West Liberty could lose its fire service at midnight Tuesday

WEST LIBERTY — The Sunday deadline in the dispute between the West Liberty City Council and the city’s volunteer firefighters — with firefighters threatening to quit — may be extended.

The firefighters last month gave the city a May 1 deadline to resolve long-standing disputes, but Fire Chief Kirt Sickels said this week the deadline could be extended to June 3 — if the city council at its May 3 meeting discusses in good faith a new agreement for the fire department.

If not, the firefighters will stop responding to calls in the city at midnight Tuesday.

Sickels said West Liberty Mayor Katherine McCullough visited the fire station after a Tuesday night meeting of the council’s public safety committee to answer questions and ask for the extension.

Sickels said he appreciated the effort.

"We're not doing this because we are trying to throw a monkey (wrench) at the city," Sickels said.

"I'm genuinely concerned if we are going to have enough personnel to be able to jump in those trucks and those ambulances and go,“ he said. ”We have lost 11 people in the last year. That is a real concern. You can't continue to volunteer in a system that is broken."

At that Tuesday public safety committee meeting, Mayor McCullough said, "I do want to move things forward, I don't want to stall. I also want to reiterate that my goal at the end of this process is a 28E agreement, but one that makes sense for all parties involved."

Council member Omar Martinez said the 28E agreement proposed by the firefighters looks acceptable, but he wants to ensure some items were legal.

City Attorney City Steve Havercamp urged negotiations with the fire department, given the lawsuits filed against the city by the rural fire district and the fire department.

McCullough said she had been trying to work on the problem since January and have an open discussion with the firefighters.

But “because of this litigation, which is becoming a catchall for everything, we can't talk," she said. "How in the flip are we supposed to get anything done if we cannot talk? To me, that is very frustrating.”

The meeting was brought to a close soon after the Havercamp and William Tharp, the attorney for the firefighters, had a heated exchange.

Proposed agreement

Last week, the fire department proposed a new 28E agreement that would include the city, the fire department and the rural fire district on a board that would oversee the agreement.

The district would be funded in the same way the current department is, Sickels said. The fire station and equipment — much of it donated and some owned by the city and the rural district — would become the property of the new 28E agency board.

The department responded to almost 800 calls in 2021.

At issue

Sickels said the dispute began about three years ago when the city said the 28E agreement that formed the fire district had expired.

During negotiations for a new agreement, the rural fire district asked for an audit. The then-mayor refused and said the 28E had expired and the city was out of it.

"The fire department was stuck in the middle of this," Sickels said.

In July 2021, the West Liberty Fire Department also sued, asking for dissolution of its agreement with the city, injunctions and an accounting of expenses. The fire department also asked the court to create a separate 28E agency.

In late 2021, the rural fire district sued the city of West Liberty to continue providing its fire service.

Last month, the department wrote the city that it planned to end its association with the city, charging "the city has actively waged a war upon the department through dangerous bureaucratic moves that endanger the community, including deliberately stalling attempts to hire EMS personnel."

The letter also alleged incorrect accounting, mixing of fire department funds with the city's general fund, and incorrect classification of expenses and donations, among other grievances.

Backup plan

City Manager David Haugland said he has spoken with neighboring fire departments — including ones in Wilton, Atalissa, Nichols, Muscatine and West Branch — and all have agreed to respond to fires in West Liberty, if that becomes necessary.

Sickels, a volunteer firefighter for the past 20 years, said a delay of 15 to 30 minutes in an emergency — the extra time a neighboring department would take to respond — could be "devastating."

Sickels said the fire department will continue serving the rural fire district, one of the largest districts in the state, regardless of what happens with the city.