City recommends extension of current fire, EMS agreement – Douglas County Sentinel: News

Douglasville City Council members voted in favor Monday of extending the current intergovernmental agreement the city has with the county for fire and EMS services.

According to City Manager Bill Osborne, city and county government officials are continuing to work on a new fire services agreement. The current agreement expires on Aug. 31 so the city is asking the Douglas County Board of Commissioners for a 60-day extension on the current agreement. The BOC is expected to vote on whether to extend the agreement Tuesday.

The 25-year agreement was entered on Sept. 1, 1987 and has since been extended for two six-month periods. The extensions were granted so that any new long-term agreement could be part of the new Service Delivery Strategy plan the two governments are currently working on. The deadline to complete the work on the SDS plan is Sept. 30 so the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and the Atlanta Regional Commission can review it for any required revisions to be made before the final deadline of Oct. 31.

While consolidating fire and EMS services makes financial sense to both governments, coming up with the details of the agreement haven’t been so easy. One issue involved the cash the county wants the city to pay for the purchase of equipment. But before forking over the cash, the city would like to get a dollar-for-dollar value for the money it would be providing.

via City recommends extension of current fire, EMS agreement – Douglas County Sentinel: News.