DATE: Friday, May 23, 1997                  TAG: 9705230686

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   82 lines

PASQUOTANK PLANS TO BUILD FIRE STATION TALKS WITH CITY IRKED THE COUNTY.

Disgusted over endless negotiations with City Council, Pasquotank County Commissioners plan to build the county's first staffed fire station just a half-mile from the city's main fire station.

The station will be adjacent to the school administration building on Halstead Boulevard.

``We had to locate this thing where it would best cover the central fire district,'' Pasquotank County Board Chairman Horace Pritchard said Thursday.

Last week the city rejected the county's offer to pay $25,000 for fire protection for the central district, a zone about a mile wide that wraps around the city limits. Several high-dollar businesses and subdivisions are in the district.

City Councilman Zack Robertson called the $25,000 ``insulting'' during a joint meeting of the finance committees of both boards. Neither Robertson nor any other council member knew about the $183,000 offer made by the county six months ago.

Robertson blames City Manager Steve Harrell, saying, ``We should have been told and that would have eliminated all the hard feelings.''

Harrell said the city plans to hold a special meeting Tuesday at 5 p.m. over this issue. County commissioners have also been invited.

Robertson added, ``We're going to take our whipping from the press and the public, whoever, and I will apologize to them (county commissioners).''

He cited the annual city fire department budget of $1.9 million. Robertson's actions offended several county commissioners.

During a county board budget meeting Wednesday afternoon, Pasquotank County Manager Randy Keaton proposed a two-bay station, staffed by two full-time firefighters from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Volunteers will take over nights and weekends.

Keaton said the building would cost about $150,000 and a new pumper/tanker truck would cost about $150,000. The annual debt service and operating budget would be $150,000, Keaton said.

If the commissioners approve the proposal, a new fire district tax, announced two weeks ago at 4 cents per $100 of property value, would jump to 6 cents.

The fire tax, a new 3-cent recreation fee and a new $95-a-year trash disposal fee add up to the largest tax increase in memory.

The new fees, however, relieve the city residents of paying taxes twice for fire and recreation services and trash disposal. City residents will not be required to pay the new fire and recreation fees and the city will no longer pay tipping fees at the landfill.

The city and county have fussed over the double tax issue for years, with Robertson leading the way for the city.

With the fire tax, the county will provide $25,000 for five volunteer departments and $150,000 for the staffed station.

The station will also house an ambulance providing emergency services closer to the south end of the county, Keaton said. The full-time firefighters will be the first to respond in the central district and provide help to other surrounding volunteer districts.

``That should help our response time to districts adjacent to the central district,'' Pritchard said. ``Volunteers are not as available during the day as they were at one time.''

``It is really in a good location to respond to all the areas,'' Keaton said. ``It's the best location we could get.''

To reduce the cost of fire insurance, no property should be more than five road miles from its district station. The practice saves more than $100 a year in fire insurance premiums for the average house.

The county paid the city $175,000 this year for fire protection in the central district. County volunteer departments protect their districts and are financed from the general fund.

The commissioners offered the city $183,000 in December to cover the central district for the upcoming budget year, Keaton said. It was a 5 percent increase over this year's amount.

``They never responded to our letter,'' Keaton said.

A few weeks ago, Keaton determined that each volunteer department requires $25,000 a year and made the same offer to the city.

Upset over the low offer, City Council directed Harrell to figure how much it costs the city to protect the central district. Harrell determined the cost at $330,000 annually if based on population and $392,000 if based on property value. ``I don't understand them asking us for more than $300,000 for just that one area around the city,'' Commissioner Patsy McGee said Wednesday before the board met about the new fire station. ``It won't happen.''

The city finally asked the county to pay the $175,000 again. By then it was too late and the county had decided to go its own way.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu