NY officials, firefighters in dispute over AFG award

By Rikki Cason
The Journal-Register

MEDINA, N.Y. — It was a struggle for power during Monday's Medina Village Board meeting, with every village firefighter in attendance. Upset, the Medina firefighters arrived ready to argue their case to board members.

In January, the department was chosen to receive a $108,299 federal grant that was part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. This same grant has been received by the department in past years and has gone toward the purchase of portable radios, turnout gear and a new fire engine.

This year's grant raised a red flag when the board learned that $70,000 of the grant would go to physical fitness equipment and another portion toward purchase of carbon monoxide monitors. The rest of the grant is planned to go for upgrades to a diesel exhaust system.

Board members say when they gave the fire department the go-ahead to pursue the grant, they were told the department was seeking funds for the exhaust system, not the carbon monoxide monitors or exercise equipment.

Mayor Adam Tabelski said the extra components were not mentioned when the grant was authorized and that the minutes of that meeting reflect that.

Fire Chief Todd Zinkievich maintains that the board was aware.

The issue mainly pertains to the $70,000 worth of physical fitness equipment. The fire department applied for the grant, stating that the equipment would be used to create a fitness center in city hall.

"One very important aspect that I have never been able to offer these people is the opportunity to have a workout room where they can get physically fit to better prepare themselves for the dangers they are facing," Zinkievich said. "We have an opportunity here with this grant to put physical fitness equipment in the fire station."

Zinkievich said the project was envisioned to have a fitness center that is open to every village employee. He wanted a place where the firefighters would workout at while off duty, also making them available to answer calls, having more manpower at the station throughout the day.

Trustees said they have many concerns, though they said they feel the overall health and fitness of their employees is important.

One of their main concerns is the liability of having the equipment on village property. Trustee Andrew Meier said that if someone was injured while working out on the premises, there would not only be a worker's compensation liability, but a potential 207A liability, which would require the village to pay the difference in salary between worker's compensation and the normal wage. The village could also be responsible, depending on the injury and claim, to pay upwards of $1 million over the next 30 years to individuals who were hurt.

"That is enormously significant," Meier said. "Anything we do to increase our exposure to that kind of risk when it's occurring on site is going to be met with great scrutiny by the board. This village government doesn't have a lot of money to throw around. Our taxes are extraordinarily high and they continue to be, despite our best efforts to keep them lower. Our task as board members is to try and limit our risks; limit our liability."

He also asked that if the equipment was on site, how would they guarantee that the equipment is used properly.

"We're a municipal government, not a fitness facility or gym," said Meier. "We don't have the kind of procedures and policies in place to make sure the equipment is used properly."

Another concern is where the equipment is going to go. The grant scope listed the equipment as going into the former clerk's office, a now vacant space on the main floor of city hall. Tabelski said that is a space the board controls ,and there might be another need for it in the future.

"You asked us to consider where we're putting this equipment," Tabelski said. "That's the perfect question. Why is the question being posed to us now? In my opinion, a better time to have this conversation would have been when the grant application was being developed."

One of the board's final concerns was the maintenance, upkeep and replacement of the equipment down the road. Although the equipment comes with a three-year warranty, board members asked the fire department if it would be OK with not replacing equipment years down the road.

"We're looking now at an ongoing replacement program with an additional cost to the taxpayer," Meier said. "With every additional piece we take on, we're increasing our maintenance costs. We're trying to be conservative with taxpayer dollars. We're trying to limit our risks and our exposure to future obligations, as well as liability."

The board suggested coming to an agreement with the local YMCA as a solution. Board members said they would like to see the $70,000 worth of equipment be installed there, have the YMCA maintain and replace the equipment in the future, and negotiate free memberships for village firefighters. They also see this as not only benefiting the fire department, but benefiting village residents, whose tax dollars helped fund the grant.

Although the board still needs to negotiate with the YMCA and determine if the Federal Emergency Management Agency would approve the equipment being off-site, Tabelski said he has a responsibility to the community and to do things that are in the best interest of the taxpayers.

"Health and well-being of every village employee is important to me also, and we're not trying to deny that at all," he said. "We're talking about a program we've never had before, so whatever we end up doing is going to be a step in a positive direction."

Members of the fire department took turns voicing their opinions on why they think the board is making a wrong decision by looking into an agreement with the YMCA. They expressed concerns about letting other YMCA members use the equipment, the hours the YMCA is open, daily policing and cleaning of the equipment, not having availability of machines when they arrive to work out and not wanting people outside of the Medina area to use the equipment, because the YMCA is now part of the Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming district.

"We have nothing against the community," Public Information Officer Jeffrey Elsenheimer said. "But the purpose is to assist fire departments that may not be able to obtain equipment to support their firefighters."

Another issue the department brought up is ethics. Zinkievich said he has a problem putting federally funded equipment into a place where someone is benefiting by charging memberships.

"I do not agree with this," Zinkievich said. "I do not support this. If the board decided to go down this avenue, I respectfully request that you guys remove me, start legal proceedings, whatever you have to do to remove me as administrator of this grant. I would rather risk being disciplined than to lose the respect of all these guys out here."

Board members asked Zinkievich if his employees would actually lose respect for him if he followed the orders of the chain of command and carried out the board's wishes, to which he answered, "Absolutely."

Several firefighters stood up, expressing their respect for Zinkievich. One said that he would let Zinkievich raise his son, but because of the "ethics you guys have on this thing, no chance" he would give the board the same respect.

"We're not interested in that," Tabelski interrupted. "We're trying to run a village here."

Another firefighter said their main problem is that the grant is not for the village or the community, it is for the firefighters, and they are going to stand behind the chief.

Another pointed out that while the village says it doesn't want exercise equipment on the premises, there has been various donated exercise equipment in the fire department since 1994.

No clear answer was arrived at by the end of Monday's meeting. The board said it plans to contact the YMCA and FEMA and continue to research all the options. The board stated that it is not necessarily opposed to the fitness center, but that it would like to investigate all possibilities. Representatives from the fire department's benevolent association spoke, asking if they were to take on any future maintenance and replacement costs, would that change the board's mind.

Still not wanting equipment on village property, board members agreed to talk about it further.

The board also authorized Zinkievich to move forward with the exhaust system as part of the grant and passed a resolution to remove him as grant administrator and make Tabelski the point of contact for the grant. Trustees also discussed the carbon monoxide monitors, stating that even though they were not told about this portion of the grant, it is more straightforward and poses very few questions.

Republished with permission from The Journal-Register.