To the editor:
I find it suspect that the issuance of timber sale money — which should have happened when Van Buren Volunteer Fire Department was still a functioning entity — did not happen until they were out of the way.
However, I doubt, given the final settlement with the county, that anyone associated with VBVFD would have much call to feel mistreated in not receiving a portion of the timber sale money for the previous financial year, even though they were a functional department protecting that timber through that entire year.
However, there seems to be a misperception among the commissioners — and likely the general public — that the money the fire departments receives from the DNR is a bonus or a kindness. Perhaps county officials see it as a windfall the county gets to hand to the fire departments.
It is not.
It is money those departments and the ridiculously-few-in-number members of the community willing to serve as firefighters earn. They work their butts off for it, and it’s still less than the value of the service they provide to the DNR by fighting wildfires across the county.
That is why the departments that are eligible to receive it are listed in the letter the DNR sends out each November.
This is not county leaders’ kindness to dole out as they see fit. Rather, they are the custodians in charge of dispersing a payment from the state to the fire departments.
I know it is not possible for Southern Brown Volunteer Fire Department to have had the necessary contract in place with the DNR by November of last year to be eligible to receive timber sale money. When I left Brown County, Nashville was still being asked to cover Van Buren Township medical runs because Southern Brown hadn’t even managed to get that paperwork done.
Listen, I hope the best for all Brown County and all the departments therein, especially Southern Brown, because when I had to dispatch medical to that area, VBVFD would consistently beat the ambulance to the scene by 20 minutes. There is no other place in the county where a strong and competent department is more essential. People who could otherwise be saved will die in Van Buren Township without one. And, unfortunately, I think a lot of people took sides in the past year based on personal preference and grudges rather than the safety of residents, or else so many things could have gone so much smoother. And to be frank, I include some in county government in that number.
But most of that is neither here nor there. Like I said, the timber sale money isn’t charity. It’s not the largess of the county commissioners.
It is a small and incomplete reimbursement to departments in recognition of the service they have provided through the preceding year.
There are only five departments in Brown County that are currently active that also had agreements with DNR that entitle them to receive that money from 2017. While there are certainly personal connections with certain individuals that might incline the commissioners to include Southern Brown in disbursements, they did not earn that money.
I certainly hope that they, like the other departments, more than earn that money this year, as I am sure they already have the paperwork filed with DNR that will see their name on the list of eligible departments issued this November. But, at this time, and for funds based on last year’s timber sale, the law allows for that money to be split five ways, not six.
Respectfully yours,
Ben Kibbey, formerly of Brown County
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