By By Chandler Myers
Nokomis Volunteer Fire Department is seeking additional grant funding to continue growing its small department located in rural Escambia County, officials said Saturday.
Officers with the fire department and community members gathered Saturday during its annual meeting and election of officers for 2010.
During the meeting, the minutes and news of the last year were explained and new business was brought to the attention of those in attendance.
One of the largest new items for the department from the last year was the new fire truck and equipment that was recently received through grants, marking the first time the department has had new equipment to work with, a milestone for the community.
In an interview last last year, Chris McGhee, assistant fire chief for Nokomis VFD, said the equipment would benefit the volunteers with the department.“It’s a good thing that the equipment is up-to-date and meets standard requirements,” McGhee said. “It will certainly help our firefighters, but the main thing is that we have what we need to help this community for years to come.”
This year, one of the topics discussed at the meeting was the possibility of a new station to house the new truck.
McGhee said a grant was applied for through FEMA to get a new station constructed.
Before deciding to apply for the grant, the volunteers and board members looked into the idea of adding onto their current station.
Frankie Donald, secretary for the Nokomis VFD, said that with the state of the economy it was not ideal to do construction on the building.
The building of a new station would also help the department have a stronger presence in the community.
Gerry Gehman, a board member for the Nokomis VFD, said the facility would be great for the firefighters with the department as well as the people around Nokomis.
As for elections at the meeting, a motion was made by an attendant that all those in office remain in there current positions. After the motion was passed those in officer positions included Wayne Hubbard as president, Frankie Donald as secretary and Shirley Brown as treasurer.