Mayor withdraws offer to new chief; Howard to stay interim chief

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 8:30 p.m. — With the council chambers packed with firefighters and their supporters, Mayor Bill Sheckles opened the special meeting Tuesday evening by announcing he delaying the hiring of a new chief, which was the purpose of the meeting.

“I’ve since decided to withdraw this … I put the selection of the gentlemen I had lined up … I’ve put this situation on hold,” Sheckles said. “At this time I’m going to continue to have Marlin Howard as our interim chief.”

Sheckles said his first responsibility was to ensure the citizens of Bardstown had the best fire protection they can have. “Marlin and I will get together and we’ll get this funding mechanism in place, and make sure we don’t put any extra tax burden on the residents of the city or the county.”

Sheckles said the job offer to Kevin Moulton, assistant chief of the Zoneton Fire Department, was officially off the table. “That issue is on hold right,” he said. “We’ve talked and he understands what’s going on. Once we get everything in order we’ll go back to that issue.”

When asked if the chief position will be advertised in the future, Sheckles would only say, “I have Marlin as my interim chief, and right now we’re on the same page. We’re going to ride it out and see how it goes.”

Sheckles called his appearance at the meeting of the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Firefighters as a “come to Jesus” meeting to tell firefighters in order to have the best fire department they needed to work with the mayor and whoever is in charge. “That wasn’t happening before,” he said.

Sheckles said fire protection for the city remains his chief concern, as well as the fact that a split in the departments would likely require both departments to add equipment and force the duplication of services.

“There was a breakdown in communication,” he said. “In the last 30 days I have had a chance to bring people in, sit them down and find out the rest of the story.”

During the short meeting, Bob Cecil spoke up and suggested the mayor look for a chief who lives in the community. “We have plenty of people here who are qualified to do the job.”

Sheckles said he was confident he had the right people in place to accomplish what he believed was needed. Sheckles closed the meeting to loud applause from the firefighters.

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