The Clayton Town Council has updated and extended their contract with the Archer Lodge Fire Department for fire protection to Riverwood Athletic Club and the surrounding area but this could be the last year.
Clayton first contracted with Archer Lodge in 2000. At the time, the Riverwood Athletic Club community did not connect to Clayton, and much of the new neighborhood fell outside Clayton Fire Department’s five-mile response area.
Archer Lodge had been protecting the land before its development, and the Town reached an agreement with them to continue providing fire service to the entire Riverwood area, which was satellite annexed. Over the years, the agreement has benefited both Clayton and Archer Lodge.
With the upcoming Walton Farm expansion of Riverwood Athletic Club – which will connect the neighborhood to Covered Bridge Road just north of the intersection with Loop Road – as well as a potential entrance onto Payton Drive from Covered Bridge Road, the Clayton Fire Department will have a much shorter route to Riverwood.
The new entrances would place much of the neighborhood inside Clayton’s five-mile response area. Once that occurs, the Clayton Fire Department could take over some of the area currently protected by the Archer Lodge Fire Department. Funds the Town of Clayton previously paid to Archer Lodge for fire service could, instead could be invested in the Clayton Fire Department.
At their January meeting, the Clayton Town Council agreed to review the fire protection contract with Archer Lodge through January 1, 2019. The previous contract required Clayton give Archer Lodge one year’s notice before changing the Agreement. The new agreement allows the Town of Clayton to reduce the service area that Archer Lodge is paid to cover, provided one or more new entrances to Riverwood Athletic Club have been completed in January 2019.
