It will be a while longer before the West Orange Volunteer Fire Department becomes state certified as a First Responder organization. The West Orange City Council met Tuesday, but took no action on allowing the fire department to apply for the certification.
Fire Chief Terry Veitch filled out the paperwork for the certification and met with officials from Acadian Ambulance Service. West Orange Mayor Roy McDonald still has some questions about the city’s liability concerning the volunteer firemen being certified first responders before bringing it to the City Council for its approval.
The mayor appointed on Tuesday Aldermen Mike Shugart and Randy Branch to serve as the liaisons for the city with the volunteer firemen and Acadian Ambulance. Shugart and Branch were also assigned to question other fire departments with state certification to make sure the process is done correctly in West Orange.
Fire Chief Veitch understands McDonald’s caution concerning approving the certification for his department’s personnel. Veitch said he would work to get the concerns of the mayor satisfied and will continue to pursue getting the state certification.
The City Council did approve an interlocal agreement with the City of Orange for ambulance service through Acadian Ambulance. Orange actually has the contract with Acadian and other municipalities receive the ambulance service through local agreements with the city.
The council held three public hearings to start the meeting concerning Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). Public Works Director Mike Stelly informed the City Council that West Orange has been awarded $6,016,000 for infrastructure repairs and improvements. He added drainage will be a priority for that grant money.
West Orange will also receive approximately $2.6 million as part of the acquisition and buyout program. The third CDBG will be from the Texas Department of Agriculture for $275,000 and will be used for street improvements. Traylor and Associates was approved by the council as the administrators for the grant programs.
All non-emergency departments in West Orange will be closed on December 24-25 in observance of Christmas. Likewise the same will be true on December 31 and January 1 in observance of New Year’s.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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