Bastrop to get its first paid fire chief
Bastrop Police Chief Steve Adcock will soon also become city director of public safety as the city begins its search for its first paid fire chief.
“Because the city is growing so much, we’ve got to enhance our fire services and this is the first step in accomplishing that,” said City Manager Mike Talbot.
Before the change, the city’s sole fire services were provided by volunteers, including a volunteer fire chief. Hiring a paid fire chief will bring the Fire Department in as a city department, moving it in the direction of having more paid fire personnel in the future, Talbot said.
Adcock is expected this month to move into the role of city director of public safety, retaining his duties as police chief but also overseeing the Fire Department and its new chief as well, Talbot said.
Starting as police chief in Bastrop in January 2014, Adcock also has past experience working with the Gatesville Volunteer Fire Department. He said he thinks the shift to the new public safety structure was long overdue for the city.
As police chief, Adcock’s current salary is $99,382, according to Talbot. He will see a pay increase in his new role as public safety director.
Talbot is working up Adcock’s new salary, a range for the fire chief ’s salary and job descriptions for the positions, and he plans to have them ready in the next few weeks.
At the Bastrop City Council meeting next week, council members will review ordinances setting up the new public safety structure and any changes with how the Fire Department will work. Once the ordinances are finalized by the council, Adcock will start his new post and the city will begin advertising the job posting for the fire chief.
Talbot said he modeled the personnel structure on communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where he served as a city manager.
Even though the goal is to move toward a paid Fire Department, Talbot and Adcock stressed that volunteer firefighters will remain vital to the city’s fire operations.
“If we ever do start transitioning to paid personnel, other than a chief, the paid personnel are going to be supporting the volunteers not the other way around,” Adcock said. “The volunteers are the most important part of our Fire Department and we are going to keep that at all costs.”
Bastrop Fire Chief Henry Perry, who is unpaid, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
The goal, Talbot says, is to have a fire chief in the position by January.