By Paige Gurgainers
In an effort to fund replacement of some outdated equipment, City of Minden Fire Chief Brian Williams requested Webster Parish Police Jurors pay a stipend of $5K to the department on an annual basis.
“As a public body we are always trying to look at ways to save money and stretch our dollars,” Williams said . “Since I have taken over as fire chief, what I have looked at is trying to fit within the budget the city gives me and how I can adjust money.”
For more than 25 years, the parish has been providing a stipend to the City of Minden and City of Springhill for their rescue squads.
“Over 25 years ago, they were the only two departments in the parish that ran rescue for the entire parish and that’s why it was done,” Williams explained.
When it began it was $25 a month totaling $300 per year.
According to Williams, it now costs $500 per call which includes overtime payroll for paid firefighters, volunteers, fuel, maintenance, etc. The equipment required to run rescue calls runs anywhere from $7K to $20K.
In 2023 the City of Minden ran 28 rescue calls within the city limits and 32 outside of the city limits. Williams said, “That is $16K to run calls that the city has no obligation to provide.”
As far as fire calls, the City of Minden Fire Department ran 288 within the city limits and 61 outside of the city with this totaling $32K in expenses to the department.
“Obviously, we are not going to stop providing any services to anybody,” Williams reassured the jury. “We are just looking to find ways to shore up some of the problems we are having with equipment.”
Since the smaller departments within the parish do not operate with a full, paid staff and most do not own the required equipment, the City of Minden Fire Department runs rescue calls for everything south of Cotton Valley. The City of Springhill Fire Departments answers everything north of Highway 160.
Noting this, WPPJ Jim Bonsall made a point that if the jury decided to agree to pay the City of Minden Fire Department this amount, that other fire departments would also ask them to consider paying them, as well.
Williams said they very well could, but the jury has never paid them and the City of Minden and Springhill are the two largest departments with Minden being the only fully staffed, paid department with rescue tools.
Williams is researching other revenue streams one of which includes auto insurance. In the past, if a fire department answered a call for rescue or vehicular fire, the department could charge the insurance up to $500. In recent years, that law has been changed due to double taxation.
Another option, although an unpopular one, would be to consider asking the individual fire districts to pay a certain amount to the City of Minden per call, but Williams thinks that may go over as well as the request made by Webster Parish 911 in recent years to have the fire districts pay them for dispatch.
No decision has been made at this time regarding the $5K stipend, but Williams said he is continuously looking into grants that may cover equipment or offset costs of the department and will explore other options.