The real
facts relating to the Worthington Fire Department
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UPDATED 6-19-2008
THE JUNE
BOARD MEETING WAS CANCELLED – NO REASON GIVEN !
NEXT
BOARD MEETING
July
16, 2008, 7 pm Brownsboro Rd Station
Brownsboro
Road Station Shrinking
No,
not in physical size but in firefighters.
Two more volunteers have resigned leaving only five firefighters to
respond to emergencies. WHAT IS HAPPENING?
WHY ARE PEOPLE LEAVING? At least 56
firefighters have left the Department since the summer of 2002. WHY ? The Chief says the Brownsboro Rd area doesn’t
need an on duty 24 hour crew at this station.
Could the reason firefighters are leaving have anything to do with the
“Thanks” listed below? You have to
wonder how far this will go before the Board takes action. Let’s hope a real tragedy doesn’t happen
before SOMEBODY WAKES UP!
______________________________________________________________________
Chief
“thanks” former firefighters
Chief
“thanks” former Worthington Firefighters.
In a letter dated November 20, 2007 at least three former members of the
department received a letter demanding that they remove their volunteer
firefighter license plate. These plates
were due to expire in about 30 days.
“Please be advised that you now have seven (7) business days, from the
date of this correspondence, to return said plate and provide my office with a
written acknowledgement from the County Clerk’s office that your volunteer
license plate has been surrendered.” No
thanks for your years of service to the department. No come back and visit where you spent many years.
A copy of this letter was also sent to the Jefferson County Clerk’s
Office AND the 8th division LMPD Commander. Great, let’s call the police on former
department members.
What a poor way to treat
those who have served.
Why would
anyone want to serve?
______________________________________________
NORTON
COMMON FIRE STATION BID WAS APPROVED,
$4,300,000
For
a two bay station!
At the Jan. Board meeting the Board approved a bond issue
of $5,185,000.00
Look
what the City of Louisville is doing.
2
new fire stations,
$4
million
Look
further down for two other recently completed fire stations and compare. This
article was in the Courier-Journal, Thursday, Jan 17, 2008, Section B-3
Common
sense has to prevail.
HOW
CAN YOU SPEAK AT A BOARD MEETING IF THERE IS NO AGENDA POSTED?
Residents
are still not being heard !
24-HOUR
STAFFING AT THE BROWNSBORO RD STATION AND CONTINUED 24-HOUR COVERAGE AT
THE MURPHY LN STATION
The Chief’s response to the question above is “Our statistics
illustrate that the number of runs made from 8pm to 8am drastically decrease
from the level of daytime runs in the area of the Brownsboro Rd station.” He says the cost would be an extra $500,000
dollars and that this expense would be unnecessary.
Let’s look at the facts. The
cost of the 12 hour current crew is about $150,000 yearly. The cost of a 24 hour crew is about
$500,000. Which means the actual
additional cost is about $350,000. Seems
to be no problem spending $4,000,000 (OR POSSIBLY OVER 5 MILLION) on a
firehouse for an area that was originally projected to not be completed for
10-15 years. With the slow down in
housing across the country there is no telling how many additional years before
that project is completed. It doesn’t
take a rocket scientist to drive out there are see all of the undeveloped
land.
As one resident said at the July 18th board meeting and
many others agreed …they didn’t want their tax money spent to build a community
room for Norton Commons.
The residents/taxpayers in the Brownsboro Rd station area DESERVE
24-hour career staffing. It’s outrageous
to ignore these residents for a future development. It’s way past time for this.
REEVALUATION
OF THE NORTON COMMONS FIRE STATION
An
INDEPENDENT NEEDS ASSESSMENT
concerning the proposed $4,000,000.00 fire station is needed BEFORE any
taxpayer’s money is spent.
The
Chief has said his people can currently get to any place in the area in four
minutes. As one resident attending the
July 18th board meeting commented, “If that is so, then why do you
need another fire station?” There was no
answer.
Want
to see what $4,000,000.00 buys you in Worthington? You have to question the logic of the
proposed station when comparing other neighboring departments who have recently
constructed new fire stations.
See
below the comparisons and judge for yourself.
Proposed
Worthington station in Norton Commons:
Two
bay fire station Bedrooms
for 9 firefighters Administrative
offices Kitchen Training
room THE LAND WAS FREE Bldg
COST $4,000,000.00 18,000
square feet Cost
per square foot $222.22
North Oldham Fire
Department Completed 2004.
Five
bay station Room
for up to 10 fire apparatus. Drive
through capability State
of the art fitness room. Plenty
of office space 45’
training tower Classroom
facilities for up to 50 people Designed
for expansion Bldg
Cost $2,700,000 18,500
square feet COST
PER SQUARE FOOT $145.95
South Oldham Fire
Department Completed 2003.
Five Bay station with drive through 5 Offices on the first floor Men’s & Women’s restrooms Shop area Sleeping quarters for 5 people plus Workout facilities Large lounge and laundry facilities Training room Large community room w/ kitchen
facilities Four acres of land BLDG COST $1,100,000 INCLUDES LAND 22,000 square feet $50.00 PER SQUARE FOOT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES FOR THE WORHTINGTON FIRE
PROTECTION DISTRICT
Chairperson
Melissa Ames Mayoral Appointee Term expires:
mames@worthingtonfire.com votes only in the event of a tie
Secretary
John Mcglynn Mayoral Appointee Term expires:
jmcglynn@worthingtonfire.com Voted AGAINST
the new firehouse due to financial concerns
Shannon
Davis Property
Owner Rep Term expires; June 30, 2010
Bill
Rembold Property
Owner Rep Term expires: June 30, 2008
Treasurer
Dan Clark Firefighter Rep Term expires:
Kevin
Groody Firefighter
Rep Term expires: June 30, 2011
Kevin
Tyler Mayoral
Appointee Term expires: June 30, 2010
These
people should be looking out for the citizens and taxpayers of the Worthington
Community.
Building
OVERPRICED fire stations for an area that
won’t be completely developed for 10-15 years WHILE IGNORING those living in the Brownsboro Rd
area is indefensible. Additionally,
those living near the Murphy Ln station will LOSE all of the career
firefighters now stationed there.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The Board meets on
the third Wednesday of each Month, 7 pm at the Brownsboro Rd station.
PLEASE
ATTEND THESE MEETINGS AND BECOME INFORMED.
Encourage your neighbors also to attend.
Tell the Board that
this is OUR TAX MONEY they are spending and we don’t want it wasted.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE TO : INFO@WORTHINGTONTRUTH.COM
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