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Mayor says Gaston County issued ultimatum over Lowell City volunteer fire department
Summary
Lowell's mayor called an emergency meeting without a quorum to tell the public that the Gaston County Board of Commissioners has given the city's fire chief 30 days to sign a contract or the county will replace the volunteer department; council members disagreed on whether to continue the meeting and whether to take actions such as banning an individual from city property.
The mayor of Lowell City called an emergency meeting to order and told the public that the Gaston County Board of Commissioners had given the city's fire chief 30 days to sign a contract, warning that if the chief did not sign the deal the county could remove or replace the city's volunteer fire department.
"Either he signs the contract. If he doesn't sign the contract, they'll get rid of the fire department as it is now and put their own people," the mayor said, adding that volunteers had agreed to return service to the city if the council would vote to accept them.
The statement came despite the meeting lacking a quorum, which several council members noted. The mayor said he was calling the meeting "to explain to the public as mayor why I call this meeting" and would speak on behalf of the city even though formal votes could not be taken.
Why it matters: The mayor described an ongoing funding dispute and what he characterized as county pressure that could affect who provides fire protection in parts of Lowell City. He said the city levies an approximately 11.5-cent fire tax, which he estimated equated to about $780,000 on a 2024 basis, and said the county provided roughly $600,000 last year; the mayor's figures were spoken on the record and some numbers in the transcript were approximate or unclear.
Council members pushed back on process and optics. One council member said it was not appropriate to carry on a public, decision-like discussion without a quorum and recommended the clerk leave to avoid giving the impression of an official meeting. "There is no meeting. Don't turn the cameras off," another council member said in the exchange, while others argued the mayor should be allowed to speak publicly about the issue.
The transcript records a suggestion from a council member that staff examine banning a named individual from city property except for attendance at official meetings; the record does not show any formal motion, vote or legal determination on that request.
No formal action or vote was recorded. The mayor urged the council to vote to accept the volunteer fire department if the members wish to bring it back under city service; council members indicated further procedural steps would be needed and that staff should advise on authority and costs, including potential city attorney billable hours.
The meeting included repeated procedural disagreement about whether to keep the livestream cameras on while officials debated how to proceed without a quorum. The record ends with participants discussing options and no formal council decision.
Provenance: Topic first appears when the mayor calls the meeting to order and begins describing the fire department funding dispute (SEG 094). The last related remarks in the transcript occur as council members debate procedural steps and possible facility restrictions (SEG 231).
Speakers quoted or referenced in this article are listed in the meeting's speaker roster and are identified by role because no full names were self-identified in the transcript. Quotes are attributed to those role labels.
