POLAND, N.Y. — A special meeting will be held to discuss proposed fire contracts with Newport, Barneveld, Remsen and Deerfield.
The Poland Joint Fire District announced the meeting will take place on Oct. 7 at 6 p.m. at the Poland Central School gym.
The public is encouraged to attend.
The Joint Fire District released the following statement ahead of the meeting:
“The protection of the residents, taxpayers and visitors of the Poland Joint Fire District through the delivery of effective and professional fire and emergency service is the sole objective of the board of fire commissioners of the District.
“The District, as the entity responsible for assuring the delivery of fire and emergency services to the residents, businesses and schools of the District, has worked tirelessly over the past several weeks to make certain that those entrusted by the District to provide those services are ready, willing and able to do so. The District is confident that service delivery has been seamless, consistent and professional throughout this period, and is taking measures to assure the same in the weeks and months ahead.
“Since the initial suspension of service delivery from the Poland Fire Company, the District has:
“Worked with the mutual aid fire departments, including Newport and Barneveld among others, which have been steadily providing support to the Poland Joint Fire District prior to the separation of the Poland Fire Co. from the District, to assure a continuation of coverage throughout the District;
“Informed Herkimer County emergency services and dispatch as to the new arrangement and made certain that mutual aid departments were dispatched to all calls for service;
“Arranged for the Newport Fire Department to use apparatus and equipment owned by the District specifically for response to calls for service within the District; and
“Prepared contracts for the continuation of service delivery by these departments on an ongoing basis, which are to be acted upon at a special meeting of the board of fire commissioners on Tuesday, October 7th.
“No calls for service have gone unanswered, and response times have not deviated from average response times experienced prior to the change-over of service delivery.
“Since the initial suspension of service delivery from the Poland Fire Company, the District has also:
“Retained new legal counsel to represent the District in discussions with the Poland Fire Company to attempt to resolve the dispute between the District and the company, and counsel has:
“Addressed the board of the Town of Ohio to express the willingness of the District to engage with the company to develop a path forward;
“Addressed the District board and District residents at a meeting of the District board;
“Engaged on numerous occasions in the past three weeks with counsel for the fire company, the Town of Ohio and the counsel who created the District eight years ago;
“Communicated with counsel for the fire company the District’s desire to address issues pertaining to the fire company with a team of commissioners ready to meet with representatives of the fire company.
“Caucused as a board to better understand the nature of the issues between the District and fire company, and consider a number of options for moving the discussion between the groups forward on an expedited basis.
“The District has not allowed itself to be distracted or delayed by speculation or innuendo concerning certain legal matters involving the dissolution of fire protection districts that preceded the formation of the District, but is prepared to address those issues should they be presented in a legal forum and at the appropriate time. However, legal jousting is not a priority of the District, and the District remains both hopeful and committed to a resolution of all matters without resorting or having to respond to litigation.
“The Poland Joint Fire District will continue to take all actions necessary and appropriate to assure the continued delivery of fire and emergency services to all who call the District home, who work in the District, go to school in the District, or visit the District.”
A special meeting will be held to discuss proposed fire contracts with Newport, Barneveld, Remsen and Deerfield.
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