A week after a fiery meeting at West Liberty High School on April 19, the City of West Liberty’s Public Safety Committee and Mayor Katie McCullough have negotiated an agreement with the West Liberty volunteer fire department to extend services to Friday, June 3, avoiding a walk-out by first responders and keeping fire department services in the city as well as the rural areas..
A work session on Tuesday, April 26, by that committee, which includes council members Omar Martinez and Dana Dominguez, along with the mayor, was followed by a meeting between the mayor and fire department officials, setting a plan for negotiations for a proposed 28E Agency agreement by the department.
The fire department and Chief Kirt Sickels put together a “Memorandum of Understanding” before the April 19 meeting which has been presented to the city and was the focus of discussions in keeping fire and ambulance services available in the community after the first responders had threatened to walk away from their volunteer positions as of May 1.
The remainder of the city council and the public will be provided an update and discussion with the entire council at their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 3, at the West Liberty Public Library. “The City will not openly discuss what is permitted as there isstill litigation in place, but the City as always remains committed to a resolution and participation in a successful outcome for all,” said the statement from the committee placed on the city’s Facebook social media page. It was noted the two council members worked through questions at the meeting and asked to “set a time line to stay diligent to progress toward resolution.”
The fire department followed with a statement of their own, pointing out the work session was “a start of continued discussions that will be necessary to move forward” regarding the possibility of a new external 28E agency that is asking for separation from the city although including involvement from the city, as well as the Rural Fire District.
In the statement from the fire department, Sickels said the mayor “has worked very diligently to get the necessary parties together and start working on a formal plan. Her commitment to the community and efforts to open lines of communication has been greatly appreciated.”
“Many kudos to Mayor McCullough for taking her valuable time and effort to meet with our Volunteer Fire Department last night after the work session to try and ease concerns, answer questions, and explain potential intentions to move the process forward,” it was stated.
Sickles said the department is “happy to see an increase in communication” but pointed out there are still a lot of work and negotiations to be completed. “With that in mind, the department has decided to extend the deadline of service until June 3,” the department statement read.
The new mayor requested the extension and “in the spirit of resolution, we have agreed,” the volunteers wrote.
The chief continued by thanking the community for their continued support “and hope that you would still positively ask the council members to support this effort! Let’s keep running toward this emergency – just as our volunteer department does every time that pager goes off-- and not away! We can get there and put out this frustrating fire!”
Sickels said late last week he is “optimistic” about resolving the dispute with the city and hopeful to form the new 28A Agency that would have a board consisting of three representatives from the city, Rural Fire District and the West Liberty Fire Department which would govern the activities of the fire department.
The fire chief said the mayor requested the volunteers extend their service to the community through Friday, June 3 to allow time to deliberate and resolve issues. He said McCullough “spoke her concerns” with the first responders at the fire station.
McCullough said she was “cautiously optimistic as to where we are at and know that we will know more on Tuesday (May 3)," when the city council meets again, this time at the West Liberty Community Center.
Tuesday's agenda includes a mayoral appointment of the West Liberty Fire Chief. Chief Kirt Sickels was nominated y the fire department volunteers to renew his leadership of the department, possibly reversing an earlier decision by the council.
The city had voted down the appointment in a January council meeting by a 3-2 vote with Diane Beranek, Cara McFerren and Jose Zacarius voting against the city appointment.
Also on the Tuesday, May 3 agenda is a discussion and appropriate follow-up with the city's Public Safety Committee regarding recommendations on behalf of the proposed 28E West Liberty Fire and EmS Agency Agreement with the city and the Rural Fire District.
The Rural Fire District encompasses portions of townships in Wapsie, Goshen, and Lake in Muscatine County, Lincoln Township in Johnson County and Iowa and Springdale Townships in Cedar County.
The council will also meet on May 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center.