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Danbury Volunteer Fire chief urges commissioners to keep $14,500 in budget for station planning
Summary
Jeff Whitaker, chief of the Denver Volunteer Fire Department, asked the board to retain a $14,500 line to pay for station drawings and a planning budget so the department can pursue grants and other capital funding for a new Danbury station.
Jeff Whitaker, chief of the Denver Volunteer Fire Department, asked the Stokes County Board of Commissioners to leave $14,500 in the proposed 2026–27 budget to fund planning and drawings for a new Danbury fire station, saying the department needs a design and a budget to pursue grants and state funding.
Whitaker described the existing Danbury station as converted from a 100-year-old store and said one bay is too small for modern fire apparatus. He said the requested $14,500 would fund initial design work and allow the department to seek USDA rural development grants or other capital funding. “Please leave the 14,500 in for Danbury this year,” he told commissioners.
Whitaker said previous capital outlays for his department date to 2019, noted the aging fleet and limited space for new apparatus, and invited commissioners to tour the station to see the need firsthand. He described prior informal assistance from a contractor that produced a preliminary sketch and confirmed that a drawing and budget are typically required to start formal funding conversations with state and federal grantmakers.
The presentation occurred during the public hearing on the proposed county budget; the transcript records the request and the rationale but does not show a final vote or budget action recorded in the meeting transcript.
