The City of Statesboro and Bulloch County will meet once again to discuss the future of fire services in unincorporated Bulloch County.
The return to the drawing board follows a letter distributed last week by the Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce which suggested the two entities meet with the Chamber to negotiate an agreement for the next year. Their involvement, CEO Jennifer Davis said, was spawned by “concerns expressed by our resident workforce and local businesses.”
The suggestion for a one-year extension is not a new one, however, as citizens, commissioners – acting independently – and some staff have been in communication with the city about a possible short-term agreement. It was also part of the county’s initial proposal to phase out the 5-mile district ‘over time’ when the idea was presented to commissioners back in December 2024.
During Tuesday’s commission meeting, three consent agenda items dealing with fire services were moved to the ‘new business’ section by Commissioner Nick Newkirk so that the items could have additional discussion.
Commissioner Newkirk inquired about a letter from the Chamber circulating on Facebook last week, which indicated the city and county would be meeting in the near future about the 5-mile district and fire services. “We’re meeting with the city again to negotiate? Is there any truth that? Is that a bunch of false lettering that I saw?”
Bennett said, “So we are going to sit down. Apparently the city would like to talk to us. I don’t know what they have to offer. The Chamber of Commerce has proposed an offer of extending the 5-mile radius for an additional year. We’re going to go and listen. But at the same time, what I told Ms. Davis [Chamber of Commerce] was that we have a moral obligation to provide fire protection for the entire county and that we would continue to progress forward with our plans to provide fire protection for the county.
I have no intention to stop with that plan based off of a discussion that is planned to be had.”
Commissioner Timmy Rushing asked, “Where is this letter? I hadn’t seen anything about a letter.”
Newkirk responded that “They sent it out in an email.”
Bennett echoed that “The Chamber of Commerce put out a letter saying that we’re going to have this discussion and it was based off of an agreement that we said, that I said, we would sit down and talk with them.”
Newkirk stated that he did not have any issues with the fire department agenda items, but wanted the clarification on what was happening with the city.
“I didn’t know if we needed to postpone some of this stuff if we were going back to the table with the city or not. So that’s just what I was trying to figure out.”
There was no further discussion and the purchases were approved unanimously. While the Chamber letter indicated an ‘early April’ meeting, no specific date was mentioned in the meeting Tuesday. It is also unclear who, in particular, will attend to represent the governing entities.
Background on the 5-Mile District
December 3, 2024 – County Commissioners voted to terminate the fire services agreement for the 5-mile district with the City of Statesboro. The vote followed commentary from County Attorney Jeff Akins and a presentation by BCFD Chief Ben Tapley.
Akins told commissioners the current agreement had been in place since July 1, 2020 and would automatically renew for another 5-year term if no action was taken. If commissioners wished to take action, they were required to act by December 31, 2024. “I would say that termination would be appropriate if either the county wants to renegotiate aspects of the agreement or change the fire protection services in some way,” Akins said. He also said if the agreement renewed automatically for another 5-year term, the county could still cancel the agreement with 12-months notice to the city.
Tapley told commissioners that the current contract was not ‘Bulloch County friendly.’ Citing a lack of fire stations in the 5-mile district due to the current agreement barring the county from placing infrastructure in the 5-mile area, Tapley said the BCFD position was that the agreement should be renegotiated to allow the county to build in the district and to set a date for the BCFD to take over the 5-mile district.
Commissioner Jappy Stringer stated that the fire department had changed since the agreement was negotiated the last time. “This agreement does not fit our department now which is why we need to move forward with a new agreement,” Stringer said.
“They were all volunteers back then, just adding the first paid firefighters in,” Tapley said.
Citing city responses to the 5-mile district in 2023, Tapley said the approximately 400 calls for service in exchange for the $2.5-2.6 million in county funds equates to $6,500 per call. He said the BCFD ran 3,500 calls in 2023 with a $3.5 million budget, equating to approximately $1,000 per call. “Based on the projected calls, we could offer a cost-savings to the citizens.”
Rushing made a motion to terminate the agreement, which was seconded by Stringer. The vote was unanimous with Commissioners Toby Conner, Timmy Rushing, Ray Mosley, Anthony Simmons, and Jappy Stringer voting affirmatively. Commissioner Ray Davis was presiding over the meeting as then-Chairman Roy Thompson left the meeting early. You can watch the presentation by Chief Tapley and vote by commissioners here. [Discussion begins at 3:18:30 mark]
December 4, 2024 – The interim county manager notified Statesboro City Manager Charles Penny of the vote. He acknowledged receipt and would advise the city council to ‘accept the decision of the commissioners’ and they would be responsible for fire services in the district as of July 1, 2025.
December 5, 2024 – Interim County Manager, according to Charles Penny, replied saying, “I do not believe the intent of their vote was to take responsibility of the fire service in the Fire District as of July 1, 2025, but to negotiate another agreement.”
January 30, 2025 – A Fire District Committee meeting was held.
Interim County Manager Cindy Steinmann told the committee that the agreement is no longer up-to-date with fire inspections in th 5-mile district being conducted by the county, and the change in the 5-mile district millage rate (up by 0.50 mills), among other things.
The County presented a plan that would split the fire district with the county covering the northern portion of the Fire District and the City covering the southern portion. The funding split would be 52% to the county and 48% to the city. Then, in July 2026, the county would take over the entire fire district. The county asked the city to decide by February 17, 2025.
February 18, 2025 – Penny emailed the county to say the city wanted time to review the proposal, to include at the city council retreat in March, which happens outside of city hall chambers and outside of the public eye. According to Mayor Jonathan McCollar, the county declined the city’s offer to continue with the current agreement for the next year.
February 18, 2025 – City Manager Charles Penny wrote a memo to the mayor and council, recommending that the city not accept the plan by the Bulloch County fire chief. After reading the memo, council voted to direct Penny to make a counter offer to the county that the City will serve the Fire District under the current contractual conditions for one additional year.
