Nolensville faces turning point in growth: Is it time to pay firefighters?
Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department, community ask aldermen for paid personnel
Nolensville faces turning point in growth: Is it time to pay firefighters? Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department, community ask aldermen for paid personnel Check out this story on Tennessean.com: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2019/04/16/nolensville-growth-volunteer-fire-department-paid-firefighters/3404003002/
Emily R. West, Nashville Tennessean Published 10:00 p.m. CT April 15, 2019
Nolensville through the years
An undated photo shows Waller Funeral Home in Nolensville, one of the oldest family businesses in Williamson County. Submitted
Nolensville First United Methodist Church was founded in 1837 as Mt. Olivet Methodist Episcopal Church. Submitted
This photo shows the village of Nolensville, circa 1910. William Nolen purchased the portion of a land grant to Jason Thompson on which Nolensville, named for him, was later built. Historical Markers of Williamson County
John Allen "Dewey" Barnes, age 20, in France during World War I. His father, James P. Barnes, a descendant of the founding Nolen family of Nolensville, left Tennessee and settled in Texas after the Civil War. John Allen Barnes was born in 1899 and died in 1951. Nolensville Historical Society Journal
Parents and students walk home together after school Feb. 4, 2019, in Nolensville, Tenn. Larry McCormack / Tennessean
Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department members Daron Standifird, left, and Lt. Troy Murray wash the department's firetruck between calls on Monday, April 15, 2019. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Cindy Fashing walks her two dogs, Jordan and Jax, to the neighborhood dog park in Carothers Farms in Nolensville on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Town homes are under construction at Burkitt Commons in Nolensville on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2018. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Nolensville running back Colton Dooley (15) runs through Page's Brayden Woods (4) and Luke Bowers (23) before being brought down during the second half Aug. 24, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Page won 38-35. Mark Zaleski/For The Tennessean
Seymour player Abbie Biddle (8) tries to head the ball with Nolensville players Kaitlyn Sneed (23) and Waverly Dickason (10) during a semifinal game at the TSSAA Class AA State Girls' Soccer Tournament in Murfreesboro on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Nolensville fans cover up as temperatures dropped during their game against Maplewood on Oct. 11, 2018, in Nashville. Wade Payne/ for The Tennessean
Jason Cloud takes a peek at one of the first sunflowers to bloom at the Carothers Farms community garden in Nolensville, Tenn. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean
A Nolensville football fan sits in the stands before a game Aug. 24, 2018. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Kate Jinkerson blows bubbles during the Nolensville Star Spangled Celebration on June 30, 2018. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean
Nolensville cheerleaders warm up before a football game between Nolensville and Page on Aug. 24, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Nolensville cheerleaders Audrey Oleson, left, and Lauren Matas put up a poster before a football game between Nolensville and Page on Aug. 24, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
A large crowd enjoys the fireworks display during the Nolensville Star Spangled Celebration on June 30, 2018. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean
Kids participate in a floss dance during the Nolensville Star Spangled Celebration on June 30, 2018. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean
Rone Russell dances with Blakely Russell during the Nolensville Star Spangled Celebration on June 30, 2018. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean
Nicole Johnson waves an American flag during the Nolensville Star Spangled Celebration on June 30, 2018. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean
Predators players Yannick Weber and Nick Bonino play street hockey with Matt Wood and other kids Oct. 11, 2017. The neighborhood in Nolensville won a contest to play with Predators players. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Nolensville kicker Luke Jenkins (22) warms up before a game against Maplewood on Oct. 20, 2017, in Nolensville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski/For The Tennessean
Vegetables from Arrowhead Farms are seen at the farmers market Saturday, May 26, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Wade Payne / For The Tennessean
A home under construction is seen in the Summerlyn subdivision May 26, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Wade Payne / For The Tennessean
Ben Seaborn, right, with Arrowhead Farms assists Renay Murdock with her purchase at the farmers market Saturday, May 26, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Wade Payne / For The Tennessean
Mark Buersahaper performs at the farmers market Saturday, May 26, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Wade Payne / For The Tennessean
Nolensville players run onto the field before a football game against Maplewood on Oct. 20, 2017, in Nolensville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski/For The Tennessean
A business is under construction May 26, 2018, in Nolensville, Tenn. Wade Payne / For The Tennessean
This mini farm in Nolensville is surrounded by wooded areas, open meadows and a quaint creek. Courtesy of LCT Team
The Nolensville High School band performs during the school's inaugural homecoming parade Sept. 2, 2016. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Nolensville high school student Sydney Addison practices the national anthem before a football game between Nolensville and Maplewood on Oct. 20, 2017, in Nolensville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski/For The Tennessean
Brooklyn Grace Smith, 4, gets her tiara and sash after winning the Little Miss Buttercup pageant during the 18th Annual Buttercup Festival in Nolensville in 2017. Joe Buglewicz / For The Tennessean
The Nolensville Knights huddle after their 3-0 defeat in the Class AA Sectional against the Portland Panthers on Oct. 12, 2017, at Portland High School. The loss ended their season. Gabriel Scarlett / For The USA Today Network - Tennessee
Predators player Yannick Weber gets a high-five after scoring while playing street hockey with kids from a neighborhood in Nolensville that won a contest to play with Predators players. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Regent Homes builds homes at Carothers Farms, formerly Carothers Crossing, near Nolensville in 2017. The land was once a dairy farm. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
James Clark, 4, ambushes step siblings, Caylee Clark, 14, left, and Justin Clark, 11, as they eat ice cream cones during the Star Spangled Celebration at the Nolensville Ball Park on July 1, 2017. Josie Norris / The Tennessean
Brody Boon, 1, sleeps as he is carried by his mother, Samantha Boon of Nolensville, during the Star Spangled Celebration at the Nolensville Ball Park on July 1, 2017. Josie Norris / The Tennessean
Smoke and fireworks fill the air during the Star Spangled Celebration at the Nolensville Ball Park on July 1, 2017. Josie Norris / The Tennessean
The 18th Annual Buttercup Festival takes over the Nolensville historic district in 2017. Joe Buglewicz / For The Tennessean
Riley Chilton, 6, of Smyrna is introduced during the Little Miss Buttercup pageant during the 18th Annual Buttercup Festival in Nolensville in 2017. Joe Buglewicz / For The Tennessean
Riley Chilton, 6, of Smyrna waits to be introduced during the Little Miss Buttercup pageant during the 18th Annual Buttercup Festival in Nolensville. Chilton was second runner-up in the competition. Joe Buglewicz / For The Tennessean
Aubrey Jackson gets a piggyback ride from her friend Blessing Thompson during the Nolensville Star Spangled Celebration on June 30, 2018. Alan Poizner / For The Tennessean
Construction workers add a roof to a new home at Silver Stream Farms off Rocky Fork Road in Nolensville. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Nolensville High School is one of three new schools that opened 2016. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Marvin Carr, left, and Brianna Barker, center, celebrate after being named homecoming duke and duchess of Nolensville High School during halftime Sept. 2, 2016. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Herbert Nichols' cows watch as he blocks their route to freedom by fixing the fence that was damaged by an automobile running off the road April 17, 1986. The 150-acre dairy farm is on Nolensville Road in Williamson County. Ricky Rogers / The Tennessean
Nolensville running back Jy' Don Greene, left, and quarterback Brandon Wharton, right, pray before the start of the team's homecoming game against South Gibson High School on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, in Nolensville, Tenn. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
The Nolensville Veterans Day Parade was held Nov. 9, 2013. The parade included local veterans, Scout troops, and Ravenwood JROTC and the marching band. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean/File
Linda Wade grills hot dogs before the start of the Nolensville game Sept. 2, 2016. George Walker IV / The Tennessean
Nolensville High School students, right, slap hands with Mill Creek Middle School students during the Nolensville High homecoming parade Sept. 2, 2016. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
A collection of classic cars were part of the Nolensville Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 9, 2013. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Lynn Warren holds balloons as she helps other parents decorate the cheerleaders' float before the Nolensville High School homecoming parade Sept. 2, 2016. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Members of the Nolensville community attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mill Creek Elementary and Middle School on July 24, 2016. George Walker IV / The Tennessean
Nolensville Historic Society President Steve Allemore walks through the Nolensville Historic School gym March 10, 2015. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Frank Wilson and Nolensville Historic Society President Steve Allemore look around a re-creation of a classroom at the Nolensville Historic School Museum on March 10, 2015. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
The Nolensville Historic School Museum is now available to the community. Larry McCormack / The Tennessean
Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department member Daron Standifird washes the department's firetruck between calls on Monday, April 15, 2019. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Members gather outside the Volunteer Fire Department station on Nolensville Road on Friday, April 12, 2019. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean
Johnny Hicklen of Hicklen Farms in Nolensville walks by one of his barns where he stores his pumpkins. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Nolensville Elementary P.E. teacher Deborah Russell, a breast cancer survivor, shows Addie Gleaves, 7, how to leap during class in 2012. Shelley Mays The Tennessean
Members of the girls varsity soccer team cheer as they participate in the Nolensville High School homecoming parade Sept. 2, 2016. Mark Zaleski / For The Tennessean
Shanya Drake, 5, reaches for an apple with the help of Carla Quinlan during a school field trip to Morning Glory Orchard in Nolensville in 2007. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Tant's Plants employee Marline Gutierrez works on "Enduring Pink" poinsettias that will be sold and delivered to area churches and schools in 2007. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Members of the Ravenwood JROTC march in the Nolensville Veterans Day Parade on Nov. 9, 2013. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Film crews for the movie "The Green Mile" prepare to shoot at the Nolensville United Methodist Church in 1996. Shelley Mays/The Tennessean
Kyle Nichols, 17, milks one of the dairy cows on his family's farm in Nolensville in 2004. The Tennessean
David Morales hauls pumpkins from a field on Hicklen Farm in Nolensville on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010. Farmer A.B. "Johnny" Hicklen walks by at right. The Tennessean
A Home Place Bed and Breakfast in historic downtown Nolensville on Dec. 17, 2007. Steven S. Harman/The Tennessean
Outside the Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department, the message on the sign is clear: "We need your support."
The sign includes information on an upcoming meeting of the board of mayor and aldermen, which is debating whether it's time to start paying the town's firefighters.
Nolensville is one of the many suburban towns around Nashville coping with a surge in growth that can put a strain on community resources. In this case, residents have tasked Nolensville leaders with deciding whether to create some paid fire positions or continue to rely on all-volunteer services. The Midstate isn't alone in this quandary, as other areas across the state like Knox County face similar problems.
"We need aldermen to come to the table with us," Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department board member Gwen Noe said. "We need to come to an agreement. The department is growing, and the town is growing. We have just about doubled our call volume, and we haven't doubled our budget from the town."
The Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department has tasked town leaders with deciding whether to create some paid fire positions or continue to rely on all-volunteer services. (Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean )
The conversations over paying personnel have led to lengthy aldermen debates, a man being thrown out of a public meeting andthe most recent volunteer fire chief quitting his position.
Nolensville Mayor Jimmy Alexander — who has led the town since 2010 — said he'd love to see the town have its own fire department, building and equipment.
But, he said, "Can we afford it? I'd say no."
Jason Patrick, Nolensville's vice mayor, agreed.
"If we were to (have a) knee-jerk reaction in some of the pressures we are feeling today, it would be fiscally irresponsible," he said. "I would have difficulty supporting it. But here is what I do support, and this is what we walked away from at our last budget meeting –– a road study and a further analysis of our fire department. That's what we left with. We can't throw money in a reactionary manner as a short-term fix."
County leaning on volunteers
With Williamson County's population booming, volunteer departments have become increasingly important in Nolensville, Thompson's Station and the unincorporated areas of Bethesda, Peytonsville, College Grove and Grassland.
The Nolensville department has the highest retention rate and around 40 volunteers among the county's fire and rescue stations, according to county officials. To keep up with growth, Williamson County Fire Rescue is aiming to reach 1,000 volunteers in the unincorporated areas plus Nolensville and Thompson's Station. That number is a little less than 1% of the expected population for 2020, which is the industry standard according to public safety officials.
Before he quit, formerNolensville fire chief Brian Moat argued to aldermen in April that the town should have a full-time chief and paid personnel in the upcoming year's $3.7 million budget.
Alexander said the budget includes $200,000 for the volunteer fire department, which he said was a 2.5% increase from last year.
Aldermen rejected Moat's request. Police and fire already receive $1.6 million, or half of the general fund budget.
"It's outright untrue that we don't care about the fire department," Alexander said.
Members of the Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department gather Friday, April 12, 2019, outside the station on Nolensville Road. The department has 40 active volunteers. (Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean )
How the volunteer department works
The Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department was founded in 1973 with 20 members. Nearly 50 years later, the volunteer fire department is still a nonprofit but receives funding largely from the Williamson County and Nolensville governments, in addition to donations.
Between July 2017 and June 2018, the Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department answered 757 calls, according to data from the Williamson County dispatch center.
Moat said the key difference in volunteer and paid departments is a team of firefighters are there in rotation at all times. Volunteer firefighters are paged, and have to drop everything to get to the station from where they are during a call time.
Nolensville isn't an anomaly. At least 75% of the fire departments in Tennessee are all-volunteer, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"We really want to work with that leadership, and we have been," Williamson County Public Safety Director Bill Jorgensen said. "It's really a town decision when it comes to starting a municipal department. It's not the NVFD's decision. The county is ready and willing to work with the town to provide it with the best service in the community."
The county assists in other ways, ranging from placing new radio equipment in trucks in mid-April to providing dispatch services for free, Jorgensen said. County leaders are also in the process of purchasing a ladder truck to service eastern Williamson. Current plans would station the vehicle at the Peytonsville department. Jorgensen said the decision to purchase the truck came when Page Middle School added a third floor.
Between July 2017 and June 2018, the Nolensville Volunteer Fire Department answered 757 calls, according to data from the Williamson County dispatch center. The town, which has nearly doubled in population since 2010, has about 11,000 residents. (Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean )
With Moat stepping down, the volunteer fire department board will appoint someone else to fill the role. Moat hasn't entirely left the NVFD, but said in his resignation letter he could no longer commit so much of his time.
"I resigned because I can no longer justify volunteering near full-time hours, and taking away anymore time from my family and our business to conduct research, draft proposals, formulate budgets and attend constant meetings in order to basically do the homework for town leaders that have pretty much shown they have no intent on improving fire department services in our town," Moat wrote.
Nolensville is growing
In 2010, Nolensville had 5,861 residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That number nearly doubled to around 11,000, according to the town's 2018 special census.
More: How Nolensville went from quiet town to booming in the last 5 years
Building permits also have grown, but not to the 2006 high when the town issued 348. In 2018, the town allowed 335. This year, 90 have been issued, according to the Nolensville Building Codes Department. Since 2004, new homes also have been required to have sprinkler systems.
"We'll certainly take into consideration that growth and do what we can to make sure people of the town are safe," Alexander said as leaders pursue next steps.
In the most up-to-date fire protection study from 2012, Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) researchers with predicted the tension between the government and the Nolensville fire department.
"The fact that the NVFD is not a department of the town has caused occasional strained relations between the leaders of the fire department and the town," researchers wrote. "Part of this may be the natural assumption that all fire departments are units of government and therefore subject to the level of transparency expected of government."
The same report also indicated that Nolensville could need its own ladder truck. Town building department officials said Nolensville doesn't have buildings more than three stories. But that will change with the construction of a planned $90 million mixed-use development behind city hall. Nolensville Market Square will include seven buildings with 270,000 square feet of development.
State law does not require ladder trucks in communities, but the Tennessee County Fire Handbook recommends one if a jurisdiction has five buildings without sprinklers that exceed 35 feet.
'We've asked for two years'
Moat said asking aldermen for paid personnel is nothing new. He referenced the MTAS study that indicated Nolensville's growth would eventually require a paid fire staff.
"The town was upset that some of the last structure fires were complete losses," Moat said. "Houses burn so fast now. But one of the last fires we just so happened to have a trained crew of five here. They were out of the station in a minute and a half, and they saved a large part of people's belongings in that house. Having staffed people in quarters makes a difference."
Moat said town officials asked him to come up with up a plan for paid fire personnel and a chief. Working with the town's finance department, he drafted a $1.3 million plan that mirrored the police department's.
When it came time for budget discussions, Moat said none of his suggestions were included or provided to aldermen. After the most recent aldermen meeting — where paid fire personnel weren't included — Moat said the vice mayor asked him to come back with a different proposal. He submitted another one that totaled $629,578.
Aldermen could amend the budget on second reading. Moat and Noe said they anticipated the community coming back out on May 2 to show support for the department.
"This department is a dedicated group of people," Noe said. "We live here, and we want the best for this town. Is it going to take firefighter death or citizen death to realize we need a fire department?"
Reach Emily West at erwest@tennessean.com or 615-613-1380 and on Twitter at @emwest22.
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