Florala Police Chief Sonny Bedsole is seeking funding for a boat after having to call the Opp Fire Department to Lake Jackson this past week.

Bedsole told the city council Monday night that his department received a report of an unoccupied boat anchored in the middle of the lake, and called OFD to bring its dive team.

“We had to make sure no one had drowned,” Bedsole said. “There were no lights on the boat, and two fishermen told me they almost hit it when they went out at about 2 a.m.”

The OFD pulled the boat to the shore, Bedsole said, and divers made sure there wasn’t a body in the nearby waters.

As it turns out, someone had anchored the pontoon boat in the middle of the lake to be used as a party barge during the town’s annual 24th of June festivities. And that somebody was not an authorized user.

“When we traced the registration down, I called the owner in Ft. Walton,” he said. “The woman assured me her boat was on a rack for repairs. I described it to her, and she said she was on her way.”

Bedsole told the council he’d really like to add a boat to the FPD’s fleet.

“Getting a boat we can respond with is really crucial,” he said. “Opp came right on, but it took 35 minutes for them to get here. If it had been someone in distress, that’s too long.”

He asked the council to consider a boat, and a new patrol car, in the upcoming budget process.

Similarly, the council heard a request from the fire department to purchase an older-model fire engine to be used as a back-up engine.