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Volunteers set to join county fire rescue
By JAMES THORNER, Times Staff Writer LAND O'LAKES -- The Land O'Lakes Volunteer Fire Department has tentatively agreed to merge with Pasco County Fire Rescue, ending more than 40 years of independence. Word of the merger agreement came from Pasco Fire Chief Anthony Lopinto, who said the consensus of the volunteer fire department's board of directors this week is that "they want to move forward with the merger." Harry Wright, the Land O'Lakes restaurateur who serves as spokesman for the volunteers, wouldn't confirm the news but promised a big announcement after the board meeting set for Monday. This is at least the third time the county has tried to merge with the 56-square-mile volunteer fire district. Two earlier attempts, which a majority of residents at the time considered hostile takeovers, ended in failure. Among the benefits of the merger for the volunteers: They will keep their station on Hale Road and get first dibs at paid firefighting jobs. The county will pick up the cost of volunteers' equipment and insurance. Lopinto said a final concession helped seal the deal: If the county no longer needs the station on Hale Road, the property would revert to community ownership. "Their whole attitude is changed," Lopinto said of the formerly resistant volunteers. "But nothing is set in stone until the board votes on it and the county commissioners endorse it." If the merger goes through, Land O'Lakes residents would stop paying the yearly $30 donation to the volunteers and become part of a county fire taxing district. Most Pasco residents pay a 1.54-mill fire tax, meaning a home assessed at $125,000, minus the $25,000 homeowners exemption, pays $154. But the county is planning to change the payment system by blending a per-home fee with a scaled-down property tax. The county insists that the volunteers, who have struggled for years with an unsteady roster now listed at 48, no longer can cover the fast-growing suburb by itself. Volunteers handled 1,700 calls last year. Then there's the issue of fairness: Pasco professionals already respond to medical emergency calls in Land O'Lakes and receive no fire taxes to offset the expense. Lopinto said volunteers will likely send a letter to the county formally asking to merge effective Oct. 1. Covering Land O'Lakes would require the county to hire 10 more firefighters and paramedics to outfit the two stations in the community, at State Road 54 and U.S. 41 and another next to the county jail on U.S. 41. Within the next couple of years, the county plans to move the SR 54 station to a new site near Collier Parkway. One possible location is county-owned land between the library and the Land O'Lakes Recreation Center.
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From the Times |
