County: Pinewood VFD to close Dec. 2
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 19, 2014 1:46 PM
The Pinewood Fire Department will close its doors on Dec. 2, the victim of a shrinking service district that carried with it a reduction in the tax revenues the department needed to operate.
But while the department is closing, Wayne County commissioners Tuesday said the name should be kept alive and a way found to pay tribute to the many volunteers who have given so much to the community over the department's 55-year history.
The county has known for nearly a year that the department would close, and Tuesday commissioners unanimously approved the dissolution agreement to move that process along.
Volunteer fire departments like Pinewood are independent nonprofit corporations that the county contracts with to provide fire protection.
Pinewood was formed in 1958 and was incorporated in April 1959, commission Chairman Wayne Aycock said.
Each department has a district for which the county approves a tax rate. A 2013 study of the county's fire departments conducted by Pennsylvania-based Volunteer Fire Insurance Services noted that Pinewood's service area had shrunk because of annexation by Goldsboro, resulting in the loss of tax revenues.
As part of the agreement approved Tuesday, the county will assume all of the department's debts and assets.
County Manager George Wood said the department has $254,202.65 in debt, but also has a $87,201.47 bank balance.
The property has a tax value of $167,460. The closing on the real estate will be completed by Nov. 26.
The county will continue to use the building to stage an EMS unit.
The department's equipment, which includes three trucks, will be appraised and sold at auction.
Wayne County fire departments will have first choice on the equipment when the auction is held at the fire station.
Any equipment not sold will be sold during a public auction or possibly posted on govdeals.com.
Commissioners said they were saddened by the closure.
The area now served by Pinewood will be divided among the Belfast, Elroy, New Hope, Patetown and Saulston fire departments.
The proposal has been discussed with the departments, and all have agreed to the arrangement, Wood said.