Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 26, 1994 TAG: 9404270017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The highlights of the $82 million general fund budget for Hodge are more rescue squad employees, increased parks and recreation funding and a tax increase for the enhanced 911 system.
Rescue squads. If the budget is approved by the Board of Supervisors - who will begin reviewing it at a 1 p.m. workshop today - the fire and rescue squads will get 12 more part-time employees trained in advanced life support to work nights and weekends, and a volunteer recruiter to coordinate the hundreds of volunteers needed to staff the county's firehouses.
The addition to the rescue squads would allow three stations - Clearbrook, Hollins and Fort Lewis - to be staffed 24 hours a day. The $190,000 rescue request also includes money to reimburse volunteers who take the training, Fire and Rescue Chief Thomas Fuqua said.
People trained in advanced life support have more training than emergency medical technicians and are one step below paramedics, making them qualified to use a defibrillator and administer drugs.
"People's expectation of medical service at the scene is increasing," Fuqua said, citing TV shows like "Rescue 911." "That's the direction we're having to move in."
At today's budget workshop, the county's firefighters union will ask supervisors to go beyond just adding rescue squad employees and consider increasing the 50 paid positions in county firehouses to 164, union president Bruce Roy said.
Roanoke County's fire and rescue squads are still run by a partnership of paid professionals and a large corps of volunteers. Weekdays, paid firefighters staff six of the 11 fire stations. Evenings, weekends and major holidays, the county relies on volunteers. Roy said the professional firefighters also rely on volunteers to fill in during the day when there are calls.
"I'm really happy they're recommending some sort of staffing," Roy said. But, "they've continually ignored the fire service end of it. The sad thing is we have state-of-the-art equipment, state-of-the-art buildings and no one to staff them."
Hodge said as the county continues to become more urban, the fire department will need to make the transition to "a combination of paid/volunteer" firefighters, but he does not support an increase in professionals as Roy is recommending.
Parks and recreation. With ballfields and recreational areas created with money from the 1992 parks and recreation bond issue, Hodge said, "we have more teams than we've ever had."
That, and more fields to mow and facilities to maintain.
Hodge is asking the Board of Supervisors to approve a $440,000 increase above this year's $2.09 million budget for increased maintenance, equipment and personnel. Debbie Pitts, assistant director of the recreation division, said in the past three years the service level provided by the department has increased 18 percent, while the budget has gone up only 2 percent each year.
But the department's revenue from program fees has increased, and is expected to generate $564,000 this year from the more than 11,000 residents who take various classes.
The Board of Supervisors is also being asked to give the department more leeway in fees charged. The department wants to set fees based on the market for different programs and keep the fees generated within the department.
911. Supervisors will consider increasing the tax added to residents' phone bills to pay for three more dispatchers, computers and telephone equipment to upgrade Roanoke County's emergency response system. To fund those would require raising the monthly phone tax from $.46 to $.85 - generating $178,000 a year - which Hodge is recommending. The county's public safety team is requesting that the tax be raised instead to $1.06 - $284,000 a year - so money can be set aside for recapitalization of the 911 system to keep the aging equipment working.
by CNB