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In an exciting development for Bulloch County, Georgia, the Board of Commissioners has finalized a sales agreement with a local property owner to establish a new headquarters for the county’s fire department. This move is a strategic step towards enhancing emergency services in the area.
The site, encompassing roughly five acres, already features an 8,000-square-foot building, providing a solid foundation for the fire department’s future operations. The property is strategically situated on U.S. Highway 301, a location chosen not merely for the area’s residential expansion but due to its critical location near major traffic routes.
“Our decision was greatly influenced by the significant traffic flow on I-16,” explained David Bennett, chairman of the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners. “With the anticipated growth along the interstate, it’s clear that traffic will increase, making this location ideal for quick emergency response times.”
The expansive size of the site further supported the county’s decision, offering room for future growth and development of the fire department’s facilities. This planned headquarters marks a pivotal investment in public safety and infrastructure as the community continues to evolve.
The size of the location was also a contributing factor in the decision.
“The other thing that’s going on is our fire service has grown, and it’s going to continue to grow so that we can provide service for everybody in the county.”
Bennett added that renovating this current structure into a fire station is cheaper than a full build-out.
“The estimates that we got last year were about $575 a square foot to build a fire station,” he said. “We had the opportunity to buy a building that meets our needs, not just for a fire station in that area, but it provides for us to grow with that.”
Bennett detailed all the plans for the headquarters.
“We can have a fire station, an EMS station, a training facility and a logistics facility, and we got it for $1.75 million.”
Bennett said the county’s training facility would move from its current home in Brooklet to this new property. Supplies would also be stored at this new facility once the sale is finalized.
Move-in is expected to be imminent.
“As soon as we secure the property, they’ll begin to move logistics, equipment and storage stuff out to that site. Initially, what will happen is that the station will be an unmanned fire station, so there will be a fire apparatus there, but it won’t be manned 24 hours a day.”
Bennett says long-term plans include full staffing at this station.
“Managing a station 24 hours a day for an engine company, it’s cost-prohibitive,” he said. I mean, you’re looking at probably half a million dollars a year just to man it 24 hours a day. Right now, quite frankly, until we get some more funds into our fire department through an increase in the tax digest, we’re going to wait before we do that.”
Bennett hopes to have full-time Fire and EMS staff at this station within three to five years.
The county said it plans to purchase this property using a bond.
“I would guess 60 to 90 days before we can get all the bond stuff in place, and then what will happen is we’ll use funds from the [Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST] that was passed last March that was dedicated or allocated to public safety projects to pay for this,” Bennett said. We’re going to pay for it with a one-cent sales tax.”
Bennett said this decision will not change your taxes.
“I know there’s been a lot of concerns about the purchase of this property and an increase in property taxes,” he said. “I want folks to understand that with this, we’re not using money from the general fund, which is where your property taxes go to pay for this…We felt like being a good steward of the tax dollars.”
He added, “The best thing to do was to take out a bond so that we could use that splashed money as it comes in to pay off this fire station so that it wouldn’t be a burden on the local population’s property taxes.”