By Eric Curl
May 19, 2024 – Chatham County intends to establish it’s own fire department this summer by transitioning fire services personnel, equipment and fire stations from the current private nonprofit provider, according to Friday’s meeting agenda.
Chatham County Commissioners are scheduled to consider a conveyance agreement with Chatham Emergency Services, in which the county would pay the nonprofit service provider almost $4.7 million over a five-year period for vehicles and equipment. The commission will also consider an agreement with CES to lease the nonprofit’s fire stations for $1 per year.
The agreements are part of the county’s plan to transition CES firefighters to the county department by July 1, according to the meeting agenda.
The agenda posted Tuesday does not include an action item from a version of the agenda posted Friday morning. The action item asking the board to consider establishing the county fire department included details about the cost and number of employees that would transition from CES.
The earlier version of the agenda was no longer available on the county’s website that afternoon and the county’s spokesperson, Catherine Glasby said Friday afternoon that she was not sure if the plan was going to be considered, while noting the county typically doesn’t post agendas until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. On Monday, Glasby said that a draft of the agenda had apparently been posted Friday.
The pending agreements on the updated agenda come after the county commission approved a resolution last August that authorized county staff to develop and implement a transition plan to move fire protection services from CES, as previously reported.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on May 21 to reflect the information in the revised version of Friday’s meeting agenda.
