Warren County magistrates will be asked Friday to extend an affiliation agreement with the Warren County Rescue Department for 30 days.
The current agreement expires Saturday. Without an agreement in place, the rescue department cannot perform any emergency services in Warren County, Warren County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson said.
The rescue department is an independent charitable organization that currently provides ground search and rescue, recovery efforts and water rescues. However, under state law, in order to provide emergency services, the department must have an affiliation agreement in place with the local jurisdiction in which the department provides those services – in this case, Warren County Fiscal Court, Pearson said.
"The county and the rescue squad have decided to extend the time period for the affiliation agreement to be signed in order to allow both parties to determine the best way to proceed going forward," Warren County Attorney Amy Milliken said.
Rescue department board of directors chairwoman and spokeswoman Deborah Williams said more time is needed to discuss the agreement so that all of the involved parties can make the best decision for Warren County.
"We really haven't had time to sit around the table and talk about it," Williams said. "Between us and emergency management and the volunteer fire departments we want to work more efficiently together."
At a fire chiefs meeting in December, chiefs of all of the county volunteer fire departments agreed to take on the water rescues in Warren County, Pearson said.