JOHN COFFELT Staff Writer

Due to a breakdown in communication somewhere in the process, Hillsboro Volunteer Fire Department, an independent 501(c) 3, is not expecting to receive $15,000 for fire protection coverage provided at the 2023 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

Coffee County Mayor Judd Matheny said at the Aug. 24 Budget and Finance Committee Meeting that the festival typically pays Hillsboro Volunteer Fire Department the $15,000 for fire coverage, but that FEMA guidelines now suggest that for usage of the station’s equipment the festival should be billed $25,000. Manpower is volunteered by the firefighters.

The confusion goes back to the 2020 annex of the Bonnaroo farm into the city and the subsequent fee that the county imposed on any large gathering. Following the passing of the fee (that mirrors the one passed by the city), festival organizers have subsequently sent the county a letter notifying the county that it would no longer pay for the additional services provided by the county. Bonnaroo called the fee unfair and felt that the county could pay for those services from the estimated $240,000 that it should receive with the fee.

As an entity that is located within the city limits of Manchester, the festival is now privy to certain amount of services like fire protection from the city.

Early talks with the city after the annex indicated the general intent to allow Hillsboro Fire to continue to serve the festival as it had since the festival’s initial 2001 Bonnaroo.

Yet according to the County Mayor, all those involved failed to hammer out any kind of contract prior to the 2023 festival. He proposed at the Aug. 24 meeting, the county pay Hillsboro Fire the $15,000 from its fee monies and then seek to recoup that from either the county or the festival.

Commissioner Joey Hobbs, who also serves as an alderman and is Chairman of Manchester Safety Committee and the Finance Committee, said that Manchester should be responsible in the future.

“It’s in the city, they get the sales tax and all that,” Hobbs said. “This year I feel … like there was a communication breakdown and somehow the county gets left with the bag.”

Hobbs defended Hillsboro Fire Chief Brandon Gunn, saying that Gunn though that he was negotiating with the festival through the Mayor’s Office. He faulted Gunn for not getting clarity, but said that the county should not leave the department hanging.

“Now that it’s in the city, the city has to facilitate whatever they need with Bonnaroo, we shouldn’t really to be doing anything with Bonnaroo,” Hobbs said. “It’s not our anymore. We don’t get the sales tax.”

Hobbs said that the city is weighing if it should implement a five-year deal with Hillsboro Fire, and then pass those costs to Bonnaroo.

“The city will pick it up going forward,” he said.

Not all the commissioners agreed, Tim Brown, while supporting the volunteers, demurred.

“So, the county’s going to pay a bill that we really don’t owe?” Brown said. “Are we in the bailout business?”

Recognizing the extent that volunteer fire department gives to the community, Brown added, “But, I don’t see us having to pay for others’ mistakes.”

The committee tabled the matter pending further discussions with Bonnaroo and Manchester City.