Choctaw County is seeking men and women who want to serve their communities through their volunteer fire departments.
Fire Coordinator Blaine Adams said it’s getting harder to find people who want to serve. E911 Director Pam Bradberry said when a fire happens in the county, they sometimes have to call three fire departments out to one fire.
Supervisor Greg Fondren said Bywy and Reform had younger men on their departments.
“Bywy has a lot of young men,” Fondren said. The question became how did Bywy do it.
“There’s gotta be someone out there that’s convincing them,” Supervisor Chris McIntire said.
Fondren also said since putting a fire department in Sherwood, they’ve picked up some men who served in Mathiston.
McIntire said they wanted people who wanted to serve, not pull up and drink coffee.
Adams gave the supervisors good news. He said that two of the departments, Chester and Reform had received lower ratings. He said Chester and Reform both went from a 10 to an 8. Adams said that Reform was well on its way to become a 7.
The lower ratings could mean savings for homeowners on their homeowner insurance. But, their insurance would need to honor the ratings.
“It depends on the individual’s insurance,” Adams said. He made it clear that the lower ratings didn’t mean automatic savings for the homeowner. But, it may have savings for them.
Also, the board discussed justice court. Board President Joey Stephenson said there are $200,000 in uncollected fines.
“Divide that by 12 and that’s $16,000 a month,” he said. There was a discussion as to how to collect on the funds. But a decision wasn’t made.
The board also:
Approved the hires of Kayla Taylor Bradley at the Chancery Clerk’s office and Billy Ray Evans and Stacy Stricklin as part time deputies.
