Cottonwood Shores town hall highlights fire department split, plans for new city facility
Cottonwood Shores City Councilor Michael Ritchie (left), Mayor Jared Dodd, and City Manager JC Hughes hosted a town hall meeting on Thursday, April 23, to share with the community the plans for a new, city-run fire department. Staff photo by Maci Cottingham
A town hall intended to update residents on fire protection in Cottonwood Shores highlighted ongoing challenges with the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department as officials outlined plans for a new city-run fire department.
During the Thursday, April 23, meeting, City Manager JC Hughes said a new fire department will be built on four lots at 3915 Cottonwood Drive. The project is expected to be funded through predicted tax revenue growth from new developments in the city and grants.
The plan comes as the city works under a three-year agreement with Horseshoe Bay for fire protection services, costing about $174,000 annually and requiring Cottonwood Shores to establish its own fire protection system by March 2029.
Hughes, Mayor Jared Dodd, and Councilmember Michael Ritchie said the city will move forward with establishing a city-run department after years of stalled negotiations with the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department.
“This was definitely not our first choice,” Ritchie said.
Dodd added that the city could no longer delay action as talks failed to produce results.
“We’ve been working on this for three years, and we’re right back where we started, so we have to move forward,” he said.
The town hall followed recent discussions over staffing, firefighter certification levels, and control of the volunteer fire department’s property. The Cottonwood Shores VFD is a nonprofit, separate from the city, that previously had a contract with Cottonwood Shores to provide fire protection services.
Staffing concerns were one of the key factors for city leaders in their decision to move forward with a new fire department. The city had ended its $45,000 annual contract with the volunteer department in October 2024, citing the lack of certified firefighters as a major problem.
City Manager Hughes confirmed with DailyTrib that Cottonwood Shores VFD Chief Ray Schwartz is currently the only certified firefighter in the department. Schwartz has been running the VFD since 2023.
Town hall turmoil
Disputes between city leadership and Schwartz boiled over during Thursday night’s town hall.
During the meeting, Schwartz disputed the need for any minimum number of certified firefighters.
“There’s nothing saying in the contract that we had to have a certain amount of ‘firefighter 1’,” Schwartz said.
“Firefighter 1” is the lowest level of certification attainable by firefighters in Texas.
In response to a resident’s question regarding the number of certified firefighters, Schwartz said, “Over 90 percent of our calls are medical calls. At one point we had two EMTs and everybody was medically trained for the basic BSL (Basic Life Support).”
City Manager Hughes countered, stating that emergency medical services were not part of the contract and that fire certifications remained the primary concern for the city.
“(Medical response) was never part of the contract, but we could have just not gone on all those calls and left little old ladies laying on the ground overnight,” Schwartz said.
Former Cottonwood Shores VFD Chief Dustin Hays shared his own perspective on VFD staffing, noting the department had six certified firefighters, several with Level 2 certifications, during his tenure.
“I passed the ball to you,” Hays said. “You have taken that ball in the corner, chewed it up and destroyed it.”
Schwartz left the meeting following the exchange. Mayor Dodd played peacemaker in the aftermath of the arguments.
“Please don’t think we are trying to attack (Schwartz) personally or attack his character,” he said. “This is just about professional responsibility in providing fire service. I don’t question his heart or intentions.”
Schwartz spoke with DailyTrib following the meeting, explaining that he felt that the city was “operating in bad faith.”
“Most of what was said by the city was a lot of half truths,” he said. “We still want to be a fire department and do good for the community. We feel we’re being misrepresented.”
Background
The Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department took over fire protection services for the city of Cottonwood Shores in August 2025 after the Horseshoe Bay Fire Department ended any mutual aid agreements with the Cottonwood Shores Volunteer Fire Department due to a perceived lop-sided relationship between the agencies.
At the time, HSBFD Chief Doug Fowler said that his department’s assistance had gone far beyond the normal parameters of neighbors helping neighbors, with Horseshoe Bay firefighters responding to Cottonwood Shores calls twice a week on average.
“We could not continue to provide free services,” Fowler said. “This was well past a mutual aid agreement.”
Schwartz, at the time, also acknowledged the issue.
“We’ve been shorthanded for a long time,” he told DailyTrib in a September 2025 interview. “It’s hard enough to get someone to run toward a fire, let alone do it for free. Honestly, there has been a lot of trouble between the (Cottonwood Shores VFD) and (the city of Cottonwood Shores), but we want to put one foot in front of the other and keep going to calls.”