Fire study comes amid tumult with township
UPPER POTTSGROVE » Township commissioners have asked the state to conduct an assessment of the Upper Pottsgrove Fire Company and the effort may have already fallen afoul of Pennsylvania’s Open Meetings Law.
The assessment comes at a time when there seems to be some disagreement among the commissioners about the effectiveness and leadership of the fire company.
Monday night, Commissioner Martin Schreiber said he had wanted to be present for the conference call with the state in which some of the parameters of the study would be outlined.
He was told he could not participate, however, because Commissioners Chairman Trace Slinkerd and Vice Chairman France Krazalkovich were already slotted to be present and Schreiber’s presence would have created a quorum of the commissioners, and thus constituted an unadvertised meeting, which would violate the Open Meetings Law.
But apparently the call managed to violate that law in a different way.
Schreiber, who is also a member of the fire company and of the fire committee, pointed out that those present for the call constituted a quorum for the fire committee and thus also constituted an illegal unadvertised meeting.
Township Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. confirmed it appeared to be a violation.
However, because there is no penalty associated with violating Pennsylvania’s Open Meetings Law, the commissioners proceeded on to new business with no additional comment.
This point of friction regarding the study is just the latest between the fire company and the commissioners going all the way back to January, according to the minutes of previous meetings.
The unanimous commissioners vote to in-
vite the state assessment of the fire company, which will come at no cost to the township, came at a meeting on May 21.
But at the June 18 meeting, two commissioners — Schreiber and Elwood Taylor — voted against adopting the minutes of the May meeting because they said positive comments they had made about the fire company the month before had not been included in the minutes.
TWITTER RECAP: Tweets from the June 18 meeting.
Those May 21 minutes indicate that Krazalkovich also made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Renee Spaide, “to draft a letter of no confidence in the current operational leadership of the fire company.”
According to the minutes, Commissioners Chairman Trace Slinkerd said “the matter started when a commissioner started asking questions and the fire chief demonstrated his inability to control himself when asked those questions in addition to not wanting initially to provide the requested information. Then the fire chief proceeded to send out an email attacking a commissioner when all that commissioner was trying to do was investigate concerns brought to his attention.”
That e-mail, and the responses, were obtained by The Mercury through a Right to Know records request. Sent to all Upper Pottsgrove and Pottstown Borough elected officials, Mattingly wrote that he was concerned about a May 7 meeting at the West End fire Company in Stowe, that included Krazalkovich and former Pottstown fire chief Michael Lessar, who resigned without explanation on June 14.
“Why would the borough fire chief have concern to be traveling with an Upper Pottsgrove Township Commissioner to an outside area to ask questions about another area’s fire incidents?” Mattingly wrote.
He called it “disheartening” that Krazalkovich, who is a member of the township’s fire committee, would seek answers regarding incidents he had already asked Upper Pottsgrove’s firefighters about.
“Those questions have been answered and discussed at length,” Mattingly wrote.
Noting that under Pottstown fire Chief Richard Lengel’s tenure, “issues were handled with direct communication,” Mattingly wrote “I would kindly ask that Chief Lessar concern himself with matters that fall under the position for which he is paid, rather than inserting himself into matters that have no bearing on his functionality as borough fire chief.”
In his emailed response, Lessar wrote that his meeting with Krazalkovich was in his capacity as area Republican leader who had facilitated a meeting with State Sen. Bob Mensch, R24th Dist.
Lessar wrote that “we began to talk about mutual aid responses. A conversation developed regarding the Pottstown Fire Department responding into Upper Pottsgrove Township.”
“My biggest concern is when my firefighters are working in your township, that there is an expectation of leadership to provide for their safety,” Lessar wrote further. “In this aspect, your fire department has failed to demonstrate leadership on the fire ground, placing not only mine but all firefighters at risk for injury or worse.”
The West End fire captain was contacted “to clarify some facts,” Lessar wrote.
Krazalkovich said in the May 21 meeting minutes that the dispute all traces back to a meeting in January when the new board of commissioners voted 3-2 to reject a request to purchase a new fire truck.
“This was followed by a series of unsolicited calls to him regarding concerns about station 79 and then attacks on a commissioner,” according to the May 21 minutes.
Schreiber, who is also a member of the fire company and the township’s fire committee, explained the township’s fire tax had been raised by the previous board to pay for the fire truck. Slinkerd said Schreiber “has various roles and (Slinkerd) believes he cannot be objective when it comes to making decisions regarding the fire company,” according to the May 21 minutes.
Slinkerd, Krazalkovich and Spaide all expressed concerns about the memorandum of understanding between the township and the fire company but ultimately rescinded the motion about a letter of no confidence, according to the May 21 minutes.
How much of these disputes will enter into the fire study conducted by the state remains unclear.
According to the “letter of intent” filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which will oversee the study conducted by a consultant, areas examined will include:
• The fire company’s “ability to satisfactorily respond to and extinguish fires as these tasks relate to generally accepted firefighting standards.”
• The scope of the assessment will include, “administrative and operational leadership, personnel management, training, facilities and equipment.”
• It will also review “supporting governance documents and organizational structure as well.”
• The study will also assess “future township fire protection needs.”
The last time the DCED was in Upper Pottsgrove to conduct such a study was 2005 when it undertook a study of the township police department which, at the time, was being considered for a merger with Douglass (Berks), an initiative which ultimately fell apart.
Township Manager Carol Lewis told the commissioners at the June meeting that the study was nevertheless “very useful” in guiding the future development of the police department.