County votes to hire consultant for new fire department

County votes to hire consultant for new fire department News Staff Tue, 02/06/2024 - 20:26 Image

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Discussions continued at a recent Titus County commissioners court regarding the creation of a new fire department in Titus County.

Commissioners received two proposals in response to a call for hiring a consultant to assist in establishing the department.

Back in December 2023, commissioners voted to create its own fire department and hire a consultant to assist with that creation; this followed a vote to stop contract negotiations with the City of Mount Pleasant to continue utilizing its fire department; that contract ends in October.

A proposal from Solomon Safety quoted $2,633, while another from Fire Chief Solutions quoted $56,000.

“The one from the Fire Chiefs Solutions had a plan,” County Judge Kent Cooper said. “Not necessarily something planned, but a preview to what they would wanna do and how they’d wanna do it.”

Cooper said that the $2,633 proposal from Solomon Safety wasn’t “adequate money to do what we’re asking them to do.”

Fire Chief Solutions is led by Greg Lloyd, and according to his proposal, has worked in fire service and emergency service delivery business for thirty years.

“We gotta have someone with the knowledge he has to get this thing rolling, because we’re running out of time every month it goes by,” Commissioner Joe D. Mitchell said of Fire Chief Solutions.

“We’ve got to do something to move forward. We do not have a fire contract. It will go out in October. We keep pushing this down the road, and pushing this down the road, and you’re not going to be able to get a fire department together,” Cooper said. “Then you’re going to leave the county without fire protection.” Commissioner Mitchell made a motion to hire the consultant at Fire Chief Solutions for $56,000. It was approved, 3-1.