Townships draft 28E, approve mediator

WASHINGTON — Washington County township trustees met with the County Attorney’s Office Tuesday night for their second public meeting regarding disputes on the intergovernmental arrangements for fire protection from the Brighton Fire Department. The group drafted their pitch of a document called a 28E agreement, and agreed to work with the city and a mediator it hired to negotiate the agreement.

While each paragraph and subparagraph was approved by a vote of the trustees at the meeting, County Attorney John Gish said he didn’t expect the city to accept the terms as written, but aimed to get conversations moving.

“This 28E will definitely look differently, will change over time, but in my mind what we’ve done is taken a step where at least we’re on the same page and we can now submit it for discussion,” he said. “I think that’s a positive.”

The townships started from a 28E version proposed by the fire department several months ago. While they kept most of that proposal’s language, trustees agreed to a major change in the fire department’s budget process.

Under both the current and department-proposed 28E, the fire chief would propose a budget to the city council every year. Under the trustees’ new version, the budget would instead be proposed by an advisory fire board, not the chief.

Gish said the fire chief’s role at both the beginning and end of the budget process would otherwise be a problem. If the city disputed a budget under the department-backed 28E, it would go to the fire board. If the board couldn’t reach a consensus, it would default to the opinion of the fire chief.

“The concern I have, is if the advisory board cannot agree, that last sentence in paragraph 5 … says the fire chief wins,” Gish said. “He has the final say. That creates potential for fraud, waste and abuse, when the person submitting it could have that final say.”

Another controversy stems from part of the proposal trustees opted not to change drastically. Paragraph 5F would give the advisory board the final say in any funding and expenditure disputes between itself and the city council.

Gish previously questioned the legality of such a clause, which would delegate authority over taxpayer dollars to un-elected officials, such as the fire chief or appointed township trustees. At Tuesday night’s meeting, however, he said further research changed his opinion.

“I looked at the Iowa code, I even spoke with a representative of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, I do not have that concern,” he said. “If the city of Brighton agrees in this 28E, then yes, the fire advisory board, in my opinion, could be responsible for the expenditures and overseeing the budget.”

While Gish said that authority for a fire board was legal, he expected municipal officials to reject the clause.

"My previous discussion with the city’s attorney tells me that the city is not likely to take it with that paragraph,“ he said. ”But I’m happy to submit whatever we agree to today.“

Trustees backed another clause of the department-proposed agreement that deals with accounting for the fire department’s funds. Townships said the fund would be managed by the city, but would require monthly reports from the fire board.

“I think it’s kind of a check and balance,” Brighton Township Trustee Gordon Shelangoski said. “They still have that fund … the advisory board just wants to make sure it’s still where it is and that the amount is correct.”

Other changes from the department-proposed 28E were less contentious. Trustees changed wording and capitalization in some sections, altered one clause to allow — rather than mandate — township representation on the fire board, and spelled out the process of appointing representatives to it. The new version would require at least a year’s notice to sever, and would have the fire advisory board meet at least once every quarter.

Townships authorized the county to share the document with all other parties involved, including the city of Brighton, townships outside the county, the city of Pleasant Plain and dispute mediator Pat Callahan.

Firefighters were not immediately available for comment. While they attended the first few minutes of the meeting, they were paged out to a fire call early in discussions.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com