Kendall County commissioners discuss paid staffing options to bolster volunteer fire response

KENDALL COUNTY, Texas — Kendall County leaders spent a May 12 special-called workshop reviewing proposals to add paid firefighters to supplement volunteer departments in Comfort and Bergheim, weighing legal, budget and operational questions while stopping short of any final votes.

The county’s presiding official, County Judge (name not specified), opened the session by describing three central questions: whether the county should hire full- or part-time personnel, where they would be stationed and whether they would be embedded with volunteer departments or placed on county property.

The workshop gathered proposals from Bergheim and Comfort volunteer departments and a county proposal drafted by the judge and county staff. Bergheim asked the court to fund two full-time-equivalent positions by hiring part-time certified firefighters to cover 24/7 shifts; the Bergheim presentation estimated the ramp-up could use about $143,000 already budgeted for that district. Comfort submitted three options ranging from one full-time officer to three full-time supervisory positions; its preferred plan called for three officers working 48/96 shifts to supervise existing…