THE UNIONTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, CITY OFFICIALS ANNOUNCED Wednesday that they would do what the mayor said would never happen. The city is going to disband its paid fire department and rely solely on volunteers for fire protection.
In February of 2008, Firegeezer reported HERE:
There’s an interesting development happening in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. A new slate of elected officials took office last month and they are finding that the previous leaders have left quite a financial mess, bordering on the criminal.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the city’s bank account has $93,700 in the bank – total. That was before yesterday’s city payroll checks in the amount of $73,800 were paid out. On top of that, the city owes the sewage authority $197,000 in unpaid bills going back two years.
There are no records of where all the tax income has gone. One councilman is quoted as saying, “Don’t ask me where the money went.” (Councilman) Sprouts said some financial records are missing from city hall and suspects they may have been shredded and disposed of. (Mayor) Fike disputes that and said he believes the records are in storage.
“If they were stored, why haven’t we found them if they’re in city hall?” Sprouts said. “There’s not that many rooms.”
The new city clerk Kim Marshall said since she took over the post in January, she’s had a difficult time finding certain papers. “It’s just a matter of searching,” she said. “You’re on a hunt-and-find mission every time you need something. I just don’t know where to look for things.”
Of course, there’s more. But what caused this to land on the Firegeezer worktable was the initial “solution” expounded by one of the councilmen to completely eliminate the paid fire department of 13 members. (He also wants to eliminate the sanitation dept.) Fortunately the mayor says no such thing will ever happen. They’ll find savings elsewhere.
Since those promises 18 months ago, the city has laid off seven firefighters leaving six paid FF’s plus the chief to operate two fire stations augmented by volunteers. Now they have decided to lay off the entire paid force effective December 31 when the current union contract expires. Adding to the controversy is a recent disclosure that the fire department is eligible for a $632,835 federal grant to bring the force back to its full complement of 11 for the next two years. But the city council doesn’t want to accept it because the funds will only last for two years and then the city will have to pay the full cost of operating the FD after that. Not being said is why they don’t want to postpone the disbanding for the two years instead of doing it now.
WTAE-TV Ch. 4 Pittsburgh filed this video report about yesterday’s announcement:
The city has a population of just over 12,000 people and is one of the oldest cities in the western half of the state, formed in 1776.
Also on FireGeezer…
- Fire Chief Charged With Insurance Fraud – February 1, 2011
- Promotional Opportunity – June 18, 2011
- A Fire Chief Stands On His Principles – October 19, 2011
- Village Disbands Fire Department, Saves Money – January 1, 2011
