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LEWISVILLE — In a Lewisville Town Council retreat a couple of years ago, there was a presentation on “the future of fire service in the town.”

During the review of all the topics at that February 2022 retreat, Mayor Mike Horn said afterward that one that really stood out to him was the fire service and changes throughout the county involving volunteer departments with some mergers and shifting of funding.

And on the agenda in this month’s council meeting, Horn added one final item involving previous discussions that are becoming “more acute as time goes on” and that the fire department asked about making a presentation to council to talk about those issues and to find out “if there is a way that we can jointly maybe work together to address those.”

So, the consensus among the council was to call a special meeting, which will be open to the public, specifically on this item on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 6 p.m. at the Mary Alice Warren Community Center in the Great Wagon Room.

“A number of things have evolved since the last presentation, including a number of new council members who don’t have any background on the department,” Horn said. “The fire department’s current contract goes through June of next year. This presentation is just to get council’s thoughts on how they might move forward.”

At the 2022 retreat, Darin Needham, the town’s fire chief, shared a PowerPoint presentation titled “Lewisville Fire Protection — Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” He said that it was meant more as a routine update to talk about some of the changes with fire protection in the county and how it “all comes back to the service that we provide to the community with what they expect now and in the future. This is to make sure we’re all on the same page as far as fire protection.”

Needham added that the town has changed drastically over the years with tremendous growth, and it has been a new dynamic with Vienna Fire Department joining the Lewisville Fire Department in serving the town.

Needham said that the presentation was just a “snapshot, a very limited view,” which opened with the beginning of the Lewisville Fire Department in 1951 and went through a number of bullet-point items, including modern operations, outside influences and adaptive challenges.

That was followed by a slide of the common operating picture of the department’s primary objective of protecting Lewisville citizens, and then stating in red type that the “Lewisville Fire Department currently serves at the discretion of Forsyth County governance alone.”

Then it stated: “In recent contract negotiations, Forsyth County employed a direct threat to cease LFD funding (Dec. 31, 2020),” and then in red type: “Houston, We Have A Problem.”

Needham said after the retreat that he would not read anything into that statement.

“No agenda or red flag warning,” he said. “You can say that’s more for dramatic effect just to make sure council has a comprehensive understanding. It says currently this is how we’re structured, and that can change at any time.”

Another slide pointed out that the Lewisville Fire Department has demonstrated exceptional ability to successfully navigate the “change” environment, and that it and the Vienna Fire Department must have a clear understanding of the roles and relationships pursuant to the governance under which they serve — adding, again in red type, “only the Town of Lewisville or Forsyth County holds the ability to define the structure of fire protection within the town.”

In business items in the Nov. 14 meeting, the council approved the Shady Brook Acres residential subdivision, a proposed major subdivision in the RS-9 zoning district, that is a technical review with no zoning change required, and that the developer will meet all the necessary requirements.

The project area, which is off Shallowford Road, measures 25.37 acres and has 56 new single-family residential lots with 52 lots that can be accessed from three proposed street extensions and four lots being accessed from Carrington Oaks. Public water and sewer services are available, and the Planning Board recommended unanimous approval in its September meeting.

Town staff also offered the opinion that the request meets the standards of the United Development Ordinance and is in general conformance with the town’s Comprehensive Plan and Legacy for the area.

Justin Mendenhall of the Arden Group, LLC is the petitioner, and the ownership is comprised of Graybrook Investments, LLC and William Reynolds.

In other highlights from the meeting, the council:

• Heard that approvals at the briefing and action meeting on Nov. 7 included a resolution for additional work for the Great Wagon Road project (TIP U-5535) at a cost of $556,375 and an ordinance amending Public Works building operating expenses at a cost of $14,789.
• Approved resolutions for a new Technology Use Policy and a fall roadway maintenance contract for crack sealing in the amount of $86,952.
• Heard a Town of Lewisville Fiscal Year 2023-24 audit presentation from Pam Orrell, finance director, and Monty Pendry, partner, Gibson & Company, P.A.
• Heard that the Holiday Open House will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 6 at the Mary Alice Warren Community Center, followed by the Christmas Tree lighting at 7 p.m. and the Christmas Parade on Dec. 8 at 3 p.m. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” will be shown at 6 p.m. on Dec. 13 at Mary Alice Warren Community Center.