Dollars make cents, and the Town of Lake Waccamaw is doing its best to improve funds after amendments were made to the new fiscal year budget at Tuesday night’s Town Hall meeting. Leaders are working towards solutions for long-term viability of EMS and fire services in the area and are currently trying to negotiate a possible contract with the county to maintain emergency efforts in Lake Waccamaw.
At January’s meeting, Commissioner Curtis Andrews made a motion to end transport services within 30 days and to look into the long-term sustainability of EMS services. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Karl Bracey, carrying unanimously.
After tentatively setting a budget workshop retreat for March 21 at the Lake Waccamaw State Park at last night’s gathering, leaders jumped into an honest discussion about amendments to the upcoming fiscal year’s expenses.
“I know everybody hates hearing this word, but I’m going to say it. For the transparency for the people, I want people to understand that this budget for the year so far is going to be almost $950,000 over budget,” expressed Lynn Hinnant. “That’s what we are dealing with so far.”
After the finance and town manager’s reports, the board went into a closed session to talk about what measures they could take to ensure services continued within reason in the municipality.
No action was taken during that time, but Mayor Pro Tem Terry Littrell made a practical motion that may help the board come to a better decision about the future of EMS and fire services in Lake Waccamaw.
“Our existing contract includes both fire and other emergency services, including EMS, which means that we have to renegotiate the existing contract as soon as possible,” emphasized Littrell. “For that reason, pursuant to the existing contract, I move that the Town, effective immediately, give the county the required 90 calendar days’ notice in order to renegotiate the contract to either modify it to two separate contracts, one for fire and a separate one to cover EMS Services, or to enter into a new contract that will effectively cover both fire and EMS under new terms.”
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