Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-03-09

dealing with the problem OF the city
furnishing fire protection TO SGbur-
ban areas. II follows, IN full:
Without any attempt to enter INTO
anv controversy with the county
commissioners as to whether or not
1hey believe their offer is talr, be-
cause, being honorable gentlemen, l
am sure they would not make an
offer they aid not believe was far.
But il SO happens that they are max
ing this offer based upon very false
assumption Of the cost OF operating
a fire department.
would like, therefore, to cite some
figures 10 the citizens living III town
an dtnoSe living out OF town with
the thought that this will allow each
one to determine in his own mlnd
whether the clty's position or the
county'S position is the correct one.
And 1 might add that these figures
were taken from the city budget, the
city tax BOOKS and the county tax
books, ali OF which are open to m
specuon and can be readily verified
Not counting the cost OF deprecla-
ton on our equipment at one cent tor
the past year, IL has cost the IAN
PAYERS over Sl00 each time the fire
TRUCKS have lett the fire station dur
ing the past fiscal year. And this Is
approximately the same cost OF an
swering an alarm which has existed
for the past ten years costing $500
yearly.
Iaele is within the corporate limits
of the city OF Henderson $685., III
of real and personal property, as
shown by the city tax books. The
county'S tax BOOKS shows the value
OF the real ana personal property in
Henderson township 10 be ST. ,502,-
925, and deducting the $685., III Of
property included in this total which
lies within the corporate limits we
find S4,9l5,l89 OF property to be pro-
Vlded fire protection IN Henderson
township Should the city and county
reach an agreement on fire protec-
ton. In addition, that is approximate
~ s5.o0G,000 OF other property il the
county which would also be protect
cd TO some extent, as protection
would not stop with Henderson
township.
y glance at these figures will show
that the county IS Offering 10 pei
cent of the cost OF operating the de-
partment, without offering anything.
Tor depreciation Vi the equipment, ana
would and fox this 10 percent of the
cost expect protection tor rs percent
Of as much property as is protected
in the city limits. And this does not
include protection which would bel
fu!rn Shei to property outside Of
Henderson township, and il this were
Included the county would be re-
ceiving protection for twice as much
property as is in the city of Hender-
cent Of the cost.
Much has been said about fire hy-
drantS not being as numerous out of
town as in town, this is true. but most
Of the fires. in fact over 90 percent
Of them, are never fought from al
hydrant. but only by means OF the |
l50-gallon booster tank on each
truck. and on 90 percent of the fires
can be put out without a hydrant, |
and in event that the particular fire
could not be put out with the booster |
tank at least the fire could be pre-
vented from spreading to other build
ings.
In addition, should this agreement
be reached by the county and city
concerning fire protection when the
city extends its water mains it will |
mean an added expense to the city. |
Because a tWo-inch water main is |
sufficient to provide service while a |
six inch main is necessary for fire
protection, and the difference of the
cost Of these in place is Csc foot
for two-inch main and Sl0O foot
for a siX-inch main. And having
completed nearly the water extern
sion necessary in the city, the city |
IS about to carry water service to |
both mill villages and will in the next
couple OF years lay some $4,000 feet
OF mains. If this protection agree
ment goes through it will be six
inch, If it does not, it will be two
inch and the city will save Sll.25OI