Crawford Co. delays fire decision

Volunteer fire departments in Crawford County, Iowa, will not reorganize into a countywide fire district this year.

“There are a lot of questions” was Denison Fire Chief Mike McKinnon's introductory statement about the project during the Crawford County Board meeting this week.

“If this is a good thing, I think we want everybody on board thinking positive about this,” said Supervisor Dan Muhlbauer.

“We need to get it down in black and white so we really know what we're looking at.”

During the past year, McKinnon led discussions between fire chiefs and their departments, township trustees, city councils and county supervisors to rally support for implementing a countywide fire district, which would centralize management of the volunteer fire departments.

McKinnon said Denison and Vail tentatively agreed to participate. Manilla, Charter Oak, Deloit, Ricketts, Westside and Dow City will consider the matter at forthcoming meetings.

Concerns raised by members of the Denison City Council involved leasing facilities to the county fire district and the loss of a full-time fire chief, McKinnon said.

“I think we need everybody in. That's going to be the difference between making it or not,” Supervisor Steve Ulmer said.

Supervisor Mark Segebart said, “For the cities it should be a no-brainer because it is going to lower their levy unless they're at the max.”

McKinnon said, “I'm 150 percent behind you on this. I'm really torn — I really want to see this succeed. I've poured my heart and soul into this for two years now. But I want it done the right way.”

The decision to proceed was postponed until next year. The board plans to hold a public hearing before making a final decision.

The Iowa Legislature approved the concept in 2008 to address the lack of funding for emergency services and the decreasing numbers of volunteer emergency personnel. Earlier this year, a committee of fire chiefs and firefighters proposed operating guidelines.

A district would be overseen by a commission composed of a member of the board of supervisors, the sheriff and the mayor from each city in the county. A paid county fire chief would be in charge. The commission can set a property tax levy up to $1.6075 per $1,000 of assessed value of all property to finance the district.