|
|
 |
Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Group donates $15K to Beach City VFD
By Ken Fountain
Baytown Sun Published February 10, 2006 BEACH CITY – Informed Citizens United formed in 1997 to lead the opposition to a proposed massive industrial waste dump in this small West Chambers County community. That task completed, the group is turning its sights to helping the area in new ways.
To that end, ICU president Joe Monk on Thursday presented an oversized check for $15,000 to the Beach City Volunteer Fire Department to help it pay for a new fire engine.
Outgoing Beach City VFD chief Jim Josey praised the citizens group for both its fight against the proposed landfill and its continuing commitment to the community.
“We raise money, and we’re proud of the money we receive from the city and from Chambers County, but to have a group like ICU do this for us, that is pretty outstanding,” Josey said.
The department recently purchased a new, $213,000 fire engine to add to its aging fleet, which now includes one 17-year-old engine truck and an 8-year-old, 3,000-gallon tank truck. Josey said he and assistant chief Weston Davis have a plan to purchase a new vehicle every decade or so.
Both Josey and Davis are cosigners on the 10-year loan for the new truck, which has not yet been delivered. The department is also purchasing $10,000 worth of new equipment to add to the truck when it arrives in the next few weeks.
The department has an annual budget around $60,000, Josey said. Sixty-five percent of the budget is provided by the city (its largest single expense), with $13,500 provided by Chambers County and the rest coming from fundraising efforts, he said.
The department has a membership of 22, including 15 firefighters as well as support members, according to Josey.
Monk said the $15,000 donation is from funds left over from ICU’s eight-year fundraising effort to oppose the waste dump which Kingwood-based TSP Development proposed to build just outside the city limits, less than a mile from Trinity Bay.
The TSP proposal set off a protracted legal war on several fronts as residents, local officials and government entities fought to prevent the building of the dump.
In 2004, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that TSP no longer held a viable option to purchase the land on which it proposed to build the dump. In November of that year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sent TSP its original permit application because it did not conform to newly drafted rules for such facilities, effectively ending the battle to prevent the building of the dump.
Monk said that in addition to the $15,000 donation, the organization still has about $33,000 left in the bank. ICU will donate $1,000 a month to the fire department, with the provision that if the group needs to do some other activity, it may stop the monthly donations for a period of time.
Monk said that in the 17 years that he and his wife have lived in Beach City, it has doubled in population, to about 2,000 residents. With no municipal water service, the volunteer fire department is a crucial component of the community, he said. Improving the department could also help reduce homeowner’s insurance rates, Monk and Josey both said.
“This is one my most memorable moments in the department,” Josey said of the donation. He is planning to step down as chief this month after eight years.
Baytown Sun Published February 10, 2006 BEACH CITY – Informed Citizens United formed in 1997 to lead the opposition to a proposed massive industrial waste dump in this small West Chambers County community. That task completed, the group is turning its sights to helping the area in new ways.
To that end, ICU president Joe Monk on Thursday presented an oversized check for $15,000 to the Beach City Volunteer Fire Department to help it pay for a new fire engine.
Outgoing Beach City VFD chief Jim Josey praised the citizens group for both its fight against the proposed landfill and its continuing commitment to the community.
“We raise money, and we’re proud of the money we receive from the city and from Chambers County, but to have a group like ICU do this for us, that is pretty outstanding,” Josey said.
The department recently purchased a new, $213,000 fire engine to add to its aging fleet, which now includes one 17-year-old engine truck and an 8-year-old, 3,000-gallon tank truck. Josey said he and assistant chief Weston Davis have a plan to purchase a new vehicle every decade or so.
Both Josey and Davis are cosigners on the 10-year loan for the new truck, which has not yet been delivered. The department is also purchasing $10,000 worth of new equipment to add to the truck when it arrives in the next few weeks.
The department has an annual budget around $60,000, Josey said. Sixty-five percent of the budget is provided by the city (its largest single expense), with $13,500 provided by Chambers County and the rest coming from fundraising efforts, he said.
The department has a membership of 22, including 15 firefighters as well as support members, according to Josey.
Monk said the $15,000 donation is from funds left over from ICU’s eight-year fundraising effort to oppose the waste dump which Kingwood-based TSP Development proposed to build just outside the city limits, less than a mile from Trinity Bay.
The TSP proposal set off a protracted legal war on several fronts as residents, local officials and government entities fought to prevent the building of the dump.
In 2004, a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that TSP no longer held a viable option to purchase the land on which it proposed to build the dump. In November of that year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sent TSP its original permit application because it did not conform to newly drafted rules for such facilities, effectively ending the battle to prevent the building of the dump.
Monk said that in addition to the $15,000 donation, the organization still has about $33,000 left in the bank. ICU will donate $1,000 a month to the fire department, with the provision that if the group needs to do some other activity, it may stop the monthly donations for a period of time.
Monk said that in the 17 years that he and his wife have lived in Beach City, it has doubled in population, to about 2,000 residents. With no municipal water service, the volunteer fire department is a crucial component of the community, he said. Improving the department could also help reduce homeowner’s insurance rates, Monk and Josey both said.
“This is one my most memorable moments in the department,” Josey said of the donation. He is planning to step down as chief this month after eight years.