The Franklin County Commission has decided it will not shut down the St James lanark village fire department if the group can show that it is taking steps to run the department properly.
Just three weeks ago the county commission voted to reach out to the Carrabelle and Alligator Point fire departments to see if they could handle the additional work if the Lanark Village fire district was ended.
The county took the step because of long-running problems within the Lanark Village Fire Department that range from shoddy operations to the illegal use of funds.
That includes an ongoing sheriff's investigation into the misuse of fire department funds that were discovered during a recent financial audit of the department.
On Tuesday, however, commissioners agreed to step back and let the department move forward.
The commission said it will require the fire department to submit a status report in writing on their plans to get the department operating properly.
They also want to know who is handling the department's money and how often is the board of directors is meeting.
The commission said it is also concerned about the makeup of the board of directors as some board members may not have Franklin county addresses and some of the board members may be the same ones who may have misappropriated funds.
Commissioner Smokey Parrish said there has to be more accountability and oversight over the department, but that should come from Lanark Village residents who need to work harder to police their own fire department.
The commission also agreed to schedule a workshop with State Fire Marshal staff to discuss whether additional steps should be taken to insure that all local fire departments that get county tax dollars are operating appropriately.
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