John Willoughby: Greene Publishing, Inc.
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Lee town council gathered at Kinsley Hall to hold their monthly regular scheduled meeting to discuss multiple topics concerning the Town of Lee, and their community organizations; specifically including Lee Community Volunteer Fire Department (LCVFD) and three lift stations. In attendance were: Mayor Eddie Bell and council members Shirley vonRoden, Erika Robinson, Dianne Beck and Ronnie Bass. Others in attendance were Town Manager John Anderson and Deputy Clerk Courtney Bailey.
The meeting began with a word of prayer by County Commissioner Rick Davis and the pledge of allegiance. Leroy Rutherford, the acting fire chief and President of the Board for the LCVFD came before the council with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the issue that LCVFD was not listed, despite their truly active status.
As the MOU states, LCVFD is to have an “active” status volunteer fire department, duly qualified as a volunteer fire department with sufficient qualified firefighters to reasonably carry out its duties; which is all currently true within the department, according to Rutherford. “We are an all-volunteer department,” said Rutherford. “No pay.”
Rutherford's appearance before the council was vital because “the city council is a viable part [of LCVFD],” said Rutherford. The MOU was presented to Rutherford by the Fire Board on Thursday, Feb. 1, and it had struck him that LCVFD name was not included in the MOU. It was discovered that the reason for this was the world “community” had been left out of the official name of the volunteer fire department.
The MOU was drafted by County Attorney Tommy Reeves for all volunteer fire departments to look over. The purpose of the MOU is to make sure every volunteer fire department is up to date with the Florida State Fire College. The MOU is currently being looked over by the council for provisions and more will follow at the next regular scheduled meeting.
As acting fire chief, Rutherford hopes to coordinate and bring on new volunteer firefighters through the Florida State Fire College. As Rutherford discussed, there are already five new people wanting to join. LCVFD announced their monthly meetings every second Tuesday of each month. The meeting is open to the public and anyone who would like to become a member. LCVFD is also seeking potential members to become firefighters. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will be held at LCVFD, located at 317 NE County Road 255, in Lee.
Town Manager John Anderson spoke on the issue of three pumps, two pumps being in section number three. Anderson expressed that one pump went out on Tuesday, Feb. 6 and was replaced on Friday, Feb. 9. The second pump was packed and sent for repair and the third pump “is not fixable,” said Anderson. The City of Madison stepped in, sending their vacuum trucks to pump the excess sewage out of the lift stations, allowing the lift stations to work; regardless of the broken pumps. “[The broken pumps] have no effect on the community,” said Anderson.
Sewage and wastewater lift stations are used for pumping wastewater or sewage from a lower to higher elevation, particularly where the elevation of the source is not sufficient for gravity flow and/or when the use of gravity conveyance will result in excessive excavation and higher construction costs.
The next regular scheduled meeting is planned for Tuesday, Mar. 6, beginning at 7 p.m. Kinsley Hall is located at 286 County Road 255, in Lee.