HARRISBURG—A citizen’s diligence has shown that the reasoning given last year for stopping the Harrisburg Fire Department from making fire runs outside city limits is flawed…but that didn’t stop certain members of the city council from continuing to use those same reasonings to justify their actions until the night of the first February meeting of 2014.
Teacher Beth Montfort lays it out for the Harrisburg city council; she did her homework and discovered what the city wasn’t saying: that in ten years, only seven fires had remained unpaid for to the city.
The city council seemed reluctant to return to the status of outside-jurisdiction fire calls, something former mayor Eric Gregg brought to a halt as one of his last acts before resigning last year after pressure was put upon him following his appointment to a state job, during which tenure he could hold no other elected or appointed position (but did so anyway, for four months).
Now, the matter of HFD responding to fires outside city limits will be put to a vote with a ballot question November 6.
In the interim, the city council has decided to temporarily restore the city’s fire department the ability to make fire calls outside city limits…but only after intense pressure was placed on the council on the night of February 6, 2014.
The Council Chamber was packed to the point of standing room only that Thursday, as the public had turned out to demand a solution to the Harrisburg Township Fire Protection issue, the issue being this: on July 1, 2013, then-mayor Gregg had terminated fire calls to areas outside city limits, stating that the city could no longer afford to make the calls…and the fear was that a person living mere yards outside the fire protection district might lose their home because of the city’s (and ultimately, Gregg’s) stubborn and flawed reasoning.
Schiff broaches the subject
Commissioner Bart Schiff was the one to first broach the subject, upon opening the commissioner’s reports.
Schiff stated that the city had been working with Harrisburg Township and other groups of people to find a solution to the outside fire calls issue. Schiff asked Kevin Reimer to come before the council to discuss options for a solution to the matter.
Reimer addressed the council as a resident of Harrisburg Township, with the intentions of placing a referendum on the November ballot for a tax to pay for a contract with the city for outside fire protection.
“The township board has agreed to circulate petitions to place the referendum on the ballot,” Reimer said. “I’m here to ask the council to consider this option as a possible solution to fund outside fire calls.”
Next, Danny Clayton, Harrisburg Township Supervisor, was called to address the council.
“Members of Harrisburg Township are all members of the community of Harrisburg,” Clayton said. “The township sends our kids to Harrisburg schools, and does almost all of our shopping in Harrisburg, which brings our sales tax dollars to the city.
“All things considered,” Clayton said, “the city needs the township, and the township needs the city. I want to see the matter settled in a way that’s fair to everyone. There are several options, as I see it, to settle the matter. One way would be to keep the fire protection as it was, and rely on Carrier Mills and other departments for help.
Other options
The second option Clayton noted would be to pay the City of Harrisburg the $2,000 per call, and regain fair protection in that way.
“The problem is,” Clayton said, “that some people feel that the $2,000 fee isn’t enough, and some people also don’t feel it could be raised.”
Clayton’s third option suggested was the annexation of residents. This was not the most viable option for all parties, as, he said, not everyone would be able to be annexed.
“Infrastructure to the township is not capable of supporting everyone,” Clayton said, “and I don’t feel the city would be capable of annexing the majority of the township because the city would be incapable of providing the infrastructure installation to the residents.”
The fourth option would be to create an outside Fire District.
“The problem with this would be that there would have to be the full purchase of equipment, such as fire trucks,” Clayton said. “In my own personal opinion, the process would be cost prohibitive.”
The option of raising taxes
The final option, Clayton stated, would be to raise a tax on the township residents to cover fire protection from the city.
“I don’t like the idea of raising taxes on anyone unless there’s a reason to show there would be a net savings to property owners,” Clayton said.
Clayton told the council and audience that he had no idea what a “fair figure” would be for fire service, but that figure had to be provided so that voters could make a decision on the matter.
Clayton also talked about how much insurance prices might be increased.
Ultimately, Clayton stated that they must make an educated decision as voters, and that he hoped more information would be available for the residents to make a decision.
Fowler, then back to Schiff
Commissioner Dale Fowler thanked Clayton, and proceeded to tell the council and those in attendance about a discussion that he had had with a Mr. Molinarolo of Muddy about Muddy’s options. As a home rule village, the Board of Muddy had stated that they would also like to contract with the City of Harrisburg for fire protection service.
Schiff then launched into a speech about his beliefs on the matter.
He stated that he felt that Harrisburg’s Fire Department was an excellent department, and offered excellent service. Schiff spoke about talking with voters, who had stated that they would like to place a referendum on November’s ballot for an increased tax that would offer fire protection to outlying areas. Schiff stated that this would be a win-win solution, as the city would have a “modest” income to cover fire expenses, and the Township would win for having continued services.
With all of those things in mind, Schiff made the motion to immediately resume fire protection services to outlying areas of the city, both incorporated and unincorporated, with the fee of $2,000 per call until the November 6 election. This would also provide mutual aid, under the same terms, when it is requested…and is roughly the same terms under which the city fire department was operating before Gregg brought said operation to a halt.
Temporarily restored
Commissioner John McPeek asked Schiff what would happen if, when November 6 rolled around, the voters did not vote to impose the new tax.
“We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it,” Schiff replied.
“We need to know what we’re gonna do,” McPeek pressed. “That’s coming up soon.” “John, we’ll approach that when we get to it,” Schiff repeated.
“I’d like to know what will happen before I vote on it,” McPeek continued, a comment which sparked debate amongst the council on what should be done, but no answer was reached.
“I strongly suggest that a public hearing be held involving all parties that would be involved in this endeavor,” Fowler said, then confidently stated “I second the motion.”
The roll call was taken, and all voted yes with the exception of McPeek.
With that, fire service was temporarily restored to the township.
But that was not the end of the debate.
McPeek brings in Montfort
Commissioner Ron Fearheiley had only matters for executive session, and so the meeting moved on McPeek’s commissioner report section.
McPeek also had listed “outside fire calls” on the agenda, which was immediately addressed. McPeek stated that he had never been in favor of removing outside fire calls.
“You voted for it!” Schiff interrupted; yet McPeek continued.
“It’s wrong to leave people without protection,” he continued. On that note, McPeek invited citizen speaker Beth Montfort to the podium to address the council.
Montfort told the council that she is a teacher in Harrisburg, and that she was appalled that the city was leaving people without this protection.
She talked about the fact that prominent people in the community, such as teachers, businessmen, and police officers, live outside of the city, and that without them there wouldn’t be a city at all. She also stated how the schools have people who don’t pay their book rental, and yet those kids are still taught in the school.
“People don’t pay their lunch fees, and yet they are still fed,” Montfort said. “That’s what we do, we take care of each other. The tornado was a prime example of that.”
The jaw-dropping stats
“I had been thinking that a lot of people must not have paid for outside fire calls,” Montfort said, “since the financial situation had apparently gotten so tight that service couldn’t be offered any longer, and so I wanted to see what had happened.”
She related that she had gone to city hall and requested and received the records of outside fire calls over the last 10 years, and had broken down her findings to read for the council and the public who were in attendance.
In total, 287 outside fire calls had taken place in ten years.
Of those, 128 had not been charged because of factors like exemption.
Of the 287 calls, 146 had been paid in full because of fire insurance (out of which a $2,000 fee is automatically deducted before the homeowner is paid the balance, a factor Disclosure confirmed after Gregg made his move in July 2013).
Eighteen of the 287 had made payments until they could pay it off.
“That left only seven unpaid outside fire calls in the last 10 years, according to my research,” Montfort said to the now-jaws-dropped city council, “and out of the seven, not a single one was a house fire.
“This is why I don’t understand why it suddenly wouldn’t work to have outside fire calls,” Montfort said to the cowed-appearing council.
Should never have been left uncovered in the first place
Mayor Ron Crank was the only one who had the composure to tell Montfort that he could answer to some of that.
“What the city was looking at doing was to offer a ‘pay-as-you-go’ service (outside city limits), so that you would only pay as you needed the service,” Crank said, noting this was something he wished could be offered inside the city as well.
Montfort continued to push, saying that it is, in essence, a bigger problem than the how’s and why’s of the fire protection.
“If my mother’s home had burned, and she had been injured, I would be here telling a whole different tale,” Montfort assured. “The sad thing is, these people whose houses have burned were mothers’, and other family members’, homes. It amounts to more than just dollars; it’s family and lives that have been left at stake.
“People who lost their homes should never have been left unattended by Harrisburg,” she said. “Many Harrisburg residents have asked, ‘why can smaller towns like Carrier Mills be capable of covering Harrisburg citizens, when our own city did not?’”
“Well, they’ll now be covered until November, at least,” Crank told her.
“They should never have been left unprotected in the first place!” Montfort told him sternly, and left the podium to a round of applause.
Fowler, always the one to step in when things get heated, addressed the crowd, telling them that from that moment forward, the city council would be working with the township to find a solution, but one way or the other, they would be covered.
“Why hadn’t the old way worked?” Montfort asked from her seat…at which point all of the commissioners talked over themselves with responses.
The main statement, agreed Schiff, Fearheiley and Crank, was that it was “too hard to fund.”
“It’s not too hard to fund,” McPeek said. “We just have to find a way to do it.”
The other commissioners kept talking over each other, until Fearheiley demanded the floor.
Fearheiley reflects Gregg’s views
Fearheiley stated that the 2013-2014 budget as it stood allotted that about $680,000 was required to run the fire department, whether there was one fire or 100 fires. That did not include the trucks, or anything else.
“That’s real money to the citizens of Harrisburg, and I think you’ll agree with that,” he said. He stated that the problem is the “extra money” it takes to run the fire department, not clarifying what this meant. Fearheiley stated that the city was left with about a two-month reserve of funding, saying “we’re financially in trouble. We don’t know what to do. We need some help. Not a lot, just a little help.”
This seemed to reflect the line of thinking Gregg had posited last summer, when he stated that he wanted the county to help pay for outside fire calls; and then, when no move was made to do such a thing, Gregg did the spoiled-brat-stomping-his-feet thing and pulled coverage.
Fearheiley continued listing problems, including a statement that “They’re on us now about blood-borne pathogens,” without saying who was on them, why, or in what department. He then stated that the city was “just getting regulated to death.”
“I understand, as a teacher,” Montfort replied, saying they have the same problems at the schools. Fearheiley jovially agreed, saying essentially that they should understand, at which point Montfort added from her seat:
“…but we still teach.”
Offensive…and out of hand
Fearheiley then turned to the crowd and Montfort.
“I guess my question is, where were you guys when that all started and we were needing help? NOBODY SHOWED UP!” he fired at them, a statement that was not well-received by the attendees at all.
“That doesn’t matter, we’re here now!” Montfort shot back.
The debate ensued that the city had let people who lived 800 feet out of the city watch their house burn, until finally, the mayor interjected.
“That will always be the case,” Crank said, “because now people who live a few hundred feet out of the township will be left without protection from Harrisburg, “Harrisburg can’t protect everyone,” Crank said, “but we’re going to try to again.”
This did nothing but fan the flames—in a manner of speaking—amongst the crowd, who began shouting at the council.
“Can you put a price on a life?!” was one of the statements to be heard clearly and repeatedly by the infuriated citizenry as the meeting was beginning to get out of hand.
Blame the public (but don’t blame Eric)
Fearheiley continued his now seemingly-self-destructive course of “blame the public.”
“Where were you when this happened??” he shouted at them. “Why had no one seemed to care, why weren’t you people at the meetings looking to offer help?”
This further served to enrage the crowd…considering the sad fact was that there was very little made of the stopping of outside fire calls when it occurred last summer (in most media with the exception of Disclosure), primarily because it occurred during the turmoil of Gregg’s last days, when he was busying himself with attacking Disclosure’s coverage of the fact that he was holding the office of mayor illegally, as well as coverage of his criminally-inclined daughter.
Gregg’s name, however, was not invoked in Fearheiley’s tirade.
“I know now that you care,” he told the crowd, which seemed to matter not, “and I’m going to do what I can to make things right.”
Fearheiley again said that the council “needs help”—but never would say what kind of help—and asked for patience.
Fearheiley then explained the contract fire protection method that West Frankfort uses, which appears to be a low-cost solution, which the city is looking into.
“But again,” Fearheiley insisted, “a tax would need to be imposed to support the finances of the department. A tax is the help we need to get this matter put to bed,” he said, finally explaining what “help” he’d been referencing all along: “help” equaled the dirty word, “tax.”
Fearheiley flustered;
Fowler reassures
Disclosure’s correspondent then asked if she could clarify something, and was given permission to speak to the council.
“In essence, Fearheiley said that the council had made the vote to remove outside fire protection because no one had shown up, and no one had seemed to care, but that it was the council’s job to hear what people are saying on the street and to understand the feelings of the voters and make decisions on their behalf,” she said. “So, with that in mind, how could Fearheiley fire back at Montfort and the other citizens and ask why they hadn’t shown up?”
Fearheiley, as is usually the case when Disclosure asks the hard questions, became so frustrated that he could not speak at first.
Then, regaining his composure and his voice, he said that the city had made the decision because no one had shown up to participate, and that they had made the decision because it’s what “made financial sense as the city and county are flat broke.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Montfort said from the audience. “The schools are broke, but they still continue to teach, and the city should do the same for their community, inside the city or outside.”
This was met with positive murmuring from the crowd, and prompted another citizen to speak up, despite not being on the agenda to speak.
“I live just over two miles outside of the city,” the man said, “and three doctors, four state police, and two county sheriffs live outside of the city, and I imagine that if their house caught fire they would be serviced.”
“I understand,” Fearheiley said…but the gentleman repeated what he had said again, and continued, insisting that the council’s actions to remove fire service had been wrong from the outset.
At this, Fowler spoke up and said that as long as he was a city commissioner, the township would always be covered.
“I plan to make sure of that myself,” Fowler, whom many are beginning to believe is positioning himself for a run for mayor in 2014, insisted.
Input from county board
Saline County Board member Roger Craig was then invited to the podium to speak.
“The November 6 deal, it’s just for Harrisburg Township,” he began. “At that point in time it ends. What about those people in Independence Township?”
“This is exactly what I had been trying to say earlier in the meeting!” McPeek interjected.
“You know, there’s different holes involved in this,” Craig went on. “We’ll have to make agreements with other fire departments throughout the county… AGAIN… because of that. You can’t half-heartedly do something. You have to make a commitment to us; the people.”
“Roger, you’re on the county board and the county board hasn’t worked with this at all!” Schiff, who was already beginning to look rather unhappy, shot back at Craig. “It’s between the township.”
“That’s because… that’s because we were always told by you, you, you,” Craig pointed at each commissioner, “that it’s going to be your way or the highway on that!” Craig said, defending his position, as well as that of the County Board.
The accusation kicked into overdrive a reaction by the council, who to a man began denying ever having made any such statements, or having behaved in that manner.
“Well, we can sit there and beat a dead horse, but…” Craig continued by saying, with a wave of his hand.
“I asked you to come up to a meeting, Roger, and talk about this and you didn’t even come to the meeting,” Schiff, without looking at Craig, said.
“That’s exactly right, and I called you, and uhh…” Craig agreed to that, but was interrupted by Schiff, who fired back quickly, saying, “You went deer hunting.”
“Well, that’s neither here nor there,” Craig said, not disagreeing.
What are the ‘problems’ the council needs ‘help’ with??
“November 6 elections would result in no change,” Craig proceeded; “I anticipate a ‘blank’ on the ballot.” The council started murmuring that they had faith that the voters would pass the referendum, but McPeek spoke up, agreeing with Craig.
“We can’t even get Home Rule passed,” he said, not noting that Home Rule is generally considered a disaster and the voters of Harrisburg were educated to that prior to the last vote in April 2013. “We’ve tried it three times.”
“What you’ve done will only help a few people for a short while,” Craig told the council, “and that at some point you’ll have to turn around and figure out what to do all over again.”
Montfort had had enough at that point.
“We don’t care about your politics; we care about saving peoples lives!” she shouted from her seat in the audience.
“We do too,” Fearheiley said to her, “but let me tell you something…You just made a comment about taking care of people. Nobody wants to help take care of us.”
It quickly became apparent that those in the audience were literally very unconcerned about any “trouble” Fearheiley believed the council to be in, and that if they were, it was something of their own making that they needed to extricate themselves from without the assistance of the constituency.
“The council is in trouble, and we need help,” Fearheiley continued blithely. “The time is coming where the funding will be gone, and it will be over. Soon we won’t be able to pay our employees, and then there will be no fire department at all.”
The audience was unmoved, especially after the audit report in early 2013 that there were unresolved issues with the water department and ESDA funds…and that those issues REMAIN unresolved, and appear to be the result of unaddressed causes, such as something weird going on between the water department and the Saline Valley Conservancy District (a construct of former mayor/attorney Robert Wilson, fraught with problems), or with someone with sticky fingers dating back to about 2011.
“You need to tighten your budgets, like the teachers do,” Montfort advised the council.
“We’ve combined two departments, cut five jobs, and have tightened up more than any other council I know of,” Fearheiley told her, none of which, of course, addressed the distinct problems found in the audit, which are still languishing unresolved.
McPeek tries for county-wide service again
After more debating, continuous circles of the same demands by citizens and the same responses by the council, the question of what would happen on November 6 surfaced again.
“I hope the voters will pass the referendum,” Fearheiley said, “and if not, the council will do what we must to resolve this issue.”
The crowd lashed out again, with one individual stating that his wife does a lot of shopping in Saline County, but he “wouldn’t mind one bit to pick up and move out of the county.”
Finally, the council asked the mayor to move the meeting forward, as nothing was being achieved. Crank called for order, and moved on to the other matter that McPeek had to address.
McPeek stated that he would like to make a motion to resume fire protection services to Saline County.
Fowler seconded the motion, but in roll call, after a long pause, Bart Schiff voted no, Fearheiley voted no, and the Mayor voted no, killing the motion.
McPeek finished his portion of the agenda by presenting nine bills for payment from Roy Adams Services that reflected work done out of the DCEO grants received by the city for tornado recovery. In total the bills paid out $187,235 from the DCEO Grants fund to Walker & Walker, S.Q. Carpentry, Bryan’s Concrete & Masonry, Integrity Roofing & Exteriors, the Saline County Clerk, and Administrative services. McPeek explained that these were bills to be paid for rebuilding from the tornado, but not what their actual purposes were in terms of exact details.
Water ops reports still don’t mention audit
Fowler in his reports only presented information regarding the ongoing cleanup and improvement of Harrisburg Lake and the leased properties. Fowler stated again that the lake has come a long way in cleaning up, removing dangerous property problems, and moving towards a better outcome in the lake and properties. He reminded those who held the leases those regulations would be strictly enforced; including no engines over 10 horsepower on the lake.
The mayor’s reports included the announcement that no one had yet been found for the Police Pension Board appointment. The mayor then called Superintendent Kelly Hefner to the podium for an Operation Report.
Hefner updated the Council that the water meter project had been greatly slowed down as a result of the weather, and was only at 20 percent completion. The biggest topic Hefner touched upon was the leak funds. Hefner stated that everyone pays 25 cents of their bill for water leakage, so that customer’s bills could be adjusted when they have a leak. Hefner stated that the charge has not been able to keep up with the cost, and the department was losing money. Hefner stated that at some point this year that matter needs to be addressed. This, of course, dates back to the unresolved issues from the audit from a year ago under the Gregg administration…but the audit wasn’t mentioned.
Lastly, Hefner requested that the Water Main project in Dorrisville, which had been discussed earlier in the meeting, be expanded to pick up portions of Hobson and Robinson streets. Those lines have had continued issues, and excessive breakages. The question was posed to uncertified engineer Jim Brown of how expensive that would be to do, and he responded that it would be cheap enough to justify the change. The council agreed to look into it.
Fowler mentioned the water loss numbers were down to 12 percent, which was down significantly from previous numbers. Hefner reported that an EPA inspection had just been completed, and had excellent results, and that water loss was trending downward steadily from its previous 20 percent.
Still commenting on fire protection
Citizen’s comments were now opened, allowing those who hadn’t had time to speak earlier to voice their concerns.
Cindy Webb took the floor, demanding to know “what price you can put on a life.” She shamed the council for being unable to reach an agreement and find the funding to provide fire protection continuously.
David Taylor was invited to speak, asking who would be asked to vote on the new tax for fire protection for the township of Harrisburg. He was told that only those people who would receive the tax would be asked to vote on it, if it is placed on the ballot in the end.
County board member and Democrat sheriff’s candidate Danny Gibbs was called to the podium to speak. He thanked the council for voting to reinstitute the fire services to outlying areas.
“What you’ve done, however, is considered a trans-governmental agreement, and should involve both the city and the township,” he said, providing a document to the council that explained how to properly handle their vote. He explained that he understood Fearheiley’s standpoint, and the council’s standpoint, but that as a Saline County Chairman, he would rather have seen a move towards the creation of a county Fire Protection District, rather than simply a Harrisburg Township Fire District.
After he had cleared the air on his feelings on the fire protection matter, he came to the point of discussion on which he had been placed on the agenda. The City had revealed that they had purchased the land next to Gibbs’ shop, and planned to build a frontage road to it for access, at the last meeting. They had also planned to remove part of his fence, and then relocate and reinstall it for the purposes of developing that land. He told the council that he had talked to Jim Brown, and had seen the property plans. He requested that he would like to maintain access from Veterans Drive, and potentially seeing the new frontage road connect to Gum Street.
The council assured Gibbs that he would be left access, and that his property values would be increased greatly as a result of the development of the new land.
Leaf and Limb site
Lastly, Ryan Davis was called to the podium in regard to a request from Davis Tree Service for use of the Leaf and Limb site on the north end on Harrisburg.
The business is being forced to take the tree trimmings to a facility in Benton to dump them, which is raising customers’ prices. It has come to the point where the services are being offered at a much higher rate because of fuel cost.
Davis stated that alternately, the business could charge a cheaper price, but leave the trimmings at the curb for the city to pick up twice a year during the cleanup.
The council told Davis that the limb site is not running constantly, and isn’t open to tree services because smoke from burning is a major problem as it blows to the east, straight into Muddy.
Davis was also told he cannot simply push it all to the curb, because the city won’t pick it up.
“That isn’t the purpose of the city’s service, which is only intended for yard cleanup waste and downed limbs from storms,” he was told.
Davis noted that they have to offer an option to the customers, and if the city wants to have a bunch of properties with piles of brush in the yard, it’s their call, otherwise customers will pay huge amounts for their service.
Fearheiley asked to table the matter until they could research it further.
No further action was taken, and the mayor asked for a motion to enter Executive Session, which was given to discuss Property Acquisition, Personnel, Property Lease Agreement, and Pending and Possible Litigation. No action was taken during that closed session, and the meeting was adjourned.