This story was originally published by The Current GA.
Seventeen fire hydrants in Hinesville, Georgia — including those meant to safeguard 1,286 children at two elementary schools, dozens of mobile homes in a trailer park, and residents of a 200-unit low-income apartment complex — were not working in October, and 15 of those remain out of service as of January, according to an investigation by The Current GA.
The Hinesville Fire Department first learned that the hydrants were out of service during the annually scheduled flow tests, according to Fire Chief Robert Kitchings, who describes the situation as “scary.”
Kitchings said that he’s working as quickly as possible to repair the devices under his control, and has successfully gotten three back online as the fire department waits for brand new hydrants to replace five older, broken models located on city property.
Credit: Robin Kemp
Credit: Robin Kemp
However, nine hydrants, including devices that service Lyman Hall Elementary and Taylors Creek Elementary, are the responsibility of the organizations that own the property on which they are located – the Liberty County School System.
The Current GA spent a week seeking comment from the school district, the school board and elected city officials about the public safety risks the nonfunctional hydrants posed. Both schools have more than one fire hydrant on site, but it is unclear how well firefighters could handle an emergency with reduced access to water.
In an initial phone interview on Jan. 4, Liberty County School System Chief Operations Officer Arnold Jackson said he would check with maintenance and call back “in a few weeks.”
District 2 Liberty County School Board member Marcus Scott said that the reporter’s phone call was the first he had heard of the issue. He said he would follow up with school superintendent Franklin Perry.
On Friday morning, Jackson called The Current GA with updates on a plan to repair the nonfunctional hydrants.
Part of a larger problem
The Current GA last year revealed inadequacies in Liberty County’s fire-fighting readiness, after one of the county’s oldest historic structures burned to the ground due, in part, to lack of equipment and training. In comparison, Hinesville’s fire management systems appeared in good order.
Hinesville maintains a map of fire hydrants, a basic tool for fire-fighting teams to have in an emergency. Of approximately 1,734 hydrants in the city limits inspected in October by HFD, 17 were found to be faulty, according to city documents reviewed by The Current GA.
Credit: Robin Kemp
Credit: Robin Kemp
As of the start of the year, when the new city council took their positions, Kitchings received more authority to force property owners, including the school district, to maintain their hydrants: a new city ordinance.
On Jan. 4, Hinesville’s City Council voted unanimously to adopt a new ordinance that puts teeth in HFD’s ability to enforce state and federal fire codes.
City Manager Kenneth Howard said the new ordinance essentially brings the city in line with federal and state regulations about minimum safety standards for private fire hydrants — for example, pressure and water quality testing, as well as minimum distances from structures.
Kitchings told The Current GA that letters went out to the entities responsible for maintaining the hydrants on private land on Jan. 8, and the department would follow up with the recipients on Jan. 12.
Asked for comment on the fact that most of the non-working private hydrants were in District 1, Councilwoman Diana Reid said she would defer to Kitchings’ expertise on the matter.
District 4 City Councilman Dexter Newby told The Current GA, “I’m glad that it was identified and brought forth so that we can make these corrections to better serve the people of Hinesville, Liberty County.”
The Current GA also has e-mailed District 3 Councilwoman Vicky Nelson, and District 5 Councilman José Ortiz; Liberty County District 2 Commissioner Justin Frasier and District 5 Commissioner (and City of Hinesville Public Works contractor) Gary Gilliard; and Liberty County School Board District 2 member Marcus Scott and District 5 member Dr. Chante Baker Martin, seeking further comment on the matter. Scott said The Current GA’s inquiry was the first he’d heard of the problem.
‘Compliance is more important’
Despite the public safety threats, Kitchings told the council his department is not going to “go in with guns blazing” or immediately issue citations as a way to force compliance with the new ordinance.
“Our first priority is education,” he said. “We will do everything in our power to (help). To me, compliance is more important than going after them.”
He added that HFD will recheck the hydrants outside of the annual schedule: “If they can’t afford to do it, maybe we can work out something with Public Works that they could pay back.”
Who’s responsible?
The owner of a private fire hydrant or their “designee” — for example, the manager of an apartment complex — is responsible for making sure the hydrant is maintained and tested, according to the ordinance.
A disclaimer at the bottom of the city’s list of non-working private hydrants read, “Hydrant owners are not maintained nor known at this time by the FD.” However, a “private hydrant” is defined as “a hydrant on private property.”
Credit: Robin Kemp
Credit: Robin Kemp
Kitchings said that two of the city-owned hydrants — at 313 Thomas St. and 220 East Memorial Dr. — have been replaced, and that a ninth city-owned hydrant at 307 Wexford had been replaced prior to The Current GA’s investigation.
Only two of the private hydrants on the city’s list were visibly tagged as being “out of service” in December. Those were at the Cypress Bend Trailer Park at 947 Elma G. Miles Pkwy. The Cypress Bend Mobile Home Park is owned by Cypress Bend, L.L.C. and managed by Dennis Waters Rentals of Allenhurst. Residents of the park are represented by Commission District 2 and City Council District 3.
Safe at school?
Two of the non-working private hydrants are at public schools: Lyman Hall Elementary, which serve 612 children at 1396 Shaw Road, and Taylors Creek Elementary, where 674 children are enrolled at 378 Airport Road.
Neither hydrant was tagged as being out of service in December. It’s not clear why a public school system would take months to repair faulty fire hydrants just a few yards from children’s classrooms, nor why officials failed to notify parents of the issue.
Lyman Hall Elementary is in School Board District 5, Commission District 5, and City Council District 4, while Taylors Creek Elementary is in School Board District 2, Commission District 2, and City Council District 5.
On Jan. 3, LCSS Director of Public Relations Genese Baker Lane said she did not know how the private hydrants came to be on school property and would have someone from maintenance call back.
On Jan. 4, Jackson told The Current GA that he would have to ask someone else to research the matter. “It’s the first day the kids are back,” he said, adding that someone would look into the history of how the private hydrant came to be at the school and call back “in a few weeks.”
On Friday, Jan. 12, Jackson contacted The Current GA to say that HFD had tagged the non-working hydrants as out of service and that LCSS had contacted a local company, Palm Coast, to repair the hydrants.
“I don’t know until they inspect it and service it, but typically it’s a malfunctioning or broken stem that’s the problem,” Arnold said. “But we’ve already notified maintenance that they’re going to call Palm Coast to get services.”
Asked whether the school system had notified parents that their children had one less working fire hydrant to protect them, Jackson said, “We haven’t put out any notice. We haven’t received official notice. I just called them (HFD) this morning. I’m hoping we’ll have the repair done today, hopefully. I’ll talk to our communications office, and we’ll make that — and send out notifications appropriately.”
Newby, whose council district encompasses both schools, said that he understood the school system is working on fixing the faulty hydrants.
“There are other hydrants around there that work, so they do have a plan for that. And it’s marked or identified that that one doesn’t work. So if something happens, they do have other hydrants out there for any issues that happen,” he said.
Residents at risk
The Harbor Rain Apartments at 601 Saunders Ave. are state-subsidized units for low-income residents. Liberty County property tax maps list 20 apartments there. The Harbor Rain Apartments are part of Commission District 5 and Council District 1, according to the county’s property tax map.
The Current GA contacted the complex to ask permission to photograph the non-working hydrant, but an employee at the property refused permission. The employee said manager, Carol Stone, was not available for comment and would not be available for the rest of the week because the complex is undergoing a Housing and Urban Development inspection.
HUD spokesperson Shannon S. Watkins said in an e-mail that HUD doesn’t have a role in the complex. She said it was a matter for the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and provided a link to submit complaints. She also suggested reaching out to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. A call to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs on Jan. 10 went to voicemail.
A check of the address on DCA’s Open Data website shows that TISHCO Properties, LLC (founded in 2014 as TISCHO Management, LLC, with Mary T. Johnson of Valdosta as the organizer) is listed as the management company of the 200-unit complex. A call to TISHCO Properties on Friday went to voicemail.
Liberty County property tax records show the owner of Parcel 043D 001 as JT Hinesville, L.P. State corporate filings also list Johnson as the registered agent, and as the general partner of another corporation, JT Liberty, LLC.
The Current GA attempted to reach the attorney listed on JT Liberty’s corporate filings, Lori Huff, by phone and e-mail for more information about whether that company was still a general partner of JT Hinesville, who the officers of the corporations are, whether they were aware of the hydrant issue, and when residents could expect any necessary repair or replacement.
Huff replied, “I no longer work with the company involved with those entities, but I have forwarded your email to them so they should be contacting you.” The Current GA had not heard from the companies as of press time.
Credit: Robin Kemp
Credit: Robin Kemp
Wooded lots adjoin other homes
Evergreen Star Holdings LLC used to own 1601 Pipkin Road, which HFD lists as “Old Bear Island Trailer Park,” but the company is currently defunct.
The entrances to the property are chained off and posted as private property. A wooden staircase that apparently used to lead to the door of a long-gone mobile home stands near the entrance. Two paved roads disappear into pine woods and dry brush. No hydrants were visible from the public right of way. Across the road on Jay Street are several occupied mobile homes, serviced by a different fire hydrant, and a new subdivision under construction.
The county map shows a 37.63-acre, 26-unit mobile home parcel at that address, owned by Evans T & T Investments, LLC of Claxton in Evans County; the registered agent is Tommy Strickland. Parcel number 046A004, along with a few smaller parcels comprising the former trailer park, is represented by Commission District 2 and Council District 3.
HFD found a non-working fire hydrant in the woods next to the Maybank Village Condominiums, represented by Commission District 2 and Council District 4. Its HOA, the Maybank Village Condominium Association, Inc, is led by chief executive Petra Dixon, secretary Kissiah Moore, and chief financial officer Latisha Darville, according to its most recent 2023 corporate filing.
Multiple attempts to reach HOA board members via Facebook Messenger were unsuccessful.
150+ condos down two hydrants
Two more private hydrants are at the Summerwind Condominiums at 910 and 912 Brett Drive. The Current GA contacted the resident manager, Mark Deunger, who said, “I don’t know anything about those two. I believe the city is responsible for them.”
He added that he thought 910 and 912 Brett Drive were just outside the entrance, which is posted as private property. The last address outside the entrance to Summerwind Condominiums is 907.
While different people own the dozens of condos on Summerwind’s property, the condos fall under a homeowner’s association, the Summerwind Village Homeowners’ Association, Inc. Deunger is listed as both agent and secretary of the corporation; Lee Lightford is listed as CEO, and Ashley Smith is listed as CFO on the most recent three-year annual registration filing in 2021.
The county’s online mapping system shows that 910 Brett Drive has more than 150 units, which county tax records show are represented by Commission District 5 and Council District 1.
As of press time, hundreds of Hinesville residents remain at increased risk due to non-working fire hydrants.
Credit: The Current GA
Credit: The Current GA
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