my letter to the Board of Fire and Rescue. I urge all of you to not just use this forum, but actually contact the Board and voice your displeasure of the current flawed system.
This is a very good point about the trapped flood plane. The location of this facility is a Land Use issue, and thus determined on the local level. Do we NEED an new fire house here? Is it to better serve the community in case of emergency or to provide a more elegant location for social activities?
Can language be written into Code Home Rule to establish one Department and eliminate the Fire Tax? I hate to keep beating that horse but I believe the solution is eliminating the Fire Tax and establishing one Department.
4 Eyes, As I understand the EMS Service it is pay for service based and not funded through any tax. Is that correct?
I don’t believe we will ever eliminate the “Fire Tax.” Regardless of the means by which emergency services are delivered, they are necessary. The problem rests with Charles County’s inability to manage these “non-profit contractors” and once the money is distributed the Volunteer groups have have no requirements to give it back. Like most groups given a large sum of money…........it must be spent! Look around you when you are out and about, there is a lot of shinny new equipment in this county that hasn’t always been necessary purchases. These groups continue to make decisions that are for the benefit of their membership and not necessarily for the benefit of the public. They get to keep coming back to the BFR for as long as it takes to get their way. In the case of the CIVFD, for 12 years they have been trying to sell this pork project and it makes no more sense today than it did 12 years ago when the Volunteer’s own review group said stop trying to build on the island and move inland. Today we have more sophisticated tools like SLOSH modeling put out by the Army Corp of Engineers which validates the danger building on the Island represents. Especially when the department owns 5 acres of land in Tompkinsville which is the epicenter of its first due area. Here is the link again.
As for the tax question your Commissioners have created a little slide of hand with the hidden tax approach to finding income. The paid EMS service is paid for through the Charles County’s general fund, which is totally separate from the “Fire Tax” fund. It was the only way to keep the Volunteer groups from complaining about the dilution of the “Fire Tax” fund.
In fact, the paid EMS members are already shining. Statistics shown on this past months televised BFR meeting show that the paid service made over 85% of the ALS (Advanced Life Saving) calls during the period reviewed.
Because of tremendous cost overruns brought on by the introduction of a paid career staff, especially in the overtime category, the county introduced a user fee charged to each person who rides in an ambulance. This fee is charged whether you ride in a paid or a volunteer EMS ambulance. The county is extremely proud of the fact that it now collects this fee in more than 45% of the cases from our insurance companies. This is now a supplemental hidden tax. Now we have two systems paid for through the “Fire Tax”, the general fund, and insurance company billings. (This of course does not include the State and Federal Grants our departments have received) As tax payers we now pay for the Paid Career service and a system of Volunteers so they can keep their traditions. No wonder we needed a tax increase recently with this kind of financial mismanagement.
These statistics are approximates and I have attempted to err on the low side. To get the exact statistics watch this past months BFR meeting on the Charles County cable channel and you will see the actual stats shared with the BFR.
I believe you are correct. Code Home Rule needs changing for the Volunteer system to change. Didn’t we leave England over 230 years ago over similar issues?
1. The career system does in fact get a portion of the fire tax. A one cent increase was implemented for the emergency services in 2003.
2. You are correct that the career bills for service, but the volunteer units DO NOT bill for service, ALS or BLS and do not see one dime of that money, (and they shouldn’t).
You must give credit to the volunteers, Fire service is provided 100% by Volunteers personnel, at no cost to the public (pay, overtime, benefits, etc), think about that, and yes the career system is doing a good job providing ALS, but one must remember that the Volunteers are also providing BLS care more than 60 % of the time. YOU CAN NOT IGNORE THE COST SAVING THIS IS TO THE TAX PAYERS. The system you envision would bankrupt the citizens of Charles County. The career system was implemented to supplement the volunteers; however it has become quite clear that DES is trying to build an empire on the premise of Public Safety. Because of your one sided assessment you have fail to see the same uncheck spending that is going inside of DES, most of it through grants for unnecessary equipment. Its obvious to this reader you are being fed mis-information to make the volunteers look bad.
As far as CIVFD, maybe putting the station on the island is a bad idea, I don’t know. I’ll have to look into that. But I wouldn’t classify building a fire station as a “Pork Project”. Have you seen their current station? Please come on. Its very obvious to me that you do in fact have an agenda. Could it be they want to build a pier next to your summer vacation property in Cobb Island?
smcitizen: I believe that most on this thread had supported Carl Seniors idea:
the establishment of a Fire/EMS Department;(lets call it the Charles County Fire/EMS Department) recognized by Code Home Rule and headed by one Career Fire Chief that would be responsible and have the authority commensurate with his/her position. This position would include training standards for volunteers to include F/F’s and Chiefs. Operational authority on all emergency incidents and also responsibility for writing SOP’s to deal with those emergency’s. Budgetary authority to include all appartus purchases and assignments. Planning responsibility to develope the location of future Fire/EMS Departments, and their staffing levels (when it is neccessary to hire Career F/F’s). Guidelines for discipline and background investigations. Most importantly; accountability. Accountability to the customers the department serves and most importantly the Tax Payers.
This department should obsorb the EMS and Haz-Mat Divisions already established. I would put someone in charge of EMS and Haz-Mat at about the rank of Major. They both would answer to the F/C as would every single Volunteer Chief.
When I speak of eliminating the Fire Tax I mean the way in which revenues are collected, the manner in which they are distributed, and the authority of the BFRC to spend Tax Money. I clearly understand that revenues must be collected to fund the Fire/EMS service. I also believe that the CIVFD station should be built; but not on Cobb Island. CIVFD is just an example of the need to overhaul the system and should not be the primary focus. The focus should be on the entire system and in a way that will bring real change and accountability.
Volunteers have been an intragral part of the Fire/EMS Service in Charles County and should be commended for their dedication to public service. It should not deter anyone from reviewing the issues discussed on this thread and moving forward to improve the fire/ems service in Charles County.
Doesn’t everyone have an agenda? Your comments are exactly what the previous writer was alluding to in their remarks. You should be ashamed of your high handed attempt to intimidate the writers and squelch honest debate.
Regardless, the facts are the facts! Building a new station on Cobb Island is contrary to prudent “professional” emergency services advice. You appear to be the one emotionally tied to building on Cobb Island as opposed to placing a new facility in a location that serves the public as opposed to you.
While 4eyes has decided to stay away from links, I cannot. Here are a few that lend themselves to uncovering a larger epidemic of poor planning and inappropriate spending of my tax dollars.
If someone starts the petition for changing Code Home Rule, I’ll sign it!
Why would you build a fire station on an island that has one way in and one way out, that serves a small portion of the response area,when they have an oppurtunity to reduce response times to ALL residents living in the Cobb Neck area, and be in a position to provide service to a planned community that will obviously require their services. As I also said the problem isn’t CIVFD, its the entire system. Sam Bowling indicated that most of the members “answer up” and don’t spend much time at the station. He also further stated that the response times would increase for the membership living on the island if the station was built in Thompkinsville ( were every single study done by “Independant Organizations” without affliation to VFD’s in Charles says it should be). Those comments were made in the Indy. If those are in fact the issues then a heated barn large enough for the apparatus would suffice. More to the point, my issues are with an antiquated system that is stuck in the 60’s and has no plan or direction for all of the citizens of Charles County. Individual Corporations have their plans and normally coalitions are formed with the stronger organizations to get what they want. No one does studies to look and see what or where stations and equipment are needed and how it will benefit the owners. The owners are the citizens of Charles County. We bought it, we should have a say in the direction of the ENTIRE Fire/EMS Service. 14 differant organizations, each going in their own direction is not the way to provide quality service with accountability to the citizens.
No, I do not think Cobb Island needs a new Fire Station. Again, studies have concluded that constructing a new fire station on Cobb Island would not be prudent. Public records indicate the department owns land in Thompkinsville. If the Cobb Neck area needs a new station, Thompkinsville is where it should be constructed.
No, I do not think Cobb Island needs a new Fire Station. Again, studies have concluded that constructing a new fire station on Cobb Island would not be prudent. Public records indicate the department owns land in Thompkinsville. If the Cobb Neck area needs a new station, Thompkinsville is where it should be constructed.
Spy Glass, so your saying that CIVFD should stay in an unsafe building?
smcitizen, please read this to refresh your memory.
When I speak of eliminating the Fire Tax I mean the way in which revenues are collected, the manner in which they are distributed, and the authority of the BFRC to spend Tax Money. I clearly understand that revenues must be collected to fund the Fire/EMS service. I also believe that the CIVFD station should be built; but not on Cobb Island.
smcitizen, please read this to refresh your memory.
When I speak of eliminating the Fire Tax I mean the way in which revenues are collected, the manner in which they are distributed, and the authority of the BFRC to spend Tax Money. I clearly understand that revenues must be collected to fund the Fire/EMS service. I also believe that the CIVFD station should be built; but not on Cobb Island.
Carl, sorry I missed that, Please accept my apologies.
The Fire Tax is collected based on property value, and that is not going to change. As far as how the tax is being distributed, Hmmmmmmmm. That’s your problem. Let me ask a question if I might.
Do you really think County Government can do it any better? I will submit to you that the Volunteers departments DO a good job of managing this money do it well and ethically, and their audited every year. I want you to consider what each department does with this money. Each department has to maintain the buildings, the grounds, the Fire and EMS apparatus (including the ones the career EMS personnel use everyday), buy fuel, insurance (workman comp, vehicle, and property), administrative cost (pens, paper pencils, tape, etc), purchase all kinds of equipment. (bandages, oxygen, drugs, gear), provide Fire prevention programs, the list goes on. On average each company gets is about $250,000.00 a year, some more some less. I bet not one county government department could do in a year, what each volunteer department does on their budget. And no one ask for a pay check to do this. What a savings to the citizens that is.
The total budget for Fire and EMS last year was about 4.5 million. If the county adopts your plan, that cost will triple. No doubt about it. Look at the surrounding jurisdictions. What’s their yearly budget for Fire and EMS. What a tax increase that would be. You really need to do your homework on this. You’re not looking at the entire picture.
It’s my understanding that their are changes being proposed and being worked on. The Volunteers aren’t going any where any time soon and the powers to be in the Department of Emergency Services must understand this and work with them not against them. The system may be old, but it is working, saving the citizens millions of dollars a year. The service the Volunteers are providing is top notch, just as good as any paid department (they receive the same training through the University of Maryland) and should be supported and encouraged.
PS: I understand that their are a few bad apples that get thru the application process, but that should not be an indictment of the entire system. That completely unfair to the 99% that play by the rules
I’ll answer your question with a one word answer if you will answer mine with one word.
Would you spend $100,000,000 of your personal money to construct a building in a flood zone that according to the Army Corp of Engineers would be underwater in a direct Hurricane hit…and ...only has one way in and one way off…and…is routinely closed when the roads are flooded…and…all of our lifesaving equipment for 12 miles is stranded on that island…and…the bridge to that island has collapsed before…but it will make a great location for poker nights?
You answer mine in one word and I’ll answer yours.
