Attorney advises Richland against independent fire department

RICHLAND — A lawyer for the city of Richland recommended that the council seek to reestablish control over its fire department, which has converted into a legally independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit according to recent state audit reports.

City Attorney Misty White said the department’s status as an independent nonprofit could jeopardize its access to municipal legal protections from lawsuits.

“Cities have some limited governmental immunity,” she said. “Say somebody got hurt, or somebody wanted to sue the city for not responding fast enough to fires. The city has immunity, because we’re a government formed under the laws of the state of Iowa … this 501(c)(3) does not have that immunity.”

Although the city could ostensibly sign an intergovernmental “28E agreement” with the independent fire department to ensure protection, White said doing so would require a repeal or revision of the current municipal code. As it stands, the ordinances states that the city establishes its own department, and that, “The city council shall have the full power to dissolve or reorganize the fire department.”

Council members did not jump at the 28E approach. In any case, White said the city needed to clear up a web of miscommunication with its fire department before moving forward, a tactic that could suspend protection for the surrounding townships which pay for and insure some department equipment.

“Your ordinance allows you to enter into 28E agreements with those other fire districts, you do not have to, that is not an obligation,” she said. “If we haven’t even met those legal standards in the city of Richland, we shouldn’t be providing services to Dutch Creek, or any of the other surrounding communities.”

Also up for debate is whether the nonprofit department can legally acquire firefighting equipment.

While the 501(c)(3) has used the city’s tax ID before to obtain vehicles and qualify for grants, White said doing so without municipal permission was “a huge legal issue.”

“501(c)(3)s have their own tax identification number,” she said. “If they don’t qualify for it, it’s because their entity doesn’t quality. It is a grant specific to municipalities, for something like that.”

The status of required physical exams for department volunteers remains another point of contention. The city’s workers’ compensation provider, IMWCA, requires the check-ins for firefighters, although some other carriers do not.

Mayor Thomas Hoekstra said IMWCA was chosen for its quality of coverage, and said he had no intention of picking a fight with the co-op for any of the strings attached.

“You may find out, they don’t want to pay your claim,” he said. “That is the scary part, because then, the city of Richland is fighting basically everybody who belongs to the IMWCA. And their pool of resources would destroy you.”

Firefighters have previously called the physicals too expensive for taxpayers, redundant for those who already take physicals for work, and a generally unnecessary hoop to jump through.

City Council Member Alisa Tolle said they were important, whether a provider required them or not.

“We’re going to step above what everybody else does,” she said. “It’s a terribly physical job. I value the volunteer firefighters, I would much rather spend the $5,000 to make sure they’re healthy and they have what they need … if they don’t want to take a physical, then they don’t have to volunteer.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com