Fire District gives itself Christmas gift
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The Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District gave itself a nice Christmas gift this week with the transfer of money it didn’t use in the construction of the two new fire stations – on Milwaukee Blvd., and Sunshine Blvd. – to its general account with plans to put the $185,158.21 in investment accounts like U.S. Treasury notes.
Fire Chief Don Adams told the board of fire commissioners that the money was left over from the construction account used to pay for the new buildings after the construction was completed on
the two firehouses.
“We want to close out that account and move that money over in to the general account where we pay our bills,” the chief said. At Commissioner Ralph Hemingway’s urging, they suggested along with the advice of board attorney Richard Pringle, that the administrative staff members contact their auditors and seek advice on how it can be put in investment accounts to draw interest.
In another matter, Adams told the commissioners – Chairman Jeff Berndt, Julie Barrett, David Adams and Hemingway – that there was an “inhouse
applicant” to fill the training officer position that he wants to fill soon.
Commissioners agreed last month that as chief he has the authority to hire a training officer on his own, but the chief said he just wanted to keep them informed on the progress.
“I am looking into the applicant’s background and checking things out before I make a decision to promote this person,” Adams said. Commissioner David Adams asked the chief what would happen to the person’s position if there had to be a layoff of personnel next year when funds from taxpayers are expected to be much lower than they have been in years because of the ailing economy.
“If you are forced to lay off personnel, isn’t it the rule that last hired is first fired?” Chairman Berndt asked. The chief nodded his head and said that was the procedure.
He said he was giving that consideration in hiring the training manager. He did not identify the applicant but implied he had been with the department for a while, thus if a layoff did occur, he may not be affected if he wasn’t on the bottom of the ladder.
“I’m moving along cautions,” the chief said.
“It is critical that we get this person in place. We have the dry season coming up with the threat of wildfires. We need to have all our people trained on the same page,” he said.
Earlier in the meeting, attorney Pringle told commissioners that he had been at the hearing examiner’s meeting in which Horizon had gone to get permission to build a tower on fire district property. He said the examiner approved the request, but without the “dish” that the department would be using for communications. Pringle said he would talk to Horizon to see if a different type of pole or tower could be used that would meet the requirements of the county and of the department.
The chief told commissioners he had attended the funeral Thursday of Bruce T. Gora, 58, a local award winning architect, photographer and musician, who died Dec. 16. Gora had been the chief architect for the two new fire stations in Lehigh, which are both open, and in full operation. Gora of Fort Myers was the principal partner in the architectural firm of Gora/McGahey Associates and had been in business for 28 years. The two fire stations were designed to blend in with the homes in the residential areas.
Later, three of the commissioners rejected an idea by Commissioner Hemingway to change a dental insurance plan. Hemingway made a plea to go back to the committee of union members and make a change. He said some firefighters had told him they
were not happy with the current plan.
However, Hemingway’s plan got nowhere when Chief Adams said he did not recommend making a change now and his decision was echoed by Mike Pernal, representative of Union District 6 who was at the meeting held at Veterans Park Community Center last Thursday. Commissioners voted to continue with the present plan with a vote of 3 to one. Commissioner Joel Guzman was not at the meeting.
Commissioners also voted to write off nearly $4,000 in charges for ambulance services because some bills were unable to be collected due to such things as deceased persons who used the services and bankruptcies.