GORDONVILLE FIRE DISTRICT FORUM TONIGHT

GORDONVILLE - The Gordonville Volunteer Fire Department will hold a public informational meeting tonight to explain details of the proposed Gordonville Fire District that would serve Gordonville and the 120-square mile rural area now served by the fire department.

The meeting will begin at 7 at the Gordonville Fire Station on Route A in Gordonville. The meeting will last one hour. Babysitting will be available at no charge.

Residents who live within the proposed fire district boundaries will go to the polls June 8 to decide the proposition.

The Gordonville Fire Department wants to organize a tax-supported district to upgrade fire protection service. The proposed fire district would be similar to other tax-supported, rural fire districts that have been created in Cape Girardeau County since the 1970s.

Only two of the seven rural fire departments in the county have not organized a tax-supported fire district: Gordonville and Whitewater. The Millersville Fire District also is a non-taxing fire district at this time.

In addition to the rural area, the new fire district would also provide fire protection for the communities of Gordonville, Tilsit and Dutchtown, and several residential subdivisions, including Grandview Acres on Highway 25 and the Hillcrest subdivision and Parkwood Lakes Estates Mobile Home Court, both on Route K, east of Gordonville.

If voters approve the creation of the fire district, a three-member board of directors will be elected at the same time. The board would hold a public meeting in September to set the district's budget and tax levy.

Three candidates have filed for the board of directors; Charles F. Pruitt, Bill Craig, and Keith Quade.