No surrender in sight in Bellevue fire fight

&emsp;&emsp;The battle between supporters of the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Company and the government officials who voted March 28 to drop the VFC as the fire services provider for the borough showed no signs of abatement this past week, as supporters ramped up their efforts and officials dug in their heels and responded with a number of questionable moves.&emsp;&emsp;Meanwhile, questions about the safety of the borough's citizens have increased based on decisions made during the past week.&emsp;&emsp;The first full meeting between supporters and officials came last Tuesday, at council's public safety committee meeting, when an overflow crowd gathered in council chambers.&emsp;&emsp;When citizens arrived for this past Tuesday's pre-council meeting, they initially faced locked doors. Once they made it to the second floor council chambers, they were greeted with a sign that said the occupancy limit for the meeting room was 35 people. More than 20 of the people who entered the room were officials or government employees. The displayed occupancy limit was not enforced.&emsp;&emsp;This was the borough's second attempt of the week to shut down opposition. Supporters plastered flyers urging citizens to attend the council meetings on utility poles throughout the borough. On Monday morning, according to sources, the code enforcement office reportedly e-mailed the borough's public works department to remove the flyers. While it is a code violation to attach signs to utility poles, Bellevue's employees removed only the VFC support posters and no others, even when the flyers were attached to the same pole. &emsp;&emsp;Officials attempted to use the same tactic as they had at the committee meeting, where citizens were told that the fire services action was not part of the meeting agenda, and public comment on the matter would have to be delayed until the end of the meeting, when the time limit for comments is set at two minutes. Another comment period at the beginning ofthe meeting allows speakers to take five minutes each, but officials maintained that this could be used for agenda matters only, and fire services was not on the agenda.&emsp;&emsp;Council had appointed solicitor Matt Racunas to play the heavy in enforcing their restrictions, but he quickly encountered several problems. A citizen informed council that the agenda and organization of council meetings were set out in an ordinance required by the borough's home rule charter, namely the administrative code. Although director of administrative services Cindy Bahn has reorganized the meeting agendas since being hired in 2020, council has never voted on a policy designating certain time periods for public comment based on the content of the comments, and the administrative code, which does not distinguish between agenda and non-agenda comments, has never been amended.&emsp;&emsp;Things got worse for Racunas when he declared that resident and former council member Linda Woshner had gone over even the five-minute restriction and would have to stop speaking. Woshner refused, and Racunas waved to a police officer in the back of the room and instructed him to remove Woshner from the room. Police did not intervene in the meeting.&emsp;&emsp;Council took heat over their perceived unwillingness to inform or listen to their constituents.&emsp;&emsp;"You don't want to hear what the public has to say," stated resident Paul Miller.&emsp;&emsp;Resident Alisa Scioscia noted that officials spent a lot of time setting standards for something as simple as public comments, but "I'm confused as to what your standard is." Scioscia continued, "How do we make educated decisions in a democracy, not a dictatorship?"&emsp;&emsp;"I don't think you had any idea what the backlash would be," said resident Ed Taylor. "What you did was wrong, the process was wrong." &emsp;&emsp;Resident Ed Lichauer said that he had reviewed the fire services committee's report and even assumed that all allegations against the VFC were true. Even then, he said, the report basically accuses the VFC of not following policies that do not even exist, and demonstrates DAS Bahn's failure to manage the paid fire department.&emsp;&emsp;When you make a mistake, own it and make it right," he told council.&emsp;&emsp;Residents also continued to question the wisdom of decertifying the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Company and leaving emergency response primarily to the borough's paid fire department, which employs two full-time firefighters and several part-timers, with standard practice being to have one firefighter on duty at a time. The City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire reportedly has committed to providing mutual aid during structure fires, but the borough has not executed a formal aid agreement with the city.&emsp;&emsp;During the meeting, the fire department was dispatched to the scene of a motor vehicle accident on Route 65. Bellevue's two full-time paid firefighters were in attendance at the meeting, in uniform, as was retired paid firefighter and current assistant code enforcement officer Jack Davin. All three were observed responding to the call using Bellevue's fire equipment. Davin also has been observed responding to other fire department calls.&emsp;&emsp;Also dispatched to the call were the Emsworth and Avalon volunteer fire companies and Sewickley was called for a rescue truck. Avalon was dismissed shortly after arriving at the scene because they were supposed to be participating in a drill at the time, and Sewickley was called off enroute. Emsworth provided the only rescue equipment on scene.&emsp;&emsp;The next evening, Allegheny County 9-1-1 dispatched Bellevue's fire department to a massive structure fire in Stowe Township.&emsp;&emsp;Audio from the 9-1-1 dispatch indicates that Bellevue's paid firefighter responded with instructions to call someone else.&emsp;&emsp;Firefighters from throughout the North Boroughs have noted that Bellevue has failed to respond to numerous emergency medical calls that previously were handled by a team of licensed EMS personnel who were volunteers with the Bellevue VFC.&emsp;&emsp;Volunteer fire chief Glenn Pritchard again urged council to rescind the decertification vote and meet with volunteers and paid firefighters to work out a plan to protect Bellevue.&emsp;&emsp;"Let's have productive conversations," he said. This paid content is being provided at no cost as a public service by The Citizen. Support local journalism by subscribing to The Citizen.&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;