Unless some generous donor appears on the horizon, it seems that it might be some unknown number of years before Peru has enough cash to build once again.
The words Splash Pad appeared on the agenda for tonights Public Property Committee but that topic was quickly squelched. It appears that the city has no money to build a splash pad and numerous excuses were given as to why we should not have one in Peru. One thought was that it works better if built in conjunction with a swimming pool complex. Evidently none of those present have never taken a trip to Ottawa to see how well their Splash Pad functions.
I get the feeling that the aldermen come Hell or high water, want to wait until we have a pool before our kids will have any splashing water to cool off in. I did not see any enthusiasm from Mayor Harl either. Maybe if LaSalle or another of the cities decided to add a splash pad in one of their parks, Peru might get the idea that kids especially little one like to run around beneath spouts of water. Otherwise they are content to sit and wait for the pool fund to be large enough to build or perhaps they will figure out a way manipulate our funds to build.
There is a rumor at city hall that another Baseball diamond will be built at Veterans Park at a cost of $100,000.
Priorities, Priorities.
51 comments:
What I was wondering Lois they say it may be a while before we get enough money to build a pool, waiting for donations to come in it may take a while. I understand that. But my question is what has happened to the funds that were normally ear marked in the cities budget for the operation of the pool every year? I think it was between $50,000 and $75,000 a year for maintenance and operation of the pool including summer help to run the pool. where is that money been going and why don't they put that in the pool fund every year then when we get the pool built we will still have operation costs of having a pool already in our budget, or are they just hiring the kids of friends of the mayor and alderman. Maybe you with your blogg could get us a reply from the mayor and council about that please. thank you
Presently Peru has ten (10) diamonds in four (4) city parks and zero (0) water recreational facilities.
It only seems within reason that the next age group in Peru to be granted a recreation would be the tiny tots to approximately ten (10) year olds.
Witnessing the cities experience of hiring professional consulting firms for advise about the swimming pool which was built in 1928 and a $22,000.00 survey for the electric department which Peru has owned since the late 1800's it appears that it is time for this administration to reach out to a university's college of recreation and ask if they have a service of their students who would take Peru on as a project and set up a short range and a long range recreational plan. With the funding given to the recreational board yearly it seems that the initial money spent this year should be for educated planning. Possibly this could be a good role model to the city administrators on the rewards of short and long range planning.
10:23 We have never taken the summer help to run the pool off our payroll. As a matter of fact we added several to our payroll. Can't wait to find out how many we hire this year (with election around the corner).
The Splash Pad concept should be taken very seriously as the only viable option until new pool construction funding is achieved. And that is going to take a while.
If a majority of elected officials are dragging their feet about constructing a Splash Pad, then they will have to be "encouraged" and "convinced" to proceed. Perhaps someone will step up and research what it will take in terms of labor and materials to construct a Splash Pad.
This is another excellent opportunity for a volunteer effort or at least a joint city / volunteer effort.
Who would be willing to take on such a project?
Speaking of summer help, Lasalle had an ad in the paper looking for apps for summer help. I have not seen one for Peru. Do they not have to post these openings? Isn't that part of eeoc?
Maybe for what it would take to build a splash pad we could have revamped our present pool and got by for a couple of years.
And start a pool fund for a new pool at the same time. Then maybe we could of had a pool for our kids and got a new one later. If I remember the council tried to have the pool made safe and opened two or three times that year before the mayor said no, disregarding councils orders and would not do it. Then the city wasted money on a survey to see if the pool could be opened. I think if the mayor wanted to have a new pool he should have said so instead of draging a chain around the empty pool to show how bad it was leaking(pool holds rain water good now) and started a pool fund while we still had a pool that could have been repaired.(pool building is gutted now) I guess maybe that was some of the change he promised. I don't know, but if less services (no pool), higher property taxes, higher electric and water bills,and higher sales taxes were the change he was thinking of, maybe the people of Peru need to be "encouraged" and "convinced" to change him next election.
Anon 11:28 Your comment "(with election around the corner)" sounds like political sour grapes. With proper budget planning you have to realize the more summer help hired this summer does not necessarily mean more votes next spring for the hiring administration. Goodness no one would hire for votes it just can't amount to that many. Think, two years ago when the pool opening was a question mark the city hired 38 the pool never opened but the 38 were kept on board because the feeling was that it was too late for them to obtain other employment.
The Recreation Directors pay remained the same as if the pool was open.
Last year with the pool definitely going to be closed summer help was increased to 41 and the Recreation Director took a slight decrease in pay after the finance committee was questioned at a committee meeting by concerned taxpaying citizens.
Now lets see if it can be deciphered how summer help figures into votes. One young person, most likely under 22 with a voting Mom and Dad, most likely with either a older brother or sister if not both, also most likely with two living grandparent or more who for sure vote, and than Aunts and Uncles ALL who feel indebted to vote for the existing hiring administration. Yes 11:28 "Can't wait to find out how many we hire this year (with election around the corner)".
If you still doubt Peru's motivational financial planning think back to last year when LaSalle a city of similar size to Peru hired less summer help with a pool open than Peru hired with a pool closed. Appears the votes mean more than the proper financial planning of Peru's Taxpayers money.
5:22 PM
If you want to get to the correct solution, it should have taken place 20 years ago when the deterioration of the pool was first noticed, that is when a pool fund should have been started or maybe at that time we might have had the cash to rebuild it. Mayor Harl has made his share of mistakes but closing the pool was not one of them. Spending good money on that project was just prolonging the inevitable.
The Mayor of Peru position has never been so multi-tasked as the present incumbent. Celebrity Waiter, host of a Mayors Conference, national liaison to Washington D.C.and now auditioning at a empty swimming pool with a chain for the ghosts role in next years Christmas Story. Just wondering which ghost it will be-past, present or future.
Lois, there is no turning back the clock. Good money was spent on surveys. What are the present short and long range plans for recreation in the city? For that matter what are the short range and long range plans for the city? Too scatter money with the present shotgun effect is starting to move Peru behind other cities of the Illinois Valley.
We briefly talked about a splash pad at our committee meeting last night and an average splash pad would cost around $100,000. There is not $100,000 in the budget for a splash pad, so there wasn't much to discuss. I have asked, begged and pleaded for money to be budgeted yearly for the building and maintenance of a new swimming pool and have continually been told "there is no money in the budget for a pool". As far as I know, the aldermen have not been asked their opinion of a splash pad. If there is no money, then Steve, no amount of convincing or encouraging will do any good, because it is a moot point. It is frustrating and heartbreaking to consistently be told there is no money for the pool/splash pad, but I will keep asking because I want to keep it fresh in everyone's minds.
Thank you Sherry.
My question to any alderman would be this. If it is true that we are planning another baseball diamond at a cost of $100,000, where will that money be coming from? And if true how can the city continue to cater to the sports element of the community and ignore all the other families. I sincerely believe that many families would be happy to even donate "dollars" to this splash pad. Even handicapped children would be able to utilize a splash pad as there is no entry problem. We do have an attitude problem with some of the members on the city council when it comes to the children of this community.
I am not including Ald. Mayszak or Ald. Perez because I know they would both work to get this done. Call your alderman and tell him what you think.
Lois this is 5:22 my point was why wasn't it started now it does not matter what heppened 20 years ago it probably should have been started then or maybe the year after it was first built. I hope you are not silly enough to beleive that a new pool means no pool maintenance if you think spending money on the old pool would have just polonged the inevitable, then with that mentality your saying we will not have to spend money on new pool and we should not spend money for maintenance or repair on roads, sewers, water system, airport, powerplants, trucks or anything you could think of in the city because it would just prolong the inevitable
Why is there no money in the budget for a splash pad but we have all kinds of money for vehicles, renting buildings to store our excess equipment, lawnmowers, pickle ball, donations, pay raises, Eakas expansion, nifty fifty pamphlets, etc. Lots of money for government budgeting but nothing for the citizens of Peru and their children (the ones whose money your spending).
9:07 AM
It is very evident that you don't KNOW me when you post the comment you just did.
whine whine whine, if the current mayor is doing such a bad job then the past must have done a terrible job since there is no money set aside for all these things that are falling around the current adm. does peru need apool right now and the answer would be no, people have there own and there is the "Y" and surrounding towns with theres. i grew up in the valley and we never had a pool we got a ride or rode the bus to peru if we wanted to swim and we survived and so will peru. there are more important things that need addressed than the pool or slash pool, all you have to do is look at the past usage of the pool we had and then decide if we really need to spend that kind of money on a dieing horse. yeah maybe it would be nice if we could afford it but just like your household you can't buy toys you can't afford
anyone that has lived in Peru for any amount of time knows that the number of summer help hired varies from year to year depending on how many city officials and bosses friends and family members need a job . If they do (but very uncommon) put an ad in the paper to hire summer help that is just to appear they have fair hiring practices . It just gets worse year after year . There is no cap on age for summer help . If it is for kids then just have it from age 16-20 . Otherwise it should be open to the entire unemployed public . But no matter what , you can always guarantee it will somehow be corrupt hiring practices. That's Peru !
Peru has not had a swimming pool for the past 2 yrs and as the summer rapidly approaches it will be the 3rd year. Priorities had to be put in order and the infrastructure was justifiably chosen by the city officials to be of most urgent need. Sales tax was increased and a volunteer infrastructure committee was chosen to help move this vast project on its way.
Many interested citizens realizing the need of a swimming pool have stepped forward to do fundraising to provide Peru with a swimming pool. Nearly $100,000 has been raised but lots lots more will be needed just for the construction. The committee realizes that there will be roadblocks but they have the desire and ability to overcome these obstacles. Yes, the sum of over $2,500,000 is an overwhelming obstacle but not an impossibility, other cities have accomplished this task. As the economy improves and donations increase, the fundraising ideas will multiply with it. I would hope to set a realistic goal of what year we as citizens of Peru think we can be in position to build a pool. Then we can try to achieve this goal by cutting that time in half.
However, there is still a time period between 2012 and the year that funding will be achieved. At a nominal cost of $100,000 for a splash pad, this time frame could be a little more bearable. A possibility for funding would be to take city costs (which should not be occurring) and applying them to the cost of a splash pad.
Some of these costs are: (1) Swimming Pool yearly cost budgeted in past (where is that money now being spent). (2) Downtown development bond for $2,500,000 paid off in 2011 (where is that money now being spent - the money from this payment most likely could build 2 splash pads)
I have personally been at a council meeting in which the council happily stated that the present Budget Director had found another $320,000 for roadwork by taking this amount out of the Motel and Hotel tax. One distinguished and long term alderman asked if this was even legal and Mayor Harl looked straight forward and stated two words "HOME RULE". With one quick swipe HOME RULE allowed the finding and movement of $320,000. Add that onto the street fund of the previous year in which no improvement was made and to this years fund and you have over a $1,000,000.
I as many others are becoming more and more unhappy with the excessive purchase of vehicles, rental buildings, donations, management pay raises to people making double what a competitive corporate job would pay, nifty fifties, conventions etc. When and why is there never any money for the citizens and/or their children when they have a need?
Get rid of the eyesore!! Hasn't any Einsteirn chief in charge with the city of Peru realize that the pool is a liability on our insurance that we taxpayers pay the premiums !!! Also, maybe all the vehicles that have been purchased for the police/fire departments, etc... Can be registered as being Taxi's. We could hire volunteer drivers daily to transport our children to other towns that have responsibly kept up a
Pool so our children will have a fun and
Cool summer!! This is a joke!!!!! Wasn't there a picture in the newstribume two weeks ago of a Peru fireman
Sitting in a new piece of fire apparatus?? And it was
Stated that hopefully in a year or so the department would like to purchase that type of apparatus. To a tune of 1/2 MILLION (approx.). Wow!!! How about the
City have a bus with a departure and arrival
From Washington school to transport kids to LaSalle's pool since again this summer we won't have a outdoor pool. Oh yes, we have money for Mayoral dinner
At olive dinner. Maybe there should be a celebrity waiters dinner at right spice to raise money for a
Pool! No raises for city employees till we get a pool. No advertising mayor and alderman of Peru in paper until we get a pool! And the chapters continue.
11:50AM
A SPLASH PAD involves the expenditure of a modest sum of money that I have been told would be about $100,000.
We have spent close to that amount in the purchase of 3 brand new pick up trucks this year, one for the electric dept., one for the SPW and another for the Fire Department(which is sitting unused in someones driveway). We think nothing of spending 34,000 for a few minutes of oohs and aahs for the yearly fireworks on July 4. But the council considers all that important. We just donated 2500 to Central States in hopes of getting an increased hotel/motel tax. And we are contemplating another $100,000 for another baseball diamond for traveling teams to use. We have money for what the council and mayor value but that is not necessarily what the people value.
why do people trade in ther cars/trucks for different ones, they start nickel and dimeing. these things are an investment for the people of peru whether you believe it or not. the fire dept. has to keep upgrading their equip. to keep their rating that in turn keeps your house ins. low, they lose their rating and see what your ins. comp will tell you. the past mayor never let you know all the things your finding out now, he played a shell game and you knew no different, work with not against and maybe we all can find the end of the rainbow
All winter long and half of last summer 2 port-a-potties sat at Baker Lake. One on the west side and one on the east. Now that the weather has improved and people are frequenting Baker Lake the port-a-potties have been removed as of today. Could someone please explain this logic and also who was paying for them to begin with? Asked that question long ago and no one had an answer.
For the person who wants to spend a 1/2 mil on a fire truck and claims that this will keep home ins. lower than if the money was not spent Please submit your cost analysis to the blog as proof. Thank You.
I think that all the city has done for Eakas, they could donate the funds for a splash pad for the children of Peru.
Sherry, thank you for your efforts thus far for the fundraisers for a swimming pool for the city of Peru. However, it will be years to achieve the goal for monies to be raised to reach the goal for a née pool. Mayor Harl and all the alderman need to look at another solution to obtain the monies. How about the possibility of a new pool being built in phases?? Its not necessary to have diving boards, water slides, etc.. In the beginning. Add these features as monies is obtained throughout several years. Keep the building as is for now also. I bet you if the new city hall needed a new airconditioner to stay cool this summer the monies would be there for that. Yes, that's a small scale analogy, but I'm sure you get my point. Do park districts in towns receive federal and/or state monies??? Whoever would say that we have a YMCA for kids to swim should be sufficient for now is oblivious to the fact that it is summer, hot, and our children and families should be outdoor. The YMCA is ridiculously priced not to mention. You have your hands full Sherry with the chiefs of Peru in the process for a new pool. Good Luck!!
3:42 PM
As far as I know Peru does not have a Park District. As far as the old pool, the neighborhood is not happy with the abandoned structure remaining there as is. It has already been agreed that the Peru FD will use the bathhouse for training and in the process the walls will be destroyed and probably the roof.
Designs of pools have changed so much that it probably would not work to built it in stages and even if we wanted to, there is only $100,000 in the pool fund.
We were told point blank by the Mayor that there is NO money for a Splash Pad. Splash Pads can be as simple or as elaborate as you want them to be and in come cases are also used for Birthday Parties by reservation.
Ottawa built theirs 3 years ago at a cost of 89,000 and it is small but nice and located in the Fox River Park.
I do get the feeling lately that the city does not like when residents ask questions and I do notice that fewer and fewer people are coming to Council Meetings. I guess others are also feeling "in the way"
When will the pickle ball equipment that the city purchased be accessible to the general public?
Right now it's only accessible to some of the recreation commission members who have taken over the tennis court to play with their friends. I don't believe a solution has been made yet as to how the citizens who paid for this equipment will get access to it and I also believe it was stated that lessons would not start till after Easter (weather permitting). What if a citizen already knows how to play and would like to? Can they take down the tennis court net and take over the tennis court?
2:31PM You don't need a cost analysis. It's called an ISO rating. Ask your homeowners insurance agent about it. Fire departments are given ratings by an organization called ISO, Insurance Services Office. Their ISO rating has a direct impact on your homeowners insurance rates. The rating is in two parts, water supply and fire department. When they evaluate the water supply, they look at everything from how big are the water mains, to how many hydrants, to how much water flows out of the hydrants in given areas of the city. When they evaluate the fire department, they evaluate several things, from personnel including training, to equipment, type of equipment, whether the department has the proper equipment, and how old the equipment is. Peru went through this process in 2010.
Pretty sad! How many years did Peru have 3 pools (Veterans Pool, YMCA pool and the IV Racket Club). All during Mayor Bakers tenure and at the start of Mayor Harls term.
Now the city has GASB34 (an accounting principle mandated by the state) with a Budget Director who receives $18,000/yr. Interesting that we gave the "Treasurer" who was paid $6,000/yr a raise to do accounting for nothing, since Peru has no money.
Does anyone remember when the newspaper wrote about Judy Heiser's yearly salary if she had been reelected after 16 yrs in office would be $73,000/yr. Now our new Treasurer, hired under Mayor Harl, was paid $6,000 per year. Judy Heiser performed all the duties of the treasurer (other than signing of the checks to be distributed) and her job of City Clerk. Dave Bartley stated he would save the city $20,000 per year just by being elected, as he would take a $20,000 cut in pay. If you will add the present City Clerks salary (approx $56,000/yr and the Treasurer salary which when appointed was $6,000/yr the total was $59,000/yr. Mayor Harl then appoint and changed the position of Treasurer to Budget Director which allowed him an $18,000/yr salary. Walla, we now pay 2 people for what 1 person did in the past and, of course, for more money. Hmmmmm, I wander if we supply the fringe benefits as well, ie, health insurance and retirement. $$$$$$$$$$
Business sense what are the chances of having a water main break during a fire and how does the amount of water main breaks affect this ISO rating? At what point does it become cost effective in dollars and cents to buy new equipment when paid for equipment performing the same function is available? Would not be so inquisitive if that brand new top of the line white pickup wasn't sitting in the Asst. Fire Chiefs driveway for a extended amount of time without license plates and doing nothing but depreciating.
Anon 6:59 What will cost more? The additional taxes to pay for the new fire fighting equipment when you already have equipment or the additional cost of insurance because you are using a unit of equipment which should be in full preparation for utilization but is not new? Because equipment is not new does not indicate that if properly maintained it is not 100% functional.
Anon 7:09 The Treasurers position paid $6,000 per year upon changing the title to Budget Director which enabled the same position to have a pay raise while in the same 4 year term of office. This pay raise amounted to $18,000/year plus the $6,000/year which the Treasurer position was paid for a total compensation of $24,000/year.
In question is when the elections take place in April of 2013 will the populace be electing a Treasurer or a Budget Director and will this person be paid $6,000 or $24,000. What are the qualifications for this position?
Pertaining to the last election what preventative measures have been taken legally to prevent a candidate from not taking office of Treasurer/Budget Director if his preferred candidate for mayor is not elected and he/she is?
9:35 PM
Excellent questions and certainly one that should be answered before we go through the next election. Perhaps this is one for the Atty General of Illinois.
FORGET THE STUPID POOL!!! FIX THE STREETS!!!
The streets are going to be fixed and with proper planning a splash pad could be built and fund raisers conducted and donations taken for a pool in the future. There is no reason that these events could not take place at the same time. There is not one of them that conflicts with the other. I see much greater harm to a community by those who have
a negative attitude along with it has to be my way and only my way approach.
The word community means a sharing in common. We get our roads, the children get their splash pad and in time family's get a swimming pool. Peru should be capable of managing more than one problem or satisfying more than one age segment at a time.
Why don't you use the pool fund for the splash pad????/ Then you could start up the pool fund at the same time the splash pad is being used. Not to may kids over 11 or 12 use the pool, so the splash pad would be fantastic for younger kids.
1:54 PM
Perhaps Ald. Mayszak will come and comment on your suggestion.
I think that there was an agreement that the pool money could never be used for anything beside a pool. I agree with you and think it is a shame that so many years must pass when actually a splash pad could be considered a part of a pool and in fact is in many locations.
Again I don't know if this agreement is in writing and whether it was done with legal advice.
We do know for sure that we will not have a splash pad this year because the city has allowed too much time to pass and has not developed any engineering plans. At the Public Property Meeting, there was an engineer from Chamlin in attendance and he said if we want one for next year we need to get busy and develope some plans and move on them.
I am going to say this once again, public pressure needs to be applied to our Mayor and aldermen to get this going.
I would gladly help persue this but the *mayor and aldermen )seem to see "red" when I start asking too many questions. Together we could do it.
7:27PM
First of all, I just want to preface this with, I am not a fireman for Peru, so I'm neutral as far as the PFD is concerned. I'm not sure of the impact of water main breaks in relation to ISO ratings. Aging infrastructure is a problem in every community across the country, and this one certainly isn't any different. Vehicles depreciate whether sitting in a driveway or running up and down the highway.
7:40PM
I completely agree with you that properly maintained equipment should and will last a very long time, and you see it all the time in the emergency services, especially in very rural areas, or the deep south. Many fire departments first out engine is a 1980's or older, and they still work very well. However, they do not have the same features that newer equipment have. Most of these communities also have ISO ratings of 8 or 9 or 10, where Peru has an ISO rating of 5.
In general, emergency service agencies' purchases are not popular with taxpayers, especially in hard times and tough economies. For the most part, you drive by the firehouse, see all the trucks that, 90% of the time just sit there, and when you DO see them go on a call, they seem to work just fine. What you don't realize is that the second out engine is 20 years old and can only pump 1250 gallons per minute, while newer trucks can pump as much as 2500 or 3000gpm. Just because a piece of equipment can do the job, doesn't mean it's the best piece of equipment for the job. A community doesn't always have to have the best, and few communities do. But if it were your house on fire, or you trapped in the car, wouldn't you want the men coming to help you to have the best tools at their disposal?
Anon 12:54 and 1:54. Very nicely stated. I think it would be a good idea to use the $100,000 that is in the pool fund to make a splash pad IF we have a design for a new pool that includes a splash pad and that eventually the splash pad and pool would be part of one complex. I have not seen any designs by the new architect. Lois, I'm not aware of any agreement that the pool fund can only be used for a pool, and even if there is an agreement, the splash pad is part of the pool. But this is just my opinion, the pool fundraising committee would also have to be in agreement with it. I think building a splash pad would create some hope and excitement and help the fundraising efforts.
It seems perfectly logical to use the current donated funds for the splash pad and incorporate them into the eventual pool complex. The only question I have is if it's possible to do so. When the people who donated to the fund did so, were they donating specifically for a new pool, or for were they donating to the fund to be used towards the pool complex? I ask, because when you donate to the Red Cross for example, and you spececify to what you are donating, the funds can only be used for that particular activity.
TO 1:56 PM
The porta potties are there in the cold months so people can use the restroom. When it gets warm they open the permanent bathrooms. The permanent bathrooms have to be closed and winterized in cold weather. If they are left open, pipes freeze and burst. The porta potties are for the park users convenience.......sheesh
1:04 I beg to differ with you. There is no bathroom facility on the west end of the park. Also, when asked, the people removing them had no idea why other than someone from Peru told them to remove them. They have been there for over a year (not just the winter).
Waiting for your response 1:04.
Because school is off spring for spring break several of us would enjoy playing pickle ball. Where can we obtain the equipment and what form of deposit must be made. I hope it is not a lot of money because none of us have a lot of money.
Regarding peru's fire department. Since Mayor Harl has been in office and APPOINTED Jeff King as fire chief the MONEY that has been spend on fire
Department (command vehicle,sitting, fire equipment, Kings salary(?drastically increased),etc... What was Gary Eccles making with all his years as fire chief/Marshall??? Gary Eccles could always be seen and heard and quoted in paper, and on scene of fire calls and
Got paid alot less than out fire chief now. Check it out! Harl spends taxpayers money foolishly in my opinion. People have home owners and car
Insurance to cover losses. Older equipment serves the same purpose! ?why is rating
For fire department still a 5 then???? Just
some of my opinions and questions.
Possibly Peru would have a better rating other than a 5 for insurance purposes if they hired a a person who has qualifications with COLLEGE Degrees in fire Science!! Maybe when one of our city engineers stationed at the fire department retires, that position can be
Filled with a full-time fire chief with a College Degree in Fire Sciece. It's called SAVING money! Those city employees are already at the fire station waiting
For a fire call and cleaning fire trucks! This would eliminate paid volunteer fire chief. If tax rates, insurance premiums are based on education etc... , then maybe Peru should look into this when someone retires. Having a certificate in firefighter 1,2,3 classes is in no means a degree in fire science. It like taking a
Class to get certified in sanitation for food
Service. What degrees does our fire chief have??? Does he fill out state reports? Has he ever told anybody that if Peru has a fire chief that has a
College fire science
Degree that their rating would be higher??? I don't know the answers, but these ate very important questions should have and
Need to be addressed. Taxpayers money at
Stake here and has been. Some of these questions
Have been asked before , and I find
It very ODD, NOBODY HAS REPONDED! Is someone hiding something?? Makes one curious. I'm not bring
Derogatory here, but it is what it is!!!!
Gary Eccles was a full time engineer /city employee/fire
Department while also serving as our fire chief/Marshall(for
An additional small salary). That worked out very well. I would be willing to bet that he performed
Some duties as fire chief while sitting at the station waiting
To dispatch a fire call. He killed two birds with one stone and save the taxpayers money. What's happening now? Volunteerism(without getting paid)(parades,yard maintenance,'etc...), wasn't an issue. There was even a stag that was very enjoyable.
Ok then. Re: peru's spending. Wasnt Eccles fire chief/
Marshall for 11'years? Until 08 or 09? What was
He paid his last year? Under Liberty Company. What was fire chief king paid for his first year as fire chief/Marshall? Under Liberty Fire Company? Now after
Harl became Mayor he Appointed our fire chief/Marshall (j.'King). Now a city employee, not paid by Liberty
fire company. What is his salary now? It would be interesting to know the salary difference from liberty to a
City employee for this position. And again from when Gary Eccles was fire chief/Marshall. Why was this switched from liberty fire company to city employee anyway?
When one speaks of managing city departments with the up most of ethics and than speaks in favor of a stag - forget it! They lose all creditability.
The stag cost no departments anything. Tickets sold covered draft beer and chicken dinner. Items
Were donated and a few things(guns) purchased then tickets were sold for raffles! Stag WAS an event for the old timers(fireman), to enjoy an evening out. As a matter of 100 percent truth! The volunteer fireman(paid per
Call) DONATED their time to this event. Now, a new
Guy is fire chief ! Makes u wonder. The
Fire department made money with stag. Check their books!
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