The city of North Myrtle Beach has plans to spend over $10 million on public safety in the upcoming budget.
The city plans to spend $8 million on building a new fire station, about $1.1 million on new police officers and patrol cars and $1.5 million on a city-wide camera system.
The new fire station, Fire Station #7, could be operating as early as 2025 with around 10 firefighters staffed, one engine and one ladder truck, city spokesperson Donald Graham said.
“Fire Station 7 will be off Water Tower Road near the new Palmetto Coast Industrial Park. The benefits of building Fire Station 7 in that location will mean North Myrtle Beach Public Safety Members with the NMBFR will have quicker response times in a growing area of the City,” Graham said. “Fire Station 7 will also help keep lower insurance rates for people living nearby. It will also help keep lower insurance rates for companies choosing to locate or relocate to the Palmetto Coast Industrial Park on Water Tower Road.”
The North Myrtle Beach Police Department will also see improvements if the budget is approved.
The city plans to hire six new officers and purchase 12 new patrol cars, said Randy Wright, the city's finance director.
“As the city’s population is increasing we have to increase the amount of officers we employ to serve the needs of our growing community,” NMBPD Chief Dana Crowell said. “Vehicles need to be replaced yearly as the fleet ages and more vehicles must be purchased to accommodate the increase in officers.”
The $1.5 million city-wide camera system, if approved, will also benefit public safety, according to Crowell.
“The city wide camera system will be very beneficial to public safety as it is an effective deterrent for crime,” she said. “It will also be used to help solve crime, monitor threats to public safety, monitor traffic situations, and monitor large scale events. All of which will increase security and aid our officers in providing a safe environment for our residents and visitors alike.”
Graham said the city is still in the planning stages of determining where the cameras would be placed and how many are needed but that staff members have determined that lighted intersections, the sports complex, McLean Park, government buildings and beach accesses are areas that would most likely be equipped with some of the new cameras.
City officials also have plans for future public safety endeavors that will not be in the upcoming budget, but could be in a future budget, Wright said.
It would cost $30 million to build and operate an Emergency Operations Center, he said. It would be built off Champions Boulevard across from the entrance to the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex. The city does not have a date to break ground on the project yet.
“We live in an area in which weather events occur frequently,” Crowell said. "In the event of an emergency an EOC will allow for overall management of the incident and ensure resources needed to assist our community during an incident are provided to responders."
The upcoming budget will be discussed during city council meetings scheduled before the start of the fiscal year. City council must pass a budget before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
Meetings are generally held on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7 p.m. at city hall.
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