TONTITOWN -- The Tontitown Area Volunteer Fire Department will provide fire protection service for the city starting 30 days after Mayor Paul Colvin signs a new contract, aldermen decided Tuesday.
The controversial 4-2 vote lays to rest debate over whether the city should have an independent, city-run department. The volunteer department now will be responsible for providing fire protection, emergency services and all necessary manpower, according to the contract.
Keeping Email
The Tontitown City Council tabled Tuesday a proposal to purge city email after 60 days to the Committee of the Whole meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17. Alderwoman Rhonda Doudna said keeping email for less time is reasonable. Former city officials have resigned previously citing excessive requestion through the state Freedom of Information Act.
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
The city department will keep up its equipment but it can be used outside the city for mutual aid, Colvin said.
Under the new contract, fire service for Tontitown covers two paid firefighters with one firefighter shift from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and one firefighter shift to begin any time from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and continue for a 12-hour shift Monday through Saturday.
Other staffing requirements will use volunteers, Alderman Tommy Granata said Tuesday.
Contract opponents said a city department is best for the city because it increased safety. The city department offered 24-hour fire protection service and employs roughly 30 part-time and full-time employees.
Residents openly questioned Tuesday why the contract was necessary or needed immediately. The City Council declared an emergency and waived bidding requirements to pave the way to hiring the volunteer fire department.
"Why can't we have both of them -- they are already working together?" said Diane Border, resident. "Whatever happened to doing the right thing just because it's the right thing?"
Firefighters from both departments met Monday.
Alderman Joe Edgmon said the volunteer firefighters are willing to work with city firefighters and not take over the department, he said.
The reason for the contract now appears to be personal and not in residents' interest, Edgmon said.
"I have questions when they want to put their friends back in charge. Cronyism -- that's what this is," Edgmon said. "I don't see how you can say you are doing what is right for Tontitown and cut the (number of) firefighters in half. I'm not interested in a contract that is a vendetta."
Several aldermen have had ties to the volunteer department, including Colvin who resigned from the board in December to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest, he said. Aldermen who have been connected to the volunteer department include Arthur Penzo and Henry Piazza.
The volunteer department served the city from 1979 until last year for about $120,000 per year. Many residents and aldermen feel the volunteer department was unfairly forced out.
The new $175,000 per year contract for the volunteer department is more efficient and economical than a city department, aldermen have said. The city department salaries alone were budgeted at $223,000, city records show.
Those costs could have been reduced to about $157,000 under a proposal by city firefighters that offered a similar fire protection service. That proposal wasn't considered Tuesday.
City firefighters can apply to positions at the volunteer department, Granata said.
The new contract for fire protection service is meant to save money, city officials have said. In the 2015 budget, Tontitown expected about $1.7 million in expenditures and about $1.3 million in revenue.
Edgmon and others said the city needed to cut between $300,000 and $400,000 from its budget. On Tuesday, a preliminary budget was presented that reduced spending by roughly $500,000 for this year.
The City Council plans a special meeting to tweak and approve the new budget.
NW News on 03/04/2015