[Editor's Note: This is the second of a series of articles of a long Grant County special meeting on April 23, 2024.]

Article by Mary Alice Murphy

Following two presentations at the April 23, 2024 Grant County Commission special meeting, people were invited to testify on the Grant County Fire and Emergency Services Administrative Ordinance O-24-01. An ordinance providing for the administration of the County Fire Department.

Tom Wyatt (spelling?) of the Sapillo Volunteer Fire Department, after being sworn in by District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce, identified himself and said he had lived in the Lake Roberts area for the past four years. "I joined the volunteer fire department after they recruited me. I'm 77 with a bad knee, but I am trying to be beneficial in what they said they needed."

He said he had two concerns about the ordinance, one that he believed might cause unintentional consequences and the second that made him feel like het was like an ant trying to hold up a boulder to keep it falling down a cliff of unintended consequences.

He said when he started attending the meetings one thing that caught his attention was the whiteboard behind where the chief sits. It had the financial status of each account.

Within the past year, he said, the numbers went from pushing half a million dollars to down to maybe $30,000 or $40,000. "It seemed we had control of what we could do to protect our homes and our neighbors' homes from fire. After the numbers changed, it seems like the interest of the members deteriorated quite a bit. Now you have this thing you're considering. I see some value to what you're doing, but I'm not sure you understand the view of a small volunteer fire department."

Wyatt pointed out that the station is more than an hour from Silver City, and "we're in the middle of the forest. There aren't many people that live there to recruit from, so anything that you you can do to make this more engaging to become members of the volunteer fire department and do the training."

He said he is a dispatcher and he goes to as many meetings as he can. "But it seems the department lost its oomph when the money was taken away from us, as far as deciding what is best for our department. I'm not sure if you all are aware of that, but I wanted to make sure you knew about it, so you can put it into the consideration as you are making decisions on this ordinance."

The next speaker Midge Jolly, after being sworn in, said she is dispatcher No. 4, living at Lake Roberts. She said she had read the ordinance and sees the value in it for consistency and continuity for the Sapillo VFD and all the departments. "We are the most rural, at more than an hour from town, and 1 1/2 hours with snow. We don't have a lot of people to draw from."

She asked if the new fire chief would meet with the departments to learn how things work for each one. She then said she had a question about Article 4, where it says that the County Fire Chief will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of every VFD. She questioned how that would be possible with 8 stations and the distances between the stations. "It doesn't make sense to me."

And then with Article 8B, which she said made even less sense, she noted it said the department's chief is responsible for managing and supervising the day-to-day operations activities of their respective fire department. "How can nine people, the county fire chief and eight VFD chiefs all be responsible for day-to-day operations?"

Her next concern addressed the distance of the Sapillo VFD from other buildings that can be used for meetings. "We have our firehouse, which we use for all sorts of public meetings. It is the only public building within the boundaries of our fire district." She cited several regular uses of the building, including the homeowner's association, the water association meetings, and others.

Article 7 stipulates that the firehouse can be used only for the sole benefit of the individual fire department, and that fundraising activities must only benefit the department.

Jolly requested a second hearing where the concerns mentioned during the hearing would be addressed and explained to those impacted.

Ponce said: "It's the chain of command. Your department chief is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department, but he must communicate with the county fire chief, who is a county employee."

"It says nothing about chain of command in the ordinance," Jolly said. "Article 8B does not say 'under the supervision of the county fire chief.'"

Ponce said the issue is the same as what the commissioners have with the county manager, who supervises the department heads.

"I respectfully disagree," Jolly said.

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne had a question for Jolly. "It's about the cooperation with other entities. My understanding is that the purpose of Article 7 is to prevent fundraising in a county building for private groups. It's not stated clearly. My question for you is if it were stated that fundraising had to benefit only the fire department, but other public groups could use the firehouse as a meeting place, would that be acceptable? Is that correct, Madame County Manager?"

County Manager Charlene Webb said that is the main intent that fundraising benefit the fire station. "We also receive guidance from the State Fire Marshal's office on the use of equipment and buildings. We are discouraged from having activities that do not pertain to the operations of the fire department."

Webb explained that because of the rural nature of the county that exceptions have to be made and are done in other counties, for entities such as water associations, ditch associations. She said regulation doesn't stop with the county. "The state also holds us accountable, so we have to adhere to their guidance. I would also like to address another of Ms. Jolly's concerns and that is the one fire chief. We recently restructured this and this ordinance ties in very closely with the restructure of our departments. We had one employee prior, and he wore two hats and had the exact same responsibility. This was our intent to restructure, so you now have one individual who is the county fire chief, so he provides his attention to all of the fire department rather than being pulled into numerous different directions. So this was done with intent to improve the situation and provide you with the support and assistance that you very much deserve. I would also add the Chief Groves is just a month on the job, and it is his intent to visit every one of you personally and attend your meetings. And on another note I would like to congratulate you on raising your ISO. It was a huge increase and I think you are doing things very well."

Jolly asked permission to reply and received permission. "It was my experience when Mr. Villa was in charge that he was not involved in the day-to-day operational activities of our firehouse. That's where my concerns come from. That now that we follow these state edicts, we are a long way from Silver City, and this looks like more work for all the volunteers and we're stretched pretty thin as it is. I appreciate your efforts to address these questions because it seems that the part saying that the firehouses cannot be used is not a mandate, and because we are in a unique situation, with no other public buildings around, it makes sense for a written exception to be included. During other meetings, do not go into the bays at all, but stay solely in the kitchen, the bathroom and the meeting room."

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards said she had an open question on Article 4 A, where it says the county fire chief manages the day-to-day operational activities and then it does say it will be done in a collaborative partnership with the volunteer fire department chiefs. "So is the county fire chief just supervising the day-to-day activities or is the county employee accountable to everything that is happening on a day-to-day basis? So is he managing or supervising? I also understand the challenges that would occur should an emergency happen while another group is in the building. So should we stipulate that other agencies can use the firehouse, but only in the non-fire related areas?"

The public hearing closed and a motion was made to approve the ordinance for the purpose of discussion.

Browne recommended two "relatively easy changes to the wording. He suggested changing the word manage in Article 4 to supervise. His second suggestion was to change in Article 7 that fundraising would only be allowed to benefit the fire department.

On the issue of other meetings, Browne asked if it could be a blanket year's permission for an entity to hold meetings.

Webb answered that she wasn't sure, and there are a lot of other factors involved in changing the language.

Edwards noted that a lot of other areas of the state have places where the firehouse is the only public building, for example Hachita.

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings said he, too, had several questions, maybe as many as 20, but that will happen when one goes from what was not an ideal place with a fire chief that it was not his primary responsibility to having a fire chief who has the full responsibility. "So with respect to Mr. Villa, we had some well-run departments and others that had some real problems that needed to be taken care of. I'm glad that the two speakers saw some value in what we're doing. What I think I would like to see is rather than us sitting up here word-smithing the ordinance is what I would like is assurance from the manager and (county fire chief) Mr. Groves that some good communication will take place, with Mr. Groves going to their meetings. It seems to me there is a real link between a water association and a fire house. The fire department needs water. I think a lot of these issues can be addressed in policy when Mr. Groves learns their needs. You can't cover everything in an ordinance and we can always make changes."

Ponce said an ordinance is a working document and changes can be made.

With a some other discussion, including a commissioner saying the word sole could be removed from Article 7, commissioners approved the ordinance.

With no public input, the commissioners went into the budget hearing for the fiscal year 2025. They heard from elected officials as well as department heads giving input on their requests.

The next article will begin the budget hearing.

For previous articles, please visit https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/84311-grant-county-commission-holds-special-meeting-042324