City of Cameron consents to place ESD on ballot

A county-wide emergency services district took a step forward on Monday night when the City of Cameron consented to place the Milam County Emergency Services District on the ballot in November.

Milano Fire Chief Kain Dodd was on hand to discuss the creation of the district with city council members.

Dodd asked all of the citizens in Milam County to band together and sign a petition to create an Emergency Services District in Milam County. An ESD is a grassroots organization that is created by registered voters and landowners within a county. The proposed district will fund an additional fourth ambulance, rebuild the EMS stations, and allow us to create our own Milam County EMS system in the future. 

Cameron is currently a member of the coalition with Milam County and the City of Rockdale, which currently funds emergency services in the county.

“There are five incorporated cities in the county,” he said. “When the coalition was created Milano and Buckholts did not join it at that time. Thorndale did not join because at the time in 2005 they had their own volunteer EMS system. They don’t provide a subsidy for EMS in the county and contractually there is no obligation to service Thorndale with that contract.”

“One of the biggest things this will do is address EMS on a county-wide level and service everyone,” he said.

Dodd submitted a petition to the county, which was accepted and filed with the County Clerk. Commissioners scheduled a public hearing for the citizens of Milam County to be held on Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. at the Milam County Courthouse. The next step in the creation process is to receive written consent from all five incorporated cities in the county. Each city must adopt a resolution allowing its city limits and its extraterritorial jurisdiction to be included in the proposed district should it be voted in by the citizens of that city.

Rockdale, Thorndale and Buckholts, along with Cameron have given consent. Milano was expected to take up the subject on Tuesday night.

An ESD would create a new taxing entity in the county that would collect taxes to entirely fund ambulance services in the county. 

The city also welcomed new City Manager Ricky Tow for his first meeting and heard a report on the Little River Watershed Study and the 2021 Consumer Confidence Report on water.