The Chesterton Fire
Department’s chain of command has been shortened by one link.
At its meeting
Monday night, the Town Council voted unanimously to amend the 2016 Salary
Ordinance, giving raises to Fire Chief John Jarka and Deputy Fire Chief Nate
Williams and thereby formalizing a de facto consolidation of the
command staff following former fire chief Mike Orlich’s retirement in May
2014.
Under Orlich’s
watch, the CFD’s rolls included a Deputy Fire Chief, in which position Jarka
served; and a Division Chief of Training, in which position Willams served.
When Orlich retired, Jarka was named the new Fire Chief and Williams the new
Deputy Chief but the decision was made not to fill the other slot--Division
Chief of Training--but instead to divvy up the responsibilities between
Jarka and Williams.
The job
descriptions of both Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief have since been
re-written and the raises approved on Monday reflect the two’s additional
duties, said Member Emerson DeLaney, R-5th, the council’s liaison to the CFD.
The Fire Chief’s
salary went from $58,769 to $67,660; the Deputy Chief’s, from $52,998 to
$64,552.
Surplus Rescue
Truck
In other business,
members voted unanimously to approve a swap of trucks with the Burns Harbor
Fire Department.
The CFD will
transfer ownership of its old 1992 rescue truck--which the council declared
surplus at its last meeting--to the BHFD, in exchange for which it will
receive a 2006 light rescue truck and a $25,000 cash payment. The light
rescue truck is the BHFD’s old ambulance by another name.
The 1992 rescue
truck, which was originally acquired to carry the CFD’s rescue tools and has
no hose- or water-carrying capability, will be made obsolete by the
department’s new engine, currently being manufactured. The new engine has a
specifically designated “rescue body” with sufficient compartment space for
tools.
Surplus Bunker Gear
Members also voted
unanimously to authorize the CFD to transfer 11 sets of old bunker
gear--long since retired from service and declared surplus by the council at
its last meeting--to the ownership of the New Chicago Volunteer Fire
Department.
The National Fire
Protection Agency recommends--but doesn’t require--retiring bunker gear
after 10 years of service, and at least some of the 11 sets are half again
as old as that. At the moment the NCVFD doesn’t have enough bunker gear to
outfit all of its firefighters, however, so the CFD’s gently used sets will
be much appreciated.
New Engine
Meanwhile, Jarka
reported that the CFD should take delivery of the new engine--referred to
technically as a “pumper”--sometime in May. It’s being manufactured by the
Sutphen Corporation of Dublin, Ohio, at a contract price of $462,362.
The good news,
Jarka said, is that Horizon Bank has quoted an interest rate on an
eight-year loan of 1.88 percent, what Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann called “a
very low rate.”
The first two
payments on the vehicle will actually be made by Westchester Township, under
an agreement with the CFD, which provides fire protection services to
certain designated portions of unincorporated Westchester. The final six
payments will be made from the town’s Cumulative Capital Development fund,
which has a dedicated property-tax rate and is used exclusively for the
acquisition of emergency vehicles.
Members voted
unanimously to authorize Jarka to formalize the loan with Horizon Bank.
Grant Awarded
Jarka also reported
that the CFD will be able to purchase 30 new air packs, along with masks and
bottles, with a 90/10 Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) awarded through
the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Several other fire
departments in Porter County are also recipients of AFG moneys, Jarka noted,
but the Portage Fire Department was the filing agency which actually
administered the grant application.
The 10-percent
match will be provided by Westchester Township, Jarka added.