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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Township revamps leadership within F.D.

GREENWOOD

Jodi Summit
Posted 5/14/14

GREENWOOD TWP- The Greenwood Town Board’s acceptance of Fire Chief Dave Fazio’s recommendation to revamp the leadership structure of the township fire department had immediate …

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Township revamps leadership within F.D.

GREENWOOD

Posted

GREENWOOD TWP- The Greenwood Town Board’s acceptance of Fire Chief Dave Fazio’s recommendation to revamp the leadership structure of the township fire department had immediate ramifications.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Fazio asked the board to approve a request he had made to the board during a closed personnel meeting to streamline the number of fire department officers from six to four. The closed meeting, held April 28, was called to conduct a personnel evaluation of Fazio.

“I am looking at having a chief, assistant chief, training/safety officer, and secretary,” Fazio said.

“Dave is in command,” said Supervisor Rick Worringer. “He needs the structure he needs to do the job.”

Fazio said the decision he was making was not personal.

“For the lack of experience I have,” he said, “I have felt I was missing support. I do not want to get derogatory or negative, but the support was not there from the current officers we have.”

He noted that this might have been due to his own lack of experience, and said there might be a rift from the fallout.

“But I believe this will be better for the department as a whole,” Fazio said. “I don’t want to have fights or disagreements at our business meetings.”

Fazio recommended that the board appoint Pat Trancheff as Assistant Chief, Ed Borchardt as safety/training officer, and retain Ellen Trancheff as secretary.

There was no discussion of this proposal or questioning of current fire department officers, some of whom were in the audience.

“The officers are approved by the town board,” said Chairman Tom Aro. “There have been different processes as to how they came to be appointed.”

Aro said it was the responsibility of the board to either support the chief with this restructuring, or not.

The board voted unanimously to change the structure of the department and appoint officers as recommended.

Jeff Maus, one the fire department officers who had just lost his position, asked if this issue had been discussed previous to this meeting.

Worringer said that this was the only discussion the board had.

“If this doesn’t work it can be changed,” said Fazio. “You can get rid of me.”

The decision clearly stunned several members of the audience.

Peg Nelson, who apparently had just lost her job as the fire department’s Safety Officer, was very clear that she felt this decision was going to hurt the township.

She immediately tendered her resignation from the fire department, noting she could not in good conscience be part of what was happening.

“I will turn in my gear,” she said.

“I have to be totally honest with this group,” she said. “I have been on this department for quite a few years. I have pushed safety issues to the point of no return.”

Nelson said she has spent countless hours making sure the department is compliant with regards to safety.

She wondered why the town board would pass over officers with experience and training.

She said the township needed to make sure that safety was a priority for the department. She said there were incidents when the newly-appointed officers had shown up to a fire scene without safety gear, and that she had to escort them away from the fire.

“Lawsuits can happen,” she said. “Safety and liability are a concern.”

In other fire department business the board approved new job descriptions for fire fighters and First Responders. Fazio said the descriptions were more in line with the actual duties being performed. Fazio said the department had nine new members, plus 11 new First Responders. It was not noted if the new fire fighters have completed the required state training, or if the department was planning on offering the training to the new members.

The board voted 4-1, with Kirsten Reichel voting against, to pay the $75 renewal fee for 10 department members who are state-certified. It was noted that this certification is not required for volunteer fire fighters. Aro noted he felt the board should support this suggestion because it came as a recommendation from the fire chief.

The board approved the purchase of equipment for the new First Responders. Fazio was unable to give the board an estimate of the cost of the equipment, and the number of radios and pagers that also might be needed. The equipment may cost as much as $1,500 per member.

Peg Nelson, the former safety director, had urged the board to purchase full jump kits.

“A First Responder can’t do any good to show up with no equipment,” she said. “And every kit needs oxygen and a regulator, because that is the number one thing to do for a patient.”

Some of the new responders said they were comfortable sharing equipment with their spouses, but Nelson said this was often not practical.

The board authorized spending up to $24,000 on the new equipment. The money will come from the capital equipment fund, and from donations from the Greenwood Fire Department Auxiliary.

Wally Snyder questioned the board on whether or not the township would still qualify for a lowered insurance rating, with the loss of the ladder truck. Others noted that the department had more pumping capacity than last time they were tested, and that the addition of automatic mutual aid also would help with the positive rating.

Planning and Zoning

The board spent almost two hours discussing the merits of retaining local control over planning and zoning. The board did vote, unanimously, to retain local control. The details of the discussion will be published in next week’s Timberjay, due to our Wednesday deadline.

Board of Appeal

Resident John Bassing questioned the board, asking why not a single board member or the town clerk showed up for this year’s Local Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting that was held on May 8.

“We are out of that business,” said Board Chair Tom Aro.

But Bassing explained to the board that these meetings are for local governmental oversight.

“The county is only there to listen,” he said. “They can’t adjust valuations.”

Because of the lack of township participation this year, the township has forfeited its right to hold a local Board of Appeal meeting next year. The board can petition St. Louis County to get the local meetings reinstated, but the earliest date would be 2016.

Supervisors need to attend training, every other year, to be qualified to heard Board of Appeal cases.

“Because we knew tax assessing was going to St. Louis County, we didn’t think we needed this training anymore,” said Supervisor Kirsten Reichel.

Township clerk and former assessor Ellen Trancheff said that in nine out of ten cases, people bring their cases to St. Louis County’s Board of Appeal after appearing before the local meeting. She stated that many townships choose not to have a local meeting.

But Bassing disagreed, saying the list was available and there weren’t very many.

Lee Peterson explained this was the one time a year when the county assessors are there to act as advisors. Only the town board can vote to change the valuations at this meeting, he explained. If the property owner is not satisfied with the actions at the local level, they then can appear before the County Board of Appeal.

Aro apologized, saying he thought the county had assumed all the responsibility.

“I stand corrected,” he said. “I take your point. This is important. We still have a role to play.”

Reichel also said “We were misinformed.”

The board requested that Trancheff get more information on this matter and bring it back to the next regular meeting.