Board restores funding to Woodway fire station after chiefs say they were not notified of cuts

Lee County Board of Supervisors voted during an April budget workshop to restore supplemental funding for the Woodway fire station after county and volunteer chiefs said they had not been notified when funding was cut earlier in the budget cycle.

Why it matters: Fire chiefs said the cuts left some stations unable to cover truck payments and utilities and that losing a local station can raise homeowners’ insurance rates and affect emergency response times. The board approved short‑term funding and asked staff to develop criteria that would guide any future station‑level allocations.

Brian Skidmore, who identified himself as "Brian Skidmore, fire chief, Yankee Gap," told the board he based his department’s budget on receiving full station allocations and that the county’s reduction left him unable to cover existing commitments. "Our money's already spent, have a truck payment, have utilities for Station 2," Skidmore said, adding that he was not notified when the county reduced funding. "I was not notified of this."

The board discussed whether station funding should be tied to objective criteria such as an assigned complement of members, on‑site trucks or equipment, and minimum response coverage. "If you're gonna fund by station, then you need to have criteria that dictates exactly what that constitutes," one supervisor said during debate.

Mike Twigg, chief of Jonesville Fire Department, described countywide pressure on rescue squads and urged supervisors to consider how reallocations would affect other providers. "The rescue squads are in critical condition right now financially," Twigg said, warning that losing coverage in one area would strain neighboring squads.

The board’s action restored the immediate supplemental allocation for Woodway (an $8,500 supplement for the current fiscal year) and authorized staff and board members to draft station‑funding criteria for consideration before making recurring commitments to other stations. The board left final funding for Saint Charles (Station 3) unresolved, with one member proposing a short-term arrangement through June 30 while criteria are developed.

What’s next: The board directed county staff and volunteer chiefs to produce a list of inventory and to return with proposed criteria and recommended allocations in a future meeting. The board did not endorse a permanent funding formula during this session.

Provenance: Coverage of this decision and the related debate appears in the meeting transcript beginning when fire and EMS representatives were introduced and spoke about station funding (topicintro: SEG 042) through the motion and subsequent board votes and discussion of criteria (topfinish: SEG 931).