The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners has approved the merger of the Canton Fire Department into its own.
Commissioners voted to approve the 50-year fire consolidation agreement previously passed by the city.
Canton will transfer to the county its fire personnel, fire apparatus, the South Canton Fire Station and land for future fire station in The Bluffs. The city will retain the downtown fire station and lease part of it to the county.
The city also will pay the county the equivalent of the current millage rate of 3.374 for fire services as well as fire impact fees it collects, and contribute $1.25 million toward a new county fire house in the Laurel Canyon-Great Sky area.
The county, in turn, will transfer to the city the historic Jones Building in downtown Canton for the possible future home of the Arts Council and 45.1 acres next to the city’s Etowah River Park for a future park expansion.
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