Commissioners: Midway will have to pay for Liberty County fire coverage

The Liberty County Board of Commissioners has named a tentative price for extending full fire protection to the City of Midway over the next 5 years.

Commissioners authorized County Manager Joey Brown to bring the proposal to the City of Midway as negotiations continue. 

Under the proposal, which mirrors the presentation made Sept. 9 to Midway’s City Council, the city would contract with the county for a total of $5,852,464.48 over a five-year contract. The annual price would start out lower, then increase as a new station and full staffing came online.

Midway “would have to come up with some kind of tax or fee or something,” Brown said, adding,  “How they generate that money is going to be up to them.”

In a presentation at Thursday night’s meeting, Liberty County Fire and Emergency Services Chief Brian Darby explained Midway may lose its state fire services certification, and that county firefighters have been running priority and other calls “for some time.” 

At Midway’s request, the county is considering taking over fire service within the city limits under a proposed 5-year contract. The county would temporarily house some firefighters at the Miller Park Station on Highway 84 until a new station could be built “on (Highway) 17 South near the Barrington Ferry area,” Darby said. 

Although one of Midway’s 2 engines might still be usable, Darby said, the county would still need to order a new one, but pointed out, “I’m not coming in saying the Board of Commissioners is here to eat 100% of this cost.”

What it could cost Midway

County Manager Joey Brown made it clear the county wasn’t going to foot the city’s bill.

“There is no part of this that is not subsidized or paid for (by Midway), in theory, if the board even wants to move forward with this,” Brown said. “This is why it’s before you tonight to see if there’s a next step involved. But this…would be a contract. It would run for the City of Midway, and they would pay 100% of the cost, of the equipment cost, the new FTEs (full-time firefighters).”

Because the county is still trying to provide service to areas of unincorporated Liberty County, having the county pay for the city’s fire service would “pull away from your mission,” Brown said, adding, “My recommendation is, if you enter a contract with them or anybody else, they need to pay their share of the costs.”

Darby laid out estimates for each of the 5 years it would take to get a new fire station up and running:

Year 1 ($814,174.89)

In 2025, the city would pay an estimated $439,506 in salaries and benefits; $109,655 for operations; $210,000 in startup costs (for example, necessary equipment), and indirect costs of $54,447.89.

Year 2 ($825,482.33)

In 2026 (and following years), salaries and benefits would increase as more firefighters and lieutenants are hired to fill shifts around the clock, and no further startup costs would apply. However, the city would need to invest $200,000 per year from 2026 through 2029, for a total of $800,000. In 2026, salaries would cost an estimated $461,481.30; operations would be at $107,139; and indirect costs are estimated at $56,862.03. Capital costs are estimated at $200,000.

Year 3 ($1,304,727.29)

In 2027, estimated costs would include salaries and benefits at $679,167; operations at $116,496; indirect costs at $79,566.30; and capital equipment at $200,000. In addition, the city would begin paying on a loan for a new fire station. Starting in 2027, and each year through 2029, Midway would pay $229.497.99 to build that fire station.

Year 4 ($1,348,489.14)

In 2028, the city would pay $713,125.35 in salaries and benefits; $122,320.80 for operations; $83,545 in indirect costs; $229,497.99 on the fire station loan; and $200,000 on capital equipment.

Year 5 ($1,559,590.83)

By 2029, the new fire station should be fully staffed, with $898,920 in salaries and benefits; $128,436.84 for operations; $102,736 in indirect costs; and final payments totaling $229,497.99 on the station loan and $200,000 on capital equipment.

‘Hypothetical’ cost-sharing 

Brown told commissioners the county could not keep running calls for Midway out of Miller Park, and that the new station would fill “a blank spot in our canvas, which is E.B. Cooper Highway, that we need to be able to get some coverage to. So if you locate a substation down that way in our plan, it would need to be in a place — not in the City of Midway, not in the City of Riceboro — without territorial envisions. It would need to be centrally located so that, hey, Midway shares, we may share in that station if approved, and oh, by the way, Riceboro may want to share in that as we look down the road.”

Brown later clarified that his suggestion for splitting the cost of a new fire station was “hypothetical.”

Commissioners Justin Frasier and Connie Thrift pointed out that the county had gathered city leaders years ago and asked them whether they wanted to go with county fire services, but that the cities chose to provide their own firefighters.

Brown pointed out that growth would happen along E.B. Cooper, “which is a blank area for us already. We know Riceboro, especially east of there, is going to see some growth. We know Midway is going to grow because water systems and stuff, and that station, and some point in time, it’s going to need to be put there by the commission. There is an ability to do that in the contract and get some sharing of that, especially the operational costs, because those cities are going to have a benefit.”

Frasier said local companies like International Paper (now D. S. Smith) ought to contribute: “I don’t know why we don’t reach out to these industries and ask them to help pay for some of this stuff.”

Brown said that was possible: “A lot of times, what happens in those areas, you see they’ll make one-time contributions, sometimes, from year to year to help with those things.”

Frasier replied, “They get tax breaks, so I’m just saying, ‘Have not because you asked not’.”

Darby pointed out that time is not on Midway’s side.

“We are playing a very dicey game right now,” Darby warned. “Something is going to have to give on one side or the other, and the commission has given enough. So I do think it is time for possibly the city to give, because we continue to handle these calls, and it starts affecting our response to the unincorporated citizens of Liberty County. It will affect their ISO, and that is not fair to those taxpaying citizens.”

The Current emailed Midway Mayor Levern Clancy and Mayor Pro Tempore Clemontine Washington for comment immediately after the meeting but had not gotten a response by late Friday. Midway’s City Council’s agenda for the Monday, Sept. 23 monthly work session at 6 p.m. includes an item on the Midway Volunteer Fire Department.