Much like their Maysville City counterparts, Mason County Commissioners gave the go-ahead for the Washington Volunteer Fire Department to become independent from the city.

The department currently operates under the MFD.

In doing so, the county agreed to provide support in the form of insurance on vehicles and, eventually, on buildings. That should total about $2,500 after the first three years, officials said.

The process of pulling city fire department support from the WVFD will be a three-year process, Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford told county commissioners.

As an independent department, the WVFD will be eligible for federal grants and state aid, have control over its own budget and freedom to raise funds, Wallingford said. During the transition, the city will lease the current fire building to the volunteers for $1 annually for three years and pay utilities on the building, also for three years, he said.

Last fall, talks first began with plans to merge the WVFD with another county department. It was later decided the firefighters with WVFD would prefer to go it alone, Wallingford said.

Even though the department is located within the city limits, it is a county fire department, Wallingford said.

WVFD Chief Darrell Kalb said his department covers an area which serves 400-600 households and has mutual aid agreements with neighboring departments to share services and equipment and responds when requested. The department has recently added more firefighters to its roster and has started a junior firefighters program for teens ages 15-18, he said.

City officials are currently working to secure non profit status for the WVFD and acquire a tax ID number for the group. Before any official agreement is brought to a vote, the city needed a "green light" to continue the process and county officials gave the proposal a thumbs up.

Mason County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer said the WVFD is just another example of the city and county working together.

Also Tuesday, the county commissioners heard an update from Buffalo Trace Health Department Executive Director Allison Adams on the Community Health Needs Assessment and Health Improvement Plan.

"The staff of the Buffalo Trace District Health Department have a vision for a healthy community for everyone," Adams said in a letter opening a booklet outlining the assessment and community health improvement plan.

Adams said several things stood out in the assessment including smoking, diabetes, immunization, sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy rates. rates. There is also a large incidence of single parent households and grandparents raising grandchildren in the area. Those all contribute to lower life expectancy, she said.

"We want everyone to have the opportunity to be healthy," Adams said.

While the goal is to get the community healthy, that isn't going to happen overnight -- just as becoming less than healthy was a long process so too will changing attitudes and outcomes be a long-term process, she said.

In other business, commissioners:

-- Heard from Barry Fryman with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 9 office who outlined Rural Secondary Fund allotments for the county and recommendations for state road projects including Tuckahoe Road, Helena Road, Ewing Road and Salem Ridge Road.

-- Approved reports from the Road Department, Animal Shelter, Sheriff, Landfill and Recycling Center, Detention Center and Treasurer.

-- Approved the addition of Robert Scott and Larry Rice to the list of approved electrical inspectors.

-- Appointed Andrew Wood to an unexpired term on the Ethics Committee and reappointed John Larry Dodge to the same committee.

-- Learned Pfeffer named Barry Fields to fill the unexpired term of Juston Pate to the Maysville-Mason County Industrial Authority.

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Mason Fiscal gives WVFD go-ahead - Ledger Independent