Public comment fire MSTU and Kiefer Road flooding
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Jul 6, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Jul 6, 2021
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 16m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 68% of 59 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
All right. Now it's time for public comment. Citizens given an opportunity to comment on any item coming before the board during this section. The board takes public comment on items to be placed on a future board agenda and other business under their preview. Today's public comment will be handled as follows. First, we will take public comment from those who are Here in person. Then we will take public comment from those who have pre-registered for
WebEx Link and currently on Q.
This format does not weigh the request that you address the board, only comments not directed toward any commissioner or team member, rather directed toward the issues. This provides mutual respect between the board members and the public. uh for WebEx and in person uh participants after stating your name and address for the clerk the timer will We'll start in a cart countdown after
two beeps after two minutes one beep will sound letting you know that the one minute remains after the time is up Two beeps will Uh Sam letting you know that your three minutes are up and you should close your comments. WebEx participants will be disconnected when their time is up. The following people have signed up to speak in person. So we take those first.
Mr. Chair, the first person I have signed up and um I don't know if I'm gonna be able to pronounce your last name because I I can't read it very well, but it's Robert is it Everst? Thank you. First. Thank you, sir. If you could state your name and address for the record and then you may proceed.
Uh I live out of the county, but I'm here representing IFF local 4420. Uh my name's Robert First, F-U-E-R-S-T.
You may proceed.
I'm speaking today on behalf of the citizens of Pasco County and the members of IFF Local 4420. And we want to voice our support for the MSTU rate increase to 0.34 MLs as recommended by Chief Cassen to properly fund the fire department and the county's public safety mission and our vision for its future. In October, I will have completed 23 years of service in Pasco Fire Rescue's Department. In that time span, I have witnessed and assisted in the daily struggles of our citizens and firefighters alike.
I have served Pasco Fire Rescue at every level available in the rank and file of the department, and I am extremely proud of where this department has come from and excited to see the prospect of where it is headed. We are truly on a pathway to being a premier fire department in the state of Florida, as has been envisioned by this board, our administration, and your constituents. During the time I've been in this fire department, we have always provided a level of service above and beyond what we could reasonably
be expected with the resources given, and that is a testament to the dedication of the men and women that make up Pasco Fire Rescue. I would like to thank the board members for their previous support regarding improving our funding to bring the fire department to the service level that we are at today. However, our work is not done and neither is yours. Through your past actions, we have been able to improve the capabilities of Pasco Fire Rescue for the citizens of the county and the men and women who put their lives on the line every single day.
in service to the community. Unfortunately, years of underfunding the public safety mission by previous administrations have left us and our citizens dangerously vulnerable and our infrastructure struggling to overcome the deficits of the past. while attempting to meet the needs of a growing community and the future. This millage rate increase will allow us to provide services for the taxpayers that were needed 10 years ago or more, such as Autonomous Rescues, the Tanker Operator Program, Trucks
Company 2 and 3, and Squad Company 2. The MSTU increase has been projected to have a net effect on taxpayers that amounts to around $17 per year per $100,000 of taxable property value. We understand that raising taxes is never popular or even wanted, but in this case it is necessary. In this circumstance, it is needed to provide services that are in line with community, professional, and national standards, today and in the future. Time and time again in
the surveys and at the voting booth, the citizens of this county have recognized the public safety mission as vital and of utmost importance to them. We believe the citizens understand and will support this increase because they know it is imperative that experienced professionals with the equipment and expertise to mitigate public and private emergencies arrive in as little time as possible when lives, property, and livelihoods are in the balance. We know they will support it if they understand that the current MSTU, which directly funds our public safety mission, is significantly
below the state average. We expect they will support it when they realize that the last that last year, Pasco County citizens made in excess of 38,000 911 calls that required more than 10 minutes for a trained PASCO fire rescue employee to arrive on the scene. During that person's time of need.
I'm almost done. We are sure they will support it when they because they realize that many areas of the county are underserved regarding available fire department resources and every citizen deserves highly skilled first responders quickly when they call for help.
Thank you,
sir,
for the comments.
The next person signed up is Walter Price.
Guess that they're gonna let us know when the time's up 'cause it's over in New Port Richey but it's not here.
The lights aren't working.
It's not working up here so Just let us know when his time is up. Name and address.
Walter Price, [address removed]. It's good to see some familiar faces. About ten years ago, we spent a lot of time together. I uh I'm gonna bring a different perspective um than a lot of these distinguished firefighters that have been here for many years. I'm more of a new firefighter, I've only been there for six years. Uh I can tell you that In the six years I've been there I've seen the morale continuously pick up. Um positivity has picked up. but we're still not at that premier fire department. that the citizens
deserve as well as the County Commission wants. We still have the surrounding counties who have the majority of the things that we're still trying to get so that we can become that county that everybody that's a firefighter wants to come to and work and support the citizens. I also have a different perspective as most of you know I'm a real estate appraiser. I've been doing that for 17 years. The growth in this county is tremendous. I've done um uh more appraisals in the last two years than I can remember in the last seventeen of doing it. As many of you do know, after the residential boom comes the commercial boom. A lot of the commercial properties
that we're getting are bigger box stores. We have the Amazon Uh just down the street from my house. There's a lot of things A couple of little fire trucks isn't gonna support that. We do need more specialized trucks to be able to battle the fires or any kind of a hazardous material. The point three four increase, I get it. It's a tax increase. It's not popular with anyone. But I can tell you I'm just as good at not wanting taxes as anyone else. However, being in public safety for six years, I understand the need for
a little bit extra to be able to get the things we need. The biggest thing that I can tell you is it's very frustrating when we have a certain call that comes out, let's say it's a cardiac arrest. The most frustrating thing is it takes a couple minutes for us to get the call, to get the we get dispatched, we get in the truck, we go, we gotta fight traffic, we get there, six, seven, eight, nine, ten minutes starts going by, your chances of survival are even s significantly dropped right after that. Some of you live in districts that take Well over fifteen, twenty minutes
to get a a fire truck, a rescue, anything there. So this millage rate is not a tax increase, it's a beneficial thing for public safety. So we ask that you know you take that into consideration, not raising taxes, but public safety, making us the premier county that we need to be. Having the equipment, staff, and every available resource that we could possibly have to benefit everyone as a whole in this county, not just a few. I appreciate your time and appreciate everything you guys do and and just know that we you know we need this
for safety. That's really what this comes down to. Not raising taxes, not benefits of money raises, all that stuff. It's public safety. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. The next individual signed up is Jesus Martinez.
Sorry, I gotta lift that up. Uh good morning. I'm Jesus Martinez, second vice president of the local 4420 Pasco County Professional Firefighters. I come to you today to stand in support of the plan our chief has set before us. The increase to the fire MSTU is needed to help us match the industry and residential growth in our county. The men and women that I represent serve the county to their fullest potential and strive to be Premier. The goal was set for them by
our county administrator, our fire chief, and his board. We look to you today to pave the pathway to Premier. Give us the ability to take the public safety. Mm-hmm. That our residents deserve.
Pasco County has made strides in the past several years. But we stalled on a hill and are in danger of going backward. The increase will help propel us forward and into the future. Our citizens deserve a fire department that can respond. to their emergency in a timely manner. The number of responses Greater than ten minutes has been on the rise. from as long as I can remember. This is unacceptable to for a Premier
Department.
With the increase proposed, Pasco County will still have one of the lowest fire MSTUs in the state of Florida. We fight every year to keep up with the industry standard, and I know we are better than just standard.
I'm not only representing the Pasco County professional firefighters. I'm a resident here in Pasco County. I have a beautiful wife and a three-year-old son. It currently takes an ambulance anywhere from twelve to fifteen minutes to get to my house. I love my job, I love my brothers and sisters, above all I love my family, and I ask you to help us make Pasco County a safer place to work, play, and live. Thank you.
Thank you.
The next person signed up is Dixon Phillips.
Good morning, Dixon Phillips. I live outside the county but I'm here representing local forty four twenty. Address twenty one twenty one West Dallas Avenue, Tampa, Florida.
Good morning. Last year, Pasco County Fire Rescue ran seventy-seven thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven emergency calls. Of those calls, 38,000 had response times were over 10 minutes. 17,000 of those 38,000 calls were over 15 minute response times. We've all waited fifteen minutes for something. Whether it's waiting for food you ordered, waiting for some type of service, and it feels like an eternity. Constantly checking your watch or your phone, wondering how much longer. Now imagine if you were a family
member were dying. When seconds matter, fifteen minute response times are unacceptable. It should not matter whether you live in Hudson, Holiday, Dade City, Land O' Lakes, Wesley Chapel, or Zephyrhills. Nobody should have to wait fifteen minutes for fire rescue. How many citizens of this county survived a medical emergency or have better outcomes if we arrived on scene one minute earlier?
Personally, I was a paramedic in charge on a call three weeks ago. We had a twelve and a half minute response time coming from quarters. to a house that was located in our zone. The call notes described a patient that was showing signs of a stroke. A typical stroke patient loses one point nine million neurons every minute. The stroke goes untreated. So that patient lost twenty-five million neurons during our response time. By the time I arrived on scene, the patient stopped breathing. Shortly after that went into cardiac arrest. This MSTU
increase will provide the citizens of this county more fire stations, personnel, and more trucks on the road so we can lower the response times to 911 calls. There's no doubt this decision that you all have has real life or death implications. Thank you.
Thank you.
The last person
I have signed up is Barbara Campbell.
Good morning. My name is Barbara Campbell. I'm at [address removed] and I'm nervous as sin right now.
Deep breath. Yeah.
We are too.
I promise I'll stay over here. Okay. Um okay. Recently we've had a lot of rain. And just daily rain. Every day. And what we've noticed, because where we live on Knollwood Lane, is right across from the new uh Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation. That construction is adjacent to Kiefer Road. Kiefer Road has been changed.
And what we've noticed, I've lived in that house for twenty-five years. I have a neighbor who's lived in her house for thirty years. We've never had flooding. Never had flooding. The other day we were within just a couple inches of people having water going in their houses. We know that it's from uh uh Kiefer Road. We know it's changed. We know that the water that's come in is not just clear rainwater, which would
be normal. This is all full of clay and silt. So we know where it's coming from. We've looked at um Kiefer Road from that side. trying to find out where it's coming from, you know, like what's happening. And there are trenches dug from water running. It's bad. We're asking for you, Commissioner Oakley, to please bring some people out or just meet with us, talk with us about what we can do
Before somebody's house gets flooded. It's it's just not right. Okay. Thank you.
I think she sent us an email. I I forwarded it to Microbal. Yeah. Yeah, for you something.
Mike's coming forward. Or he's gone.
He'll help you with that. So okay.
That was the last person signed up.
Okay, last person signed up. Does anybody in the room wish to speak that did not sign up?
Seeing no one coming forth. Nobody's on WebEx.
No one signed up for WebEx today.