Town votes to change fire protection

April has been proclaimed Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Greencastle by Mayor Nancy Michael (third from left). She was joined in placing pinwheels on the lawn of the Putnam County Courthouse by (from left) Elizabeth Butts of Family Support Services, Patti Harmless of Youth Develoment Commission, Eileen Johnson of Mental Health America, Linda Merkel of the Youth Development Commission, and Cari Cox of Family Support Services. The 201 pinwheels on the lawn represent the 201 children in Putnam County who are known to have suffered from abuse or neglect in 2006.

CLOVERDALE -- Fire protection for the town of Cloverdale is back in the hands of the Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Dept.

On Tuesday, the board voted 3-2 in favor of accepting an agreement reached Monday between the town and fire department.

Council president Don Sublett told a packed house Tuesday evening that the board had conducted an executive session Monday afternoon to look over 11 lawsuits the town is currently facing.

On Tuesday, he said four of the lawsuits were "solved," including a lawsuit brought against the town by CTVFD.

Following the declaration, Sublett called for a vote on a signing a contract with CTVFD to serve as the town's fire protection.

Sublett told the audience Tuesday that during Monday's executive session, three of the board members met with town attorney Allan Yackey, CTVFD attorney Darrell Felling and mediator John Hanner, an attorney from Rockville.

However, council member Judy Whitaker -- who did not attend the executive session -- said she wanted to know why it had never been addressed, to the best of her knowledge, that a mediator would be at the meeting.

After a lengthy discussion, Sublett motioned to sign the contract between the two entities with council vice president Dennis Padgett giving the second.

The agreement between the two parties, according to Sublett, dismissess all legal action between the two.

According to the agreement, CTVFD will provide all fire protection for the town for a calendar year. Following that, both the town and department agreed to assess future budget needs and demands each year.

The town, according to the agreement, will provide the fire department building through a lease agreement of 20 years for $1 each year.

The town disolved its contract with CTVFD in September 2004, via a 3-2 vote. At that meeting, then-council president John Davis and then-council vice president Whitaker, along with council member Glen Vickroy voted in favor of disolving the relationship while Padgett and then-council member Brice Jones voted to maintain the relationship.

CTVFD had based its operations at 51 W. Market St., Cloverdale, since 1955, but moved to 101 W. Stardust Rd., Cloverdale, at midnight Dec. 31, 2004, and continued to serve the area.

But the new agreement calls for CTVFD to move its operation back to the building on Market Street, which had housed the Cloverdale Town Fire Dept. since 2005.

"We will be responding out of down town," CTVFD Chief Kerry Shepherd told the BannerGraphic Wednesday morning. "We're hoping (to move back in) as quick as possible.

"Everybody was satisfied with (the final decision)."

However, following Tuesday's meeting, council member Davis said he was not pleased with the board's vote.

"Basically, they gave away the town," Davis said. "It's going to cost us a fortune over what we were paying."

The town fire department currently has four fire trucks, one of which was donated. Sublett told the BannerGraphic Tuesday that the donated truck will be donated to another town and Shepherd will evaluate the remaining three trucks to decide if CTVFD wants to keep them.

"(The remaining trucks) will be evaluated by an independent fire truck mechanic," Shepherd said Wednesday.

Nineteen firefighters currently are on staff with the town fire department. On Tuesday, Shepherd said any of them could apply to work with CTVFD.

Although the council voted in favor of the motion Tuesday evening, Shepherd said he was not given the key to the building on Market Street following the meeting.