WAITSBURG - With the City of Waitsburg's proposed 2012 budget cutting half of Fire Chief Jim Callahan's stipend, Columbia County Fire District 2 will step up to bridge the gap.

Ci ty Manage r Randy Hinchliffe presented the council with the proposed 2012 budget on Nov. 16 that eliminated the chief's $250 monthly stipend from the city. For the past two years, the city had paid Callahan $250 a month and the fire district matched that amount, giving him $500 a month for his work.

The fire district's boundaries do not include the City of Waitsburg, but the Waitsburg Fire Department and the distr...