Cahaba Valley Fire Dept to modify service fees

August 2, 2020 9:49 PM

Photo courtesy of the Cahaba Valley Fire Department

The Cahaba Valley Fire and Emergency Medical Rescue District has submitted a request to the Probate Court of Shelby County for an Election to modify the Schedule of Services Fees for the District and will hold an election on Sept. 1.

The District has developed a Strategic Plan to best support the needs of the members of the District for 2020-2025. This plan includes proposed modifications to the fees applied to apartments, hotels/motels, and fire hydrants within the District.

No other fees are affected by the proposed modification and there will be no increase in the residential fees.

The Strategic Plan has been developed to meet the needs of the District which have drastically changed over the last 10 years of dynamic growth in the area. Emergency Call volume, which includes Fire, EMS and public assistance/service calls, has increased by 81% since 2010, and will continue to increase as the area continues to grow.

There are two hotel/motel facilities and eight apartment complexes within the district and calls tot hose facilities and complexes comprise 10% of EMS calls, 21.4% of Fire calls, and 4.4% of all public assistance/service calls.

Hotels/Motels include:

Sonesta Extended Stay Suites, 3 Greenhill Parkway
Budgetel Inn & Suites, 5429 Hwy 280 East

Apartments include:

Kenley Apartments, 10 Kenley Way
The Avenues of Inverness, 3100 Heatherbrooke Rd.
The Abbey at Inverness, 1000 Hunt Cliff Rd.
Brook Highland Place, 1 Meadow Dr.
Eagle Ridge, 1 Eagle Ridge Dr.
Retreat at Greystone, 201 Retreat Dr. B
Turtle Lake Apartments, 1 Turtle Lake Dr.
The Point at Oak Mountain,1 Stonecrest Dr.

Due to the nature of the facilities and complexes, fire calls to both require more resources to respond. The proposed modification for apartments would set the annual fee for an apartment to $320, and apartment offices and clubhouses will be assessed annually based on $0.1680/square foot.

Hotels/motels would set the annual fee at $100 per hotel/motel room and offices/common areas will be assessed annually based on $0.1680/square foot.

The Election is open to all qualified electors residing within the Cahaba Valley Fire and Emergency Medical Rescue District and will be held on September 1 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Church at Brook Hills (3145 Brook Highland Parkway, Birmingham).