The Tioga City Council welcomed three new faces to the Tioga Volunteer Fire Department during the meeting Monday evening.
Brandon Carnes, Devin Hancock and Mike Morgan are excited to not only give back to the Tioga community but also to grow their firefighting and EMT skills through that volunteer service, and Chief Rick Hartman is happy to add them to the crew.
'It just shows that [we] as a department are growing,' Hartman said. 'People are interested in becoming members and volunteering their time. They see the effort that the fire department puts into EMS and fire protection for the citizens.'
Brandon is now a third-generation TVFD member, with his grandfather Lee Carnes having served in the 1980s and his father Jerry Carnes serving as the current deputy chief.
'I take pride in helping the community and helping people in need … medical-[ response]-wise,' said Brandon, adding that he's 'looking to go to paramedic school in the next year.'
Morgan, who has graduated from the fire academy and EMT school, is happy to be able to serve the Tioga community.
It is the 'family aspect of station life' that attracted him to firefighting.
He came to Tioga 'to get more experience,' Morgan said.
The 'family-oriented' nature of the department also attracted Hancock, who comes with about 11 years of volunteer firefighting experience, with goals of pursuing a career in the field.
'I can tell just from the time I've been here that they truly care,' he said. 'If you need someone there, they're going to show up. … I can always lean on them.'
Also at the council meeting, the council approved the tax rate of $0.493155 per $100 valuation, which exceeds the voter-approval tax rate of $0.483899 but which is almost 30 cents under the de minimis rate of $0.790386.
'The de minimis rate is the rate equal to the sum of the no-new-revenue maintenance and operations rate for city of Tioga, the rate that will raise $500,000, and the current debt rate for city of Tioga,' according to the tax rate notice that was published in the Post-Signal.
The council opted to keep the rate the same, meaning that taxes increased only because of the increase in values, Mayor Craig Jezek said.
No residents spoke at the public hearing about the proposed rate or the budget that begins Oct. 1, which was also approved at the Monday meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem Kurt Hall and council member Jim Coffey were absent from the meeting.
The council also heard a presentation from Tioga Police Chief Curtis Macomb about the sale of a 2014 Chevrolet Tahoe, which Macomb suggested should start at $3,000, and a 2015 Ford Explorer, which he said should start at $1,000.
He cited repair costs as the reason to auction them off.
'It's costing us more money than it should,' Macomb said.
He also complimented Public Works Director Jim Hale and his staff.
'There's been a lot of work that's having to be done to get that going, and for the last week, I drove the backroads up by the school,' he said. 'I saw him out there today. The machine's working really good, and he's doing a really good job.'
The Tioga council also voted to retain the Post-Signal as the newspaper of record.
