Commission will discuss redrawing fire districts

A proposed change to the fire district lines in Columbia County would turn over all of Ivy Falls and Misty Woods subdivisions to the Martinez Fire Department.

Currently Ivy Falls is served by three departments: Martinez, Grovetown and Appling. But that has caused confusion, with some residents getting bills from all three departments, county Emergency Services Director Pam Tucker said.

"This keeps the subdivision cohesive," she said.

Tucker is proposing to allow Martinez Fire Department to start serving both sides of Chamblin Road to Interstate 20, both sides of Baker Place Road to I-20 and 300 feet past Chamblin Road on Columbia Road.

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The change makes sense, she said, because Martinez Fire Department's Station 6 is on William Few Parkway - about a mile from the Ivy Falls entrance and closer than stations from the other two departments.

"You can't hardly get much better than this," Tucker said.

Tucker said the change would have minimal up-front impact on the subscription collections for Grovetown. The proposed move would cut 15 Ivy Falls land parcels from the department, but only five of those have homes. That means $332 in annual money gone from the department's $145,179 budget.

In Appling, subscription money will be lost, but the department's budget can handle it, she said. Appling officials are projecting to take in $85,000 in subscription fees with a budget of $80,000. Under the proposal, the department would lose 32 fees worth a combined total $4,495 annually, she said.

And the change doesn't sit well with County Commissioner Mark Devoti, whose district includes the Grovetown area. He said the number of homes taken from Grovetown's subscriber rolls may be small now, but could swell in the future.

"Just because Martinez builds a station out there, we're just going to move the lines?" he said. "I don't think so."

The proposed line change goes before commissioners at their meeting Tuesday night in Evans.