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Board backs multi-part fire and rescue study; chiefs press fleet and retention concerns
Summary
Frederick County supervisors agreed by consensus to seek an outside study addressing revenue/expense sharing, fleet maintenance, and recruitment/retention for the county’s hybrid volunteer/career fire and rescue system, with an estimated combined cost near $140,000–$150,000 and Supervisor Jewell appointed as liaison.
At its March 26 meeting the Frederick County Board of Supervisors reached consensus to pursue a multi-part outside review of the county’s fire and rescue system addressing revenue and expense sharing, fleet maintenance, and recruitment and retention.
Why it matters: supervisors and fire chiefs said the county’s hybrid volunteer/career emergency response system has aging apparatus, rising maintenance costs, and recruitment and retention challenges that could raise long-term costs or impair response capacity.
County staff presented three typical cost estimates based on averages from similar studies: a full-scale fire-and-rescue operational study near $86,000; a revenue-and-expense analysis around $37,000; and fleet-consulting work about $70,000. Staff advised the board that combining scopes would reduce duplication and that a realistic combined cost for the chiefs’ recommended package (revenue/expense, fleet, retention work) would be in the neighborhood of $140,000–$150,000.
Don Jackson, representing the volunteer chiefs’ work group, and Chief Myshak described maintenance as a pressing issue. Jackson said his company spent about $40,000 in two months on ambulance maintenance and that some apparatus date back decades. The chiefs recommended a system‑level look at vehicle replacement, maintenance models and revenue recovery options, together with recruitment and retention incentives for both career and volunteer members.
County staff and supervisors stressed avoiding redundant work: staff said the county conducted a full salary survey several years ago and maintains ongoing mini-surveys of pay; supervisors asked staff to leverage that work rather than redoing it wholly.
The board’s decisions and next steps: supervisors agreed they would proceed with the three study components recommended by the chiefs — revenue/expense, fleet maintenance, and a recruitment/retention analysis — while asking staff to first verify existing salary-survey data and to scope the retention piece so it adds new ideas rather than duplicating prior work. Supervisor Jewell was selected as the board’s liaison to the effort.
Ending: Staff will draft RFP language and return to the board with refined cost estimates and a recommended procurement approach that avoids redundant study work.
