Why a Fire Fee is Needed Now for Monongalia County
Monongalia County is probably the fastest growing county in the State of West Virginia. We have seen incredible development in just the last six months and it continues to grow with no end in sight.
Recently
Forbes Magazine ranked Morgantown in its Top 5 places to do business and
Inc. Magazine followed with a number 12 ranking. Forecasts even predict an estimated 1800 jobs being added to the Monongalia County workforce each year for the next 5 years. With advertising like this that number could easily increase.
Just jobs alone are expected to add 9000 more people to the population in these next 5 years. If we consider that many of these workers will have families we can easily double that number. In addition WVU continues to break enrollment numbers each year. These amazing numbers are great for Monongalia County. However, with increased population also comes an increase in other statistics. Reasonably if the population grows so will the work load for emergency services.
Volunteer Fire Departments offer our citizens much more than a quick response to a burning home or business. V.F.D.'s offer search and rescue, first aid, and countless other services to their communities. Often they are the glue that holds a community together.
V.F.D.'s offer holiday programs to their communities. They provide a center for community meetings, and most importantly they house our neighbors who are willing to risk their very lives to save ours. They are unique and special people who hold jobs to support their families, send their kids to school with ours, and may sit beside us in church.
The real difference is that if the call comes many will leave their families, jobs, and church to fight to save a life.
As this County continues to grow we need to provide the Volunteer Fire Departments with the tools they need to continue to save lives. The fire fee is such a tool to help in these endeveavors.
It is in the best interest for the citizens of Monongalia County to establish a fire fee to insure funding is available for equipment, training, and deployment of services to those who need assistance in an emergency.
Too often our government waits until a crisis occurs before taking action. By acting now on this issue Monongalia County can be on track with being able to handle the increased population and the demands it will place on our first responders.
