OVFD gets raise

The Olney Volunteer Fire Department was awarded $25,000 from Young County’s share of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for new equipment and is in line for an increase in the amount the county pays it each year to fight fires.

The commissioners heard a budget presentation from OVFD at its Aug. 8 meeting, in which Assistant Fire Chief Kenley Lane requested an increase in its county contract to $25,000 from $20,000. Mr. Lane also requested $25,000 from the ARPA funds to offset rising equipment and repair costs and to purchase new equipment.

“We would like to see an increase in our yearly contribution from the county to $25,000 due to … high costs of everything,” Mr. Lane said. “We would like to ask for a check for $25,000 to help us with items we need to purchase that we have not been able to with our funds having been depleted. A list of these items we need to purchase to help support our community is things like a battery-powered fan, an electric car fire blanket, a battery-powered chain saw, a phone and some pagers and hand-held radios.”

The 28-member, all-volunteer fire department has had 121 calls in 2022, as of Aug. 2 – an increase of about 20 percent over the past five or six years, he said. The County has not increased the amount it pays OVFD for its services since 2012, he said.

The commissioners have tentatively budgeted an increase in Olney’s service fee to $25,000 in the county’s 2023 fiscal year, which begins in October, Precinct 3 Commissioner Stacey Rogers said.

“We have it penciled in,” he said. “It’s pretty much a done deal.” The county will finalize its budget Sept. 1.

“An increase in yearly contract has been needed for several years,” Mr. Rogers said. “As we all know, equipment, tires and fuel have all increased and with additional calls from fires this year, it’s money needed.”