By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Chiefland has witnessed numerous attempts by business groups over the years to build a hospital in town that would serve the Tri-county area. Every attempt was a disappointment.
But there is new hope.
On Monday, Chiefland City Commissioners agreed to send a letter of support to the Nature Coast Business Development Council of Levy County endorsing a plan by a cardiologist to bring a 10-bed hospital to Chiefland.
The hospital would be located in the former HPH Hospice facility in south Chiefland across the street from the Levy County Tax Collector’s Office. The plan is to open a clinic in October and a hospital in three years.
There would be a surgical suite and certain specialists, according to Dave Pieklik, executive director of the business development council. He said about 40 would be employed by the facility.
Pieklik said the unnamed cardiologist is working to secure a loan through USDA which would allow the hospital to open much sooner.
Stay tuned.
Fire Assessment?
Adopting a property assessment to help fund fire services in Chiefland isn’t a new idea, but city commissioners agreed it was worth taking a second look.
City commissioners abandoned the idea of adopting a fire assessment in 2011 after looking at the amount of money it would generate and realizing it wouldn’t work.
City Commissioner Rollin Hudson and Mayor Chris Jones listen to the discussion about the fire tax.
Fire Chief James Harris brought back the idea. While it was greeted cautiously, commissioners said they were willing to see what City Attorney Blake Fugate could prepare for them with his preliminary research.
Fugate, substituting for his Dad, City Attorney Norm Fugate, said he would work with Mary Ellzey and Harris on researching how the fire assessment would be structured. His information would include how homes, businesses and vacant property would taxed.
A fire assessment isn’t a tax, but it is assessed against property and would appear on the property tax bill. Most property owners in the city would pay the fire tax.
The city fire department has struggled for years to purchase big ticket items like fire trucks with a limited budget.
Roughly half the city fire budget is funded by property tax dollars from Chiefland residents and the other half by the Levy County Commission’s fire tax levied in unincorporated areas of the county.
The estimated cost of conducting a fire assessment study would be in the neighborhood of $25,000 plus an additional $20,000 for legal services. Harris said he has the funding available in his fire department cash reserves.
Harris encouraged commissioners to continue the city’s relationship with the county but to investigate whether the city fire budget could be supplemented by a city fire tax.
Fire Chief James Harris makes his case for a fire tax.
The fire chief wants to keep the city’s relationship with the county on a friendly basis. He said the county is in the same situation as the city fire department. It lacks adequate funding for fire services.
The county uses its fire tax in unincorporated rural areas to contract with cities to fight fires outside municipal boundaries. The city fights more fires in rural areas than in the city limits.
Fire Grants
Commissioners gave Harris the green light to apply for a $36,000 Florida Forest Service Volunteer Assistance Grant to purchase five firefighter breathing units.
He was also given authority to use a Florida Forest Service Volunteer Fire Assistance Grant to purchase hoses and nozzles to replace current equipment before it is inoperable, and lithium batteries for the breathing packs.
The cost of the hoses and nozzles is about $4,100 with half the money coming from the grant and the other half from money raised by Chiefland Billiards owner Chuck Strange and his customers in a fundraiser.
The total cost to the fire department for all the equipment was $767.75 due to the use of grant money and donated funds.
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City of Chiefland Regular Meeting August 26, 2019; Posted August 26, 2019
