Highland Beach to create the County’s first new fire department in 30 years

A unanimous decision by the Palm Beach County Commission has cleared the way for Highland Beach to create the County’s first new fire department in 30 years.
It took less than 10 minutes last month for county commissioners to grant a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity license, which is required before the town can provide emergency medical service once it starts its own fire department in May 2024.
“We’re good to go,” said Mayor Doug Hillman, whose town is ending a 30-plus year reliance on Delray Beach for that service. “We’re now able to provide enhanced, high-quality lifesaving services to our residents.”

https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-town-wins-crucial-ok-for-new-fire-department

Resounding ‘yes’ from voters lets fire-rescue plans enter next phase

John Shoemaker was pretty sure residents of Highland Beach would vote to support the town’s efforts to start a fire department when they went to the polls last month.
“I had a feeling from talking to residents and people in the condos,” said Shoemaker, a town commissioner. “I also had a feeling that we had all the bases covered” in explaining why a Highland Beach fire department was necessary.
Shoemaker was so confident residents would give the town the green light to spend up to $10 million to create the department that he predicted nine out of 10 voters would favor the proposal.
He came pretty close.
When all the votes were counted, the measure passed by just a shade off 89%, with a little more than 11% of close to 1,500 voters rejecting the idea and supporting the continuation of receiving fire rescue service from neighboring Delray Beach.
If he was taken aback by anything, Shoemaker says it was that the number of votes supporting the initiative wasn’t higher.
“I was surprised that we had over 150 people voting no,” he said. “There was no negative to this.”
Shoemaker said he suspects those who voted no are happy with the service they receive from Delray Beach and don’t see a need for change.
In fact, residents and even town leaders have had nothing but praise for the service they have received from Delray Beach over the years.
The issue, commissioners said, came down to money and control of costs.

https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-resounding-yes-from-voters-lets-fire-rescue-plans-

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