Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 16, 1990 TAG: 9006160018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEVE KARK SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: PEARISBURG LENGTH: Medium
Departments in Poplar Hill, Newport and Eggleston have been allotted $10,000 each for the next fiscal year, while Pearisburg, Narrows, Pembroke, Rich Creek and Glen Lyn (the county's five incorporated towns) would receive $8,500 each. These amounts, say the firefighters, are not enough to get the job done in the near future, much less over the long term.
"We're [not] going to survive off $8,000 to $10,000," said Darrel Scott of the Pearisburg department. "We need more money, and it's gonna to look bad if we don't have the equipment to save lives."
Pearisburg Mayor Clarence Taylor and Town Manager Ken Vittum, also at the meeting, had written a letter to the board expressing their concerns about the amount budgeted for the town department.
Taylor and Vittum said the Pearisburg fire department should be budgeted more since the town responds to a large number of calls outside the town limits - yet the town itself still funds more than half of the entire budget for the department.
Chief Wayne Woodyard of the Poplar Hill Fire Department also thought fire department budgets are inadequate. His department will continue to try to do the best it can with what the money it has, he said. But he also said that the amount that it's been budgeted isn't enough to suit up the number of firefighters needed.
County Supervisor Richard Williams said that for the past three years the board has increased the allocations for the fire departments. Chairman Bobby Compton reinforced the board's position by reminding the firefighters that before the current board membership, the increases averaged on $500 a year.
Supervisor Willard Gowdy summarized by saying, "I don't think that any member of the board isn't aware of the problems in the rest of the county, but we don't have enough money to spread around. We're not selectively picking out anyone, any town, any area to give more to."
A final vote on the proposed budget will be Friday at 1 p.m.
In other matters, supervisors agreed to award a Virginia Supplemental Retirement System option to the county's law enforcement officers. This option recognizes the hazardous nature of their work and would be in addition to their state program.
The board also approved the federally mandated Emergency Options Plan, which includes, among other things, a policy for handling dangerous chemical spills.
by CNB