Brighton firefighters again threaten to walk

BRIGHTON — A new letter from the Brighton Volunteer Fire Department to city officials emphasized a growing sense of frustration over fire protection disputes Tuesday night, as firefighters said they were ready to quit over the ongoing issue, echoing a similar memo sent to the council in November.

The move comes after another meeting the week prior, where city officials clashed over how much to pay the department and where to get that money from, among other things. The letter warned that firefighters would resign if the city failed to establish a fire advisory board, allocate $2,000 per year to the fire fund for building maintenance, and enact a new intergovernmental fire protection agreement — called a 28E agreement — with townships by a deadline next month.

“Since the council clearly doesn’t respect the volunteer firefighters’ or the trustees’ desires, it leaves the firefighters no other option,” it said. “A unanimous decision has been made that if the requests as outlined above are not met by March 15, the entire group of volunteer firefighters will resign and no longer respond to any calls. We are tired of meeting and feel as if we have been patient far longer than we should have been.

“It is our sincere hope that the council will reconsider their position. If that occurs, we will return to the department and continue to volunteer our time to serve the needs of our area communities.”

While the letter was only signed by Fire Chief Bill Farmer, one other firefighter verified that the letter’s claim of unanimous support Tuesday night.

At the council meeting, municipal officials said they hoped to avoid the worst. Mayor Melvin Rich said the city had “other options” to fulfill its fire protection obligations to residents and surrounding townships, at least one of which involves getting protection from the Washington Fire Department, roughly 15-20 minutes out of town.

“We want to keep our fire department, we don’t want anybody quitting … but we are not taking any more threats,” he said. “March 15, if the fire department plans on walking, the doors will be locked, and Washington will … do the responding, they will take care of all our fires, and if at that time, we can’t get something worked out, we will sit down with them. They do not want to do this, but we’re talking public safety.”

He declined to elaborate on other alternatives, however, saying the city did “not want to use them,” and was “not going to need them,” as officials strove to remain optimistic.

Rich said the city would still do everything in its power to restore dialogue with department members, but not necessarily make further concessions.

“I hope we can all heal, and get back together, and try to make this work,” he said.

Some audience members were skeptical of the city’s ability to reopen dialogue with its volunteers. One speaker at the meeting called that outcome “pretty unlikely.”

Others, like Brighton Township Trustee Gordon Shelangoski, said even alternatives like the Washington Fire Department would threaten residents’ insurance rates, with fire responders taking longer to arrive. Some at the meeting estimated the increase would range anywhere from 15-50%.

“How much people are going to have to pay extra, that’s basically a tax you’re doing to them also,” Shelangoski said. “At 15% of everyone that’s out there, isn’t that worth that $2,000?”

Still, at least one audience members said he blamed the fire department for escalating the situation.

Brighton resident Dick Green said the fire chief should not have signed off on the letter.

"Why would y’all have anything to do with him? He’s the one that’s out of line,“ Green said. ”He’s the threatening part of this whole deal, why would you want him to be fire chief?“

The city did meet one demand of the letter, officially creating a fire advisory board at the meeting by passing a resolution. That board will contain one representative from each township in a fire protection agreement with the city, as well as one from its own city council, the city of Pleasant Plain, and the Brighton Fire Chief, as the group’s chair.

In a brief interview after the meeting, township trustees said they’d participate in the advisory board, but remained frustrated with other sticking points.

“It makes no sense to vote on it or try to create it unless you’ve got the firemen who will be willing to accept what is voted on,” Gordon Shelangoski said. “If you have no fire department, it’s silly to have a fire board.”

Rich said the ball was in Farmer’s court to organize the advisory board’s first meeting. Given the department’s threat of resignation, it was not immediately clear if or when the group would first meet.

“A memorandum of understanding will be sent to the fire chief, the approval of a board, the resolution,” Rich said. “My feeling’s, if he’s the one that’s going to chair it, he’s the one that sets it up. And he comes to the council, and he goes to the townships, and sets somebody up. I hope we can all get back on speaking terms.”

As for other calls to action in the letter, city officials showed little sign of budging.

Council members voted last week to keep the city’s current 28E agreement with townships, and while the city attorney said Tuesday night that it would be legal to reconsider that vote, it was not discussed again Tuesday night.

On the issue of an extra $2,000, the city appears poised to stick with a memorandum of understanding that would allocate “up to” $2,000 to fire station maintenance, rather than transferring the full amount into the fire fund each year with an earmark.

Rich said the former option was the only legal solution, as the city’s planned way to pay for the allocation is through its local-option sales tax, a revenue stream that legally must be spent on infrastructure bills, and can’t be transferred into other accounts, like the fire fund.

Council Member Cathy Rich said the city would not raise taxes to meet the demand, even in future fiscal years.

“It is really difficult for me to want to tax people more, when over four years, we have excess funds (of) $30,000 in the fire fund,” she said. “We already are at a really nice savings amount. So to increase taxes on people when we’re already showing nice reserves, is kind of difficult.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com