‘We’re going to fix it.’ Philipsburg takes closure of fire company off the table for now
Despite talk of decertifying Reliance Fire Company, the Philipsburg Borough will maintain its two fire companies while officials work to open the lines of communication and “put the past in the past.”
The rivalry between Reliance and Hope fire companies is longstanding, but resentment following a recent election resulted in the borough considering shuttering one of the services. Before hearing almost an hour of public comment at Monday night’s meeting, Philipsburg Mayor John Streno encouraged council members to table to ordinance, promising a veto if the legislation were enacted.
Nearly 40 people were in attendance Monday, with almost 10 individuals — from both companies — saying they didn’t want to see Reliance lose its certification.
But the initial steps to resolve what Streno called “an ongoing issue with Reliance” occurred before council met. During a conversation, organized by Rush Township Supervisor Pat Romano, Philipsburg officials, Rush and Decatur township supervisors and company representatives agreed to discuss issues privately before the council moves forward.
“Let’s put the axes away, shut the grinders off,” Romano said. “It’s not going to get fixed if we do that. Can we start feeling the passion for the community?”
While the borough thinks Reliance is overburdened with its workload and behind on record-keeping, fire company officials are worried the Philipsburg Fire Department and Moshannon Valley Fire Council — the bodies that oversee Hope and Reliance and distribute funds — do not treat them equally.
“We all kind of understand what the different issues are,” Romano said. “We’re all going to work together to try and make an effort to make things work much better going forward.”
In an effort to help Reliance, Romano said officials plan to assist Reliance in its record-keeping to see that they are up to date in all reports. By doing this, Romano thinks the conversation could shift away from decertifying the company and help ease tensions between borough officials and company members.
“We can get stronger by looking forward,” Romano said.
Although those who offered comment said they wanted Reliance to continue operating, some still had questions about the fire council’s finances and how money is distributed between the two companies. But fire department and council members said they want to focus on avoiding future problems by updating bylaws and regulations through a collaborative process that will include representatives from Reliance and Hope.
“We’re probably going to revamp the (fire) council and look at some other things, too,” Romano said. “We want to really get things back to where everybody really feels the trust that needs to be there.”
Through a series of future meetings, officials plan to update the fire department’s rules and regulations, making clearer rules and guidelines for elected officers to follow, Romano said.
“The council was set up many years ago, and everybody was on the same page then,” he said. “There’s been a lot of different people coming and going, so it changes. But, we’re going to fix it.”
Reliance Fire Company President Clayton Gilham said he was thankful council decided to postpone a vote, adding that his biggest frustration was lack of communication between the borough and the company. Moving forward, he said he hopes the borough is more transparent with any frustrations or questions about records, adding that “trust is everything.”
“This would have never gone as far as it did if the lines of communication had been open,” Gilham said. “There was no communication, and we need to keep the lines of communication open.”
Council did not decide when the ordinance will be up for discussion again, but Streno told residents to not “expect it anytime soon.”
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 8:38 AM.
