PHIL FRIDAY was sworn in as SWFD Commissioner for Seat 7. By RUBY KEARCE  Note: Due to press deadlines, this is Part One of two articles on the SWFD Board’s  Aug. 8 meeting. Part Two will run in the Aug. 17 edition of the Herald – Breeze.  The South Walton Fire District (SWFD) board of commissioners held its monthly meeting on Aug. 8, where Bob Brooke, Phil Friday, and Jim Vernon were on the ballot to fill the empty 7th commission seat. both Brooke and Friday attended the meeting and took the opportunity to approach the board and answer questions. Friday won the election with 2 votes in his favor.  Attorney Rene Youell thanked the board for their continued confidence in her services, and presented a detailed report of her work for the board during the previous month. Youell reported that she reduced fees for telephone and emails between her office and district employees, effectively cutting her hourly rate from $175.00 to $75.57. The commissioners passed a motion to accept Youell’s proposed monthly  invoice.  In the month of July, SWFD firefighters responded to a total of 941 calls, compared to last July’s 1,055 responses, an 11 percent decrease. SWFD also responded to 15 calls regarding fire, 617 regarding medical events, 24 regarding hazardous conditions, 77 service calls, 110 good intent calls, and 98 false alarms. SWFD lifeguards dealt with 464,336 visitors in the month of July, with 20 water rescues, 90 assists, 78 medical events, and 77,797 preventions.  Chief Ryan... Read More