Volunteers say chief selection may cause fire departments to split
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Monday, March 5, 2012, 11:50 a.m. (UPDATED 1:46 p.m. ) – Volunteer firefighters who provide fire protection inside the city limits of Bardstown and a sizable area of the county announced the department’s intention to split with the city-funded Bardstown fire department if Mayor Bill Sheckles does not recommend a fire chief candidate whom the volunteer department can support.
The Gazette learned Friday Mayor Sheckles informed interim fire chief Marlin Howard he was not going to be his recommendation for fire chief of the city’s fire department. Kevin Moulton, assistant chief of the Zoneton Fire Department, was selected Friday as the mayor’s pick for city fire chief.
The city needs its volunteers to help complete the fire protection needed in the city limits, a source told the Gazette Monday morning. The members of the volunteer department – incorporated as the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., also known as “the corporation” – have said they will move out their people and equipment from the city fire station it shares with the city-funded fire department. If the corporation leaves the city fire station, the city will likely be required to hire additional firefighters.
“I don’t think the council understands the importance of the volunteer firefighters,” the source said. “These aren’t just ‘good ol’ boys’ who show up and want to play with the equipment, these are men and women who train to be professional firefighters who volunteer.”
Firefighters have been talking to council members hoping to get their message across, and to lobby them to support selecting a chief who will keep the departments together.
The volunteers say they don’t want to split with the city fire department. A split will cost both departments money and resources. But the volunteers believe they have no other recourse given the fact their selection of fire chief was ignored.
“The mayor said he gave the volunteers what they wanted, but that’s not at all true,” the Gazette’s source said.
The corporation firefighting equipment housed at the main fire station as well as the fire stations located on KY 245 and in Cox’s Creek on US31E. It owns both of those fire stations. Sources tell the Gazette the corporation has an option to lease the former Olympco building on Bloomfield Road as a possible fire station if the departments split.
The mayor will meet with the fire departments today at 6 p.m. The Gazette will be reporting from that meeting. There will be a special council meeting prior to the monthly working session 5 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers to get council approval to hire Kevin Moulton as city fire chief.
CHIEF ISSUE. The issue regarding fire chief arose in January when the members of the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. – the volunteers who form “the corporation” – elected Marlin Howard as their chief over current chief Anthony Mattingly. The City of Bardstown did not recognize the election as a recommendation for the job of chief of the city fire department.
Technically, there are two fire departments which operate as a single department – the city-funding Bardstown Fire Department, and “the corporation,” which is largely funded through fire dues.
The city’s ordinances state that an election of a new fire chief would be accepted as a recommendation for chief of the city fire department. That process was not followed by city hall, and Anthony Mattingly remained chief of the city fire department.
Sheckles met several times with the fire department in an effort to solve the problems which led to the split. Those meetings led to the city drafting an ordinance revising how the fire chief is selected. The revision removed the election process and replaced it the mayor selecting a candidate with the approval of the city council.
The city council held first reading of the ordinance at a special meeting on Jan. 26th. Sheckles also announced he was appointing Howard as interim fire chief. The ordinance received final approval on Feb. 14th.
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