Related stories: Robocalls stir pot while fire-rescue talks simmer | Editor's Note
By Dan Moffett
Six coastal municipalities are joining forces to explore forming a barrier island fire district that could reduce rising costs, improve response times and sever dependence on mainland governments.
The proposed district would stretch roughly 18 miles from South Palm Beach on the north to Highland Beach on the south and include Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes and Gulf Stream.
The six municipalities, which total some 10,000 residents, currently have individual contracts for fire-rescue service with Palm Beach County, Boynton Beach or Delray Beach. The cost of those contracts has increased steadily over the last decade, and talk among officials in Boynton and Delray about consolidating their departments with the county is raising new concerns about future coverage for the A1A communities.
Gulf Stream Vice Mayor Robert Ganger says the possibility that Delray might stop providing service to his town, and also Highland Beach, is a “profound shift” that the island municipalities cannot ignore.
“Delray continues to pursue shifting fire-rescue to the county, and now it appears Boynton is doing the same thing,” Ganger said. “We really can’t afford to sit back and see what happens.”
Ganger and Gulf Stream Town Manager William Thrasher are leading an initiative exploring the feasibility of a barrier island district. On Sept. 17, representatives of the six municipalities met in Gulf Stream and agreed to contribute toward a study, if the cost is right.
Thrasher is hoping the study costs $100,000 or less, and he expects as many as a half-dozen vendors to bid. If the price is too high, he allows that the coalition may splinter.
Deadline for submitting proposals is Oct. 30, when the bids are scheduled to be opened at 11 a.m. in the Gulf Stream Town Hall.
“In my heart of hearts, I have a strong belief that this is the thing the barrier islands need to do for their residents,” Thrasher said. “There’s going to come a point in time when the barrier islands are going to have to fend for themselves.”
While there is wide support for getting more information, there are no illusions about the potentially long road ahead. If the feasibility study itself proves feasible, then it will take several months to complete and dissect the report, then months more to build a consensus that a district makes sense, or that it doesn’t. If one does, it could be years before the administrative, legislative, legal, financial and political details get worked out.
Creating the infrastructure is a formidable chore in itself. The northern and southern ends of the proposed district would have the fire stations currently serving Manalapan and Highland Beach, but there’s nothing in the middle. Gulf Stream has proposed a plan to build a station on a vacant lot next to the Briny Breezes Town Hall, and Thrasher has said his town is willing to pay for hiring an architect to do a rendering, so officials can see if the site can accommodate the structure.
“I don’t see any objection to a no-cost, no-obligation rendering,” said Sue Thaler, president of the Briny Town Council.
Thrasher says Gulf Stream is willing to help Briny get a station built, if the town and its corporation are onboard. That could mean getting grants, Thrasher said, or working with the group of municipalities to get financing.
“This has to be a team effort,” Thrasher said.
But for right now, the first step of a very long journey is to get more information, he says. In Ocean Ridge, commissioners have voiced their support for contributing to the study, expressing a belief that, if nothing else, moving forward gives the town more leverage in negotiating with Boynton Beach.
“It will send a signal to Boynton that we are willing to look at other options,” said Commissioner James Bonfiglio.
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