Court costs to delay fire fighter hires

The Anderson Fire Protection District will have to wait for its three new firefighters. The hiring of additional firefighters by the Anderson Fire Protection District (AFPD), a goal of the district for well over a year, was suspended until the full cost of attorneys' fees and court costs is determined, according to AFPD Fire Chief Andy Nichols.

Judge Monica Marlow ordered the district to pay at least $16,623 for the Record Searchlight's attorney fees when the newspaper won a legal fight to aquire the district's investigative report of misconduct by a former fire chief, according to a Record Searchlight story.

"That and with our attorney also, I don't know what that's going to come out to," Nichols said in a telephone interview Feb. 4.

Nichols said the district budgeted $30,000 to pay for attorney's fees, but did not expect to pay the the newspaper's court costs as well.

"All that's going to come out of (the district's) reserves," Nichols said.

If the district's attorney's fees amount to $30,000, the addition of the newspaper attorney fees and the cost of Neil Purcell's investigation leads to over $85,000.

The district board of directors announced its intention to hire the three fire fighters with money saved by not backfilling an open position of a deputy chief promoted to the fire chief position. The fire chief position was left vacant upon the resignation of Joe Piccinini in July 1, 2009.

The board awarded then-Deputy Fire Chief Nichols the chief position Sept. 14, 2009.

In an interview with the Valley Post shortly after his promotion, Nichols said the district would realize about $83,000 savings from the base pay of the previous fire chief and an additional $43,000 savings by reducing the use of seasonal fire fighters. The combined $126,000 would pay for the three additional fire fighters' base salaries, at $10 per hour, and still provide the district with a savings of $36,000.

"I'm scared to do too much right now with everything going on," Nichols said.

Additionally Captain Jason Bellinger, recently charged with felony forgery and a misdemeanor count of embezzlement, remains on medical leave since November with no expectation as to when he will be cleared for duty, Nichols said.