News

Baldwin plans fire station renovation, open house

By LYNSIE BREAUX

One voice really can make a difference.

Elsie Loyd, who's been a resident of Baldwin since 1946 used her voice to make one of the most striking differences ever for the town. She brought them a fire department.

Thanks to an effort she started more than nine months ago, the tow of Baldwin is now protected by a full-time professional fire department for the first time in its history.

Slightly more than 10 months ago Loyd received a call everyone dreads. She was asked if she knew that her business was on fire.

Upon arrival at her laundromat she found firemen from Maxville, White House and Jacksonville fighting the fire. What she didn't find was any of the Baldwin volunteer firemen.

She went to the October 2007 town council meeting and expressed her concerns to the mayor and council.

"I just got mad that Baldwin (firefighters) wasn't there," Loyd said.

Despite an election that brought a new mayor and council person to power, Loyd kept her pressure on the town to see about bringing in full-time fire protection.

Under the previous administration, estimates for staring a fire department involved an up-front payment of seven figures and an annual addition to the town budget of nearly half a million in salaries and upkeep.

Former Mayor Marvin Godbold had said, "clearly we don't have room in our budget for that."

Current Mayor Stan Totman took over and began to look at other options and came upon the idea of an interlocal agreement with the city of Jacksonville.

Totman discovered that the state collects a tax on every insurance policy and that money was just staying with the state.

Chief Randy White of the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton and Totman worked out an agreement whereby that money that was already being collected would go to the JFRD pension fund in return for the town's fire department being staffed full-time by two fully trained fire fighters.

According to White, units from White House and Baldwin will still respond. However, the town now has what is known as a brush truck that can't be blocked by trains and can respond much quicker than units from Jacksonville.

"I can't say how happy and honored I am to be associated with one of the finest fire associations in the country," Totman said.

White also added in how happy he is with the reception his men are receiving in their new assignment.

"I don't know how many cakes they've been brought already but don't worry, if there's a fire, they will put down the cake and respond," White said laughing.

The town will also be renovating the existing fire department and will hold a dedication ceremony September 11.

In other council business the town agreed to reconsider their previous decision to not accept roads built by Michael Griffin in the Baldwin Trade Plex.

According the Griffin he spent more than $300,000 extra building the roads up to the standards of the town and he doesn't think it's fair that the town did not accept his work.

Council woman Libby Willis expressed her concern for the numerous sinkholes that have opened along U.S. 90.

According to Willis, there have been two sinkholes that have been fixed by the Florida Department of Transportation and one that is currently covered and will be fixed soon.

Willis believes that the vibration of trucks along U.S. 90 along with increased traffic caused by work closing Interstate 10 is causing the holes.

"I was in my front yard and thought I had a gopher hole," Willis said. "It wound up being nearly four-feet deep, four-feet wide and three-feet across."

She expressed her concern that because the hole had opened under a sidewalk that someone could get injured if the sidewalk collapsed.

Willis also recounted one case in which she saw an area of the road collapse right after a truck drove over it.