WEST LIBERTY, Iowa–Discussion by the West Liberty City Council about how to respond to the West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department’s memorandum of understanding and proposed 28E agreement continued at the May 17 West Liberty City Council meeting. In an ongoing attempt to keep talks going between the city and the department, the council voted to release the consultant report they received and a previous version of a 28E agreement they created with the department last year.
Following their special work session May 12, the council appeared interested in continuing to work with the department to come to an agreement. However, they wished to negotiate some of the items in the current memorandum of understanding, as they felt unsure that the city could honor them legally in their current form.
Several members of the council readily agreed to the idea that the West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department should operate as an independent entity, as they already have incorporated into their own 501C(3) charity and manage all of the work and risk that go into providing fire and emergency medical services. However, Mayor Katie McCullough did not think the city could simply agree to turning all firefighting equipment over to the department immediately, as taxpayer money from the City of West Liberty and the rural fire district had gone into it and the city may not have the legal power to give it away.
Though McCullough expressed frustration with the nearness of the June 3 deadline for the department ending service to the City of West Liberty unless they reached an agreement or offered them an extension, she hoped to keep the conversation going by allowing members of the Volunteer Fire Department to view the consultant report the city received. She also introduced the possibility of bringing in George Oster, a retired fire chief with experience in mediation between cities and fire departments in various Iowa communities. She also recommended presenting the department with the draft 28E they worked on with the city the year previously to see if it could provide some compromises in the places the city and department still find themselves at odds.
The council agreed to release both documents to the West Liberty Volunteer Fire Department and looks to keep having discussions about them as the month progresses. Council member Dana Dominguez urged members of the department to read , as well as the memorandum of understanding, carefully, as she had concerns that not all members of the department had read it thoroughly before the city received it. “We want to make sure the volunteers are informed, because they put their lives on the line and do the dirty work,” she said.
Though this city council meeting drew a significantly smaller crowd than the May 3 meeting, some dissention arose in the audience. McCullough rebuked William Tharp, the attorney for the rural fire district, for speaking during a time of no public comment and requested another audience member leave after continuing to try to talk to the council while they discussed the matter.
