Eastanollee Fire Chief says no one told him his budget wasn’t received

Eastanollee Fire Chief Jamey Gettys came before the Stephens County Board of Commissioners during its regular scheduled meeting on Tuesday to discuss his budget.

As WNEG News previously reported, the Commission agreed to move $45,000 into the Eastanollee Fire Department’s budget; however, the Commission requested Gettys come before them.

On Tuesday, County Administrator Phyllis Ayers explained that Gettys was at the meeting like the Commission had requested.

Vice Chair Dennis Bell asked where Gettys turned his budget in at.

“What kind of response are you looking for from me,” Gettys asked?

“Who did you send this to, Jamey,” Bell asked?

“I put it in the box at the county. This is no disrespect to anyone, but we constantly have things that get missing up there, and I don’t if maybe that’s what happened to that too. I’m not sure,” Gettys said.

Gettys said no one had told him that the county did not receive his budget.

He continued to say that he wasn’t told to come to the last Commission meeting.

Gettys says he’s turned in a budget every year for over 20 years and that the County should have reached out to him if they did not receive it.

Gettys says firefighting isn’t cheap and the Fire Department provides many more services than they did 10- or 20-years ago.

He continued to explain that the current equipment they have for extrication won’t cut through the metal in newer vehicles.

He says they are required to replace the gear they use every 10 years. If he replaces two sets each year that’s 13 percent of his budget. He says the fuel they use takes up 7 percent of his budget.

Following Gettys comments no action was taken.