Fire, police and utility needs dominated discussion of the second of two workshops on the town’s proposed 2020-21 fiscal year budget last week.
Mooresville Fire Rescue Chief Curt Deaton asked the town to fund several staff positions with his department, the design of Fire Station 7 and the replacement of three staff/support vehicles.
The six firefighter positions and one battalion chief position Deaton requested will help the department’s staffing crunch but not entirely solve current staffing problems, when Fire Station 6 opens and when current firefighters retire, deploy for military service or take leave, Deaton said.
Town Manager Randy Hemann told the board the number of calls for emergency service have outpaced the town’s population growth and increased from 4,118 annually to 7,497 annually over the past five years.