BY MICHELLE ROSENBERG
Staff Writer
Many members of the Holmdel Fire Company No. 1 are heated over recent amendments to an ordinance defining their role in town.
The amendments, which make several changes including membership requirements and the procedures for disciplinary actions, were adopted by the Township Committee in a 3-1 vote Sept. 26. Committeeman Terence Wall opposed the amendments, and Committeeman Tony Orsini stepped down due to an association with the company.
“It’s a hostile ordinance. It’s basically trying to take over the fire department,” Fire Chief Ronald Pontrelli said after the meeting. “It’s a bad situation. They’ve created a monster here.”
The ordinance states that in order to be a fire officer, the member must be a township resident. If there are no qualified residents, nonresidents will be considered.
Pontrelli said that this section of the ordinance strips the department of its rights. He said the Township Committee does not have the expertise to determine who is qualified, and that the department has an electoral process that places fire officers. Pontrelli said that if nonresidents have the right to put their lives on the line as members, they should have the right to be officers.
“Just because I’m not a resident, I can’t run for chief when I’ve been a member for 34 years, a life member,” Pontrelli said.
Now nonresident members who have been a part of the company will not be considered for the next position if there is a qualified resident in the company, he said. He said there are more nonresidents than residents in the company.
Township Administrator Christopher Schultz, who has 16 years of experience in the administrative side of a fire department, said that the company is taking it the wrong way.
“In my opinion, they are misreading this,” Schultz said.
He said the electoral process still exists, and that the ordinance does not say that nonresidents cannot be members. The ordinance states that in order to be a fireman member, covered by the township’s insurance, members have to live or work in town, he said.
“We are protecting the township, the municipal side of this,” he said.
The ordinance also states that any suspensions, terminations or resignations must be approved by the Township Committee. Pontrelli said that this section of the ordinance leaves the fire company powerless.
“Why does the town have a say in disciplinary action? We have our own bylaws,” Pontrelli said.
Schultz said that the chief will still have power to make disciplinary decisions, but there may be some situations that the township wishes to discuss, and the ordinance allows them to do that.
Another major concern the fire company has is money. According to the new ordinance, the department must submit a detailed description of each item it plans to purchase to the township administrator. Once the description is submitted, funds will be dispersed to make the necessary purchases.
Pontrelli said that in the past, the company was given $50,000 a year in quarterly checks, half of which had to go to equipment and gear. He said that now they will have to fill out purchase orders for everything, even something as small as batteries.
“We get no money upfront anymore, when we have all these years,” he said.
Pontrelli said he believes the budget changes are a result of a letter that was written about him, accusing him of embezzling funds. He said he was cleared by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office three years in a row regarding the matter. He also said he believes that the accusations led to an audit, which took 10 months.
Schultz said that through the new method, the fire company will still get $90,000 a year with the possibility of additional funds. He said they requested the audit in December 2004, and it took three additional memos and a legal notice to get the information they requested.
“We want to make sure that funding is provided for,” Schultz said.
Pontrelli said that the company is made up of volunteers who work full time and didn’t have the time to immediately gather the information requested.
Pontrelli said he and the members feel that they are being singled out, and don’t understand why the same changes haven’t been made for the first aid squad.
Schultz said that the issue being dealt with is the fire company, not the first aid squad. He said that the township and the fire company have had issues that pre-date his tenure in Holmdel.
Despite the members’ opposition, some people supported the ordinance.
Deputy Mayor Janet Berk said she is comfortable with the ordinance, and feels it protects the township’s liability. She also said that she does not feel it takes anything away from nonresidents because people from contiguous towns are still allowed to be members.
Police Detective Eric Hernando, who is also a rescue captain on the first aid and rescue squad, said he thinks the ordinance will ultimately benefit the fire company.
Doug Ziemba, who represents the company from the administrative side, and is a second lieutenant, said he supports the ordinance. He also said he recently attended a meeting in which members “overwhelmingly” supported the ordinance.
The ordinance is splitting the company in half, Pontrelli said.
The amendments are the result of some changes that the company asked the committee to make to the existing ordinance, which Pontrelli said has been in effect since 1919. He said the company asked the committee to change one paragraph in the ordinance.
“Lo and behold, they decided to rewrite the entire ordinance,” Pontrelli said.
Schultz said that the old ordinance dates not back to 1964, not 1919, and that it was not being properly followed.
Pontrelli said the company will vote at its next meeting on whether or not to take legal action against the ordinance. The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 20.