Warren County government moved a step closer Tuesday to filling the fire coordinator position that will oversee and suggest changes in how the county’s nine volunteer fire departments operate.

Warren Fiscal Court approved spending $9,052.48 to purchase from Louisville-based Fire Department Service and Supply the personal protective equipment needed by the person who will fill this new position in 2025.

The county has advertised for the position as an outgrowth of the recommendations made by consultant Mission CIT, hired by the county in 2023 at a cost of $48,300 to study how the volunteer fire departments can be improved.

Now County Judge-Executive Doug Gorman says the county is nearly ready to fill the position, which was advertised at a salary of $75,000 per year.

“We made an offer to a gentleman who will start in January,” Gorman said Tuesday. “We wanted to get some equipment for that position so he can hit the ground running.”

Hiring a fire coordinator was one of many recommendations made by MissionCIT, brought in to study the VFDs because of the county’s rapid growth and the resulting increase in the number of emergency responses made by the VFDs that rely almost entirely on trained volunteers and operate on limited budgets.

Established in 1972, the county VFDs are funded largely through fire dues that have been part of county tax bills since 2004, but those dues of $50 for households and $70 for businesses are seen as inadequate to keep up with the fire departments’ growing workload.

Filling the fire coordinator position, Gorman said, is a first step toward making needed upgrades in the fire departments.

“This is someone who will work with all nine fire departments and also give direction to fiscal court on following through on some of the suggestions from our fire department survey,” he said. “He’ll start assessing everything from equipment to potentially a hybrid arrangement with some paid and some volunteer firefighters.

“This one gentleman is going to direct us for the future of firefighting in Warren County. This is an important first step.”

Another two spending items approved Tuesday also address safety, but in a different manner.

Warren County Emergency Management was approved for spending $17,460 to Scotty’s Contracting for retrieval of 12 vehicles abandoned in the Barren River and another $4,675 to Walker’s Towing for towing vehicles removed from the river.

County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Pearson said the need to retrieve the vehicles arose out of the 2022 removal of Barren River Lock and Dam No. 1 at Greencastle.

“When that dam was taken out, the water level dropped,” Pearson explained. “These vehicles began to appear. They’re a hazard that needed to be removed.”

Pearson said the vehicles that could be identified weren’t stolen but simply abandoned. While removing vehicles from the river is not uncommon, Pearson said the volume was much higher this time.

“We typically have two or three vehicles per year,” he said. “As we find them and are able to, we try to get them out. It keeps the environment cleaner and removes a safety hazard.”

Pearson also had his request approved Tuesday for spending $50,000 for architectural services from the Sewell and Sewell architectural firm to draw plans for safe rooms at the Browning Ballpark and Richardsville Volunteer Fire Department.

The county emergency management department has been using Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to build a number of safe rooms in the county since the December 2021 tornadoes.

Also approved was the request of Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force Director Tommy Loving to declare 11 vehicles and various pieces of office equipment as surplus property.

Loving said the vehicles, many of them seized in drug arrests, will be among those offered for sale at a public auction to be held Dec. 13 at 1 p.m. in front of the county courthouse.

Warren Fiscal Court’s next scheduled meeting is Dec. 5 at 9 a.m. in the county courthouse