Jacksonville Beach City leaders delay fire merger decision

Jacksonville, FL — City leaders in Jacksonville Beach tabled a decision to possibly merge their fire department with JFRD on Monday evening. Multiple council members had questions they wanted to get answered by the City of Jacksonville first before deciding. Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham says council members have until close of business Thursday to submit their question to the City Manager.

Both sides are passionate about the merger, with supporters saying the merge could bring in better safety equipment, better promotional opportunities, and help crews respond to emergencies faster. But, Jacksonville Beach Fire Marshal Steve Sciotto says it would actually make response times worse because the city would go from having three units to two. Sciotto says the average response time in Jacksonville Beach is four minutes and eight seconds.

Those who oppose the potential merger, like Ken Marsh, say they are satisfied with the service they are getting.

“For Jacksonville Beach this is a divorce and people don’t leave a divorce because they are satisfied.” Marsh says.

City leaders say the proposal could save taxpayers $15 million over 10 years. A decision has been pushed back to May 20th.