Due to a lack of funding, the Peachtree City Fire Department will be disbanding its dive team.
The department will still have the capability to provide safety for events such as the Peachtree City Triathlon and the annual dragon boat races, but they will not be able to recover anyone who goes below the surface of the water, officials said.
The city also will lose the capability of searching underwater for evidence and other items. So in such situations the city will have to summon a dive team from a neighboring jurisdiction, which will cost time but most likely not money.
The city was facing a $18,262 shortfall this year to meet new requirements and to overcome budget cuts that delayed necessary equipment upgrades, fire officials said. Also looming next year is an estimated cost of $41,000 for a required communications device that allows for communications between underwater and land-based personnel.
While there were some concerns about eliminating the dive team as the city is about to gain another drinking water reservoir in Lake McIntosh, the cost was seen as too high by a majority of council.
A vote that denied a staff request to take the funds out of the city’s reserves was approved on a 3-2 vote. In favor of cutting the funds were council members Eric Imker, Kim Learnard and Vanessa Fleisch.
Voting against were Mayor Don Haddix and councilman Doug Sturbaum.
Fire Chief Ed Eiswerth said if the city decided to bring back the dive team after a period of time, it would cost upwards of $100,000 to accomplish.
