After nearly two years of consideration, Albemarle County’s chief concern (pun explained here) came to a close last night during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors. An ordinance that proposed to consolidate county fire and rescue squads under a single fire and rescue chief failed to win a majority vote, instead splitting supervisors 3-3. Supervisors Linday Dorrier, Rodney Thomas and Ann Mallek voted against the ordinance. Mallek, along with Supervisor Ken Boyd, served on a committee that designed and reviewed the ordinance alongside members of the Albemarle County Fire and Rescue Advisory Board.
The ordinance was contested by members of fire and rescue squads who felt altering the structure of services in the county would not necessarily improve response times, and might discourage volunteers.
