By John Howell Sr.

Panola County supervisors will be asked to attend the April 16 meeting of Batesville’s mayor and aldermen to discuss funding for the purchase of a fire engine pumper for the Batesville Fire Department (BFD).

BFD Chief Tim Taylor told city officials during their Tuesday meeting that a grant application for funds to purchase a new engine pumper had been denied. The city faces a Mississippi State Ratings Bureau (MSRB) requirement that it buy a second new fire engine pumper if the city’s fire department is to continue answering out of town fire calls and retain its present Class Six fire rating. BFD has placed an order for one new engine pumper to be purchased with city funds.

Background

Discussion of the need for two new trucks began more than a year ago when Taylor told city officials that BFD would be required to replace one older model truck in order to maintain its Class Six rating, and that a second old truck would have to be replaced if BFD is to retain its Class Six rating and continue to respond to calls outside city limits.

The Batesville Fire Department has responded to out-of-town fire alarms and other emergencies throughout its history, first as the only fire department available to respond. In recent years, as the only fire department in the county with full-time, paid fire fighters, BFD has continued to respond in areas outside the city where members of volunteer fire departments are often working at distant jobs when fire alarms occur.

County’s response

Early last year city officials asked the Panola County Board of Supervisors to bear the full cost of the city’s second truck, citing fire call records that indicated that one in four calls answered by city firemen are to emergencies outside city limits. Supervisors responded with an offer to pay about $180,000 or about one-half the cost of the new $360,000 truck configured to BFD specifications. City officials then deferred further action to await the decision about the grant.

With the negative response that Taylor reported Tuesday on the grant application, city officials want to learn if the county’s 2012 offer is still on the table.

No calls outside city?

“What if we don’t run out in the county?” Alderman Stan Harrison asked, raising again the question that the mayor and aldermen had considered at each meeting in 2012 when the purchase of a second new truck was discussed.

“You’ve got a lot of questions to get answered if you don’t run in the county,” Taylor said. “Is the city limits going to be a ‘drop dead’ limit? If you pull up there and house is right outside city limits, are you going to sit there and watch it burn?”

“Are you just going to run to certain people’s houses, certain people’s businesses?; what about your wrecks?,” Taylor asked. “Are you going to wrecks out in the county? Those are questions that are going to have to be answered.”

“Mutual aids like to Sardis?” Taylor continued. “Or if one of the county units has a gasoline tanker turned over on Highway 6 West at North Delta School, are you going to run to that?”

“You know we talked to Cleveland a while back; it was my understanding that they do not go outside the city,” Harrison said.

“I understand Cleveland does not run outside the city limits,” Taylor said.

Funding sources

The city officials discussed with the fire chief fire equipment funding sources routed to the city and to the county from outside sources, including money raised through the state from a tax on fire insurance.

“This truck’s $360,000…, the county’s already told me they’ll pay $180,000 on it, so we’re looking at paying half and they’re paying half,” Mayor Jerry Autrey said.

“If that offer still stands from the county,” Taylor replied. “I didn’t feel like it was my place to go to the county without talking to y’all first.”

“Aren’t there some towns that charge to run in the county?” Alderman Teddy Morrow asked.

“Pontotoc’s one of them,” Alderman Harrison said. “If they go outside the town they get a $100 fee; …the county reimburses the city $100 for calls outside the city limits. That’s a little bit, but …”
MSRB too demanding?

“I think the legislature is going to have to tend to this rating bureau,” the mayor said. “A lot of these small towns are not going to be able to keep up with what all these requirements are. It’s going to happen; it’s happening now.”

(MSRB is a non-profit corporation whose membership is comprised of the 639 insurance companies licensed to sell fire and allied lines insurance in Mississippi, according to its web site, www.msratingbureau.com. It is supported through an annual assessment on those companies based on the value of premiums written in the state. Among MSRB duties are to conduct surveys of municipalities and fire districts to determine ratings for fire insurance classification.)

Addition discussion during the fire equipment discussion that lasted over 40 minutes Tuesday included use of the city’s ladder truck for response to residential fires, fire personnel remaining available in the city when BFD responds to calls outside the city, truck maintenance schedules and insurance rating changes for people who live just outside city limits.

“The people who live right outside the city limits right here, will those (ratings change)?” Morrow asked.

“There may be some homeowners outside the city limits who’re riding on the city’s rating,” Taylor replied.

“There ain’t no ‘maybe’ to it,” Harrison said.

“Does the county understand that?” Morrow asked.