For more than two decades, Spring Lake provided fire protection to the Manchester Fire District. But as of Sept. 19, the Manchester township, located in the northwestern part of the county, now receives its fire protection services elsewhere — a decision that came after months of conversations between Spring Lake and Cumberland County officials failed to produce an agreement about funding for the district.
In statements to CityView, Cumberland County officials assert the move was a result of the town’s decision to expedite a timeline for securing fire protection services. In contrast, Spring Lake officials say they exhausted efforts to collaborate with the county to find a solution, with the town manager proposing alternative funding options back in July.
Here’s what you need to know.
Spring Lake proposed 80/20 split in costs in letter to county
The Westarea Fire Department is now providing fire protection for the Manchester Fire District.
The high cost of operating the Manchester Fire District caused a revenue shortfall of about $600,000 for Spring Lake in their fiscal year 2025 budget, according to a July 18 letter from Town Manager Jon Rorie to Cumberland County Manager Clarence Grier. Annual funding for the district, which comes from Spring Lake’s Manchester Fire Tax and a yearly grant from Cumberland County, totals just $161,494. In the letter, Rorie said Spring Lake took actions to narrow the operating costs of the district, freezing three positions at the Manchester Fire District and reducing the shortfall to about $425,000, but a funding gap still remained.
Rorie’s letter proposed an 80/20 split in costs between the county and Spring Lake and a 9.1 cent tax increase for residents of Spring Lake to help cushion the deficit, but acknowledged that after fiscal year 2025, the town “cannot continue to tax our residents to provide fire protection services in the Manchester Fire District.”
At a Sept. 23 board of commissioners meeting, Spring Lake Mayor Kia Anthony and Rorie addressed the town’s decision to stop providing fire protection services for the Manchester Fire District.
“The county chose to provide a lower-cost service and a lower-quality service, because that district will no longer have EMS services, to support an underserved low-income community.” Mayor Kia Anthony said. “We tried in every possible way to work with the county so that we could continue to serve this area, however, it didn’t work out that way.”
In statements to CityView, county officials offered a differing perspective.
County expressed concerns about timeline
Cumberland County Manager Clarence Grier disagreed with Spring Lake official’s version of events in an email statement.
“Due to the actions/decisions of the Town of Spring Lake, the County was placed in the unfortunate position to promptly secure fire protection services by Sept. 30 for the Manchester District,” Grier told CityView. “ … The County has continually expressed concerns due to the timeline provided by the Town of Spring Lake. The Town of Spring Lake took several actions that reduced the expiration date of the fire protection services for the Manchester District as early as August 23, 2024.
We were fortunate to reach an agreement with the Westarea Fire Department to provide fire protection services to the Manchester District.”
In his statement, Grier wrote that while cost is a consideration when providing a public service, the “well-being of residents in the Manchester Fire District has always been paramount.” The county said it plans to coordinate with community partners in order to provide necessary services to the district, but did not clarify which specific partners will be engaged.
The county directed additional inquiries regarding the change in fire protection services for the Manchester District to Spring Lake’s town government and manager.
Cumberland County Communications Director Diane B. Rice told CityView that Cape Fear provides EMS transport for the Manchester District, and that county-provided services won’t change.
Along with questions about EMS services that will be available in the Manchester District, both Spring Lake and county officials also noted possible slower dispatch of fire services to emergencies.
“It will cause longer response times,” Gene Booth, emergency service director for Cumberland County told CityView.
At Spring Lake’s Sept. 23 meeting, Mayor Anthony said that when Spring Lake was servicing the Manchester Fire District, there was a two-minute response time to an emergency. Anthony expressed concerns that response times could grow substantially with services now being provided by Westarea Fire Department.
The change in fire protection jurisdiction took effect on Sept. 19. The next Spring Lake Board of Commissioners meeting will be held at 6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 14 at Spring Lake Town Hall, 300 Ruth St.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify additional context from the Cumberland County Manager’s Office regarding the county’s involvement in the change in fire protection services for the Manchester Fire District.
