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The latest volley in Shohola Township’s ongoing civil war has drawn another fire company into the fray.
At the March meeting of the Shohola Township Board of Supervisors, Fire Chief Don Wall said without a half mil tax increase, the fire company will not be able to operate, and may be forced to close. George Fluhr, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, maintains that the department’s books have been kept from the board despite repeated requests for them, but that leaked information shows glaring disparities in the department’s accounting.
Fluhr was president of the fire department until December 2009, when he become a township supervisor.
At the most recent Supervisor’s meeting April 14, along with the shouts and insults that have become commonplace at the meetings, the issue exploded again with a new twist as Supervisor Greg Hoeper grilled Wall over how much money the fire company actually has in its accounts. He says he knows the company has just shy of $500,000, Wall says his numbers are “way off base”.
Neither Fluhr or Hoeper would say where their figures come from, except to say they are from a reputable source close to the fire company. Amid numerous shouts from the packed audience – directed at the Supervisors, at Wall, and at other audience members, the issue degenerated into a confusing argument between Hoeper and Wall on a host of issues while Fluhr gave his gavel a workout on the table in front of him. Before the meeting was finally called to order, Hoeper got the last word on Wall, saying, “You nipped the wrong dog this time, buddy”, before one last outburst of applause and cheers from his supporters in the crowd.
In a new twist, Fluhr read a letter from the Damascus Volunteer Ambulance Corps (DVAC) regarding an ambulance they bought from Shohola fire and rescue last year.
According to the letter, written by DVAC President Grant Sheard, the agreement between the two companies was that DVAC would pay $80,000 for a fully equipped ambulance, except for a few pieces of equipment which were specifically exempted in correspondence on the deal. When the ambulance arrived, however, it had been stripped of all its equipment.
Thinking the equipment would be arriving later, DVAC personnel paid for the ambulance anyway, which Sheard’s letter calls “A business mistake on our part.”
According to the letter, DVAC officials and the salesperson responsible for the sale made “many failed attempts” contact someone in Shohola about the missing equipment, but their calls were never returned. Sheard says his company then sent certified letters to Wall and President Ken Yeaw. The return receipt proved Yeaw received his letter, but Wall’s was returned unopened.
After deciding that no one was going to work out the dispute with them in good faith, Sheard says DVAC then contacted their attorney Nick Barna, who wrote a letter to the company in November. Several months later, R. Anthony Waldron responded to the letter with one of his own denying that the equipment had ever been a part of the deal. Rather than incur the legal expenses that would come from suing over the missing equipment, DVAC decided to drop the issue.
Sheard’s letter questions who disposed of the equipment that was promised DVAC, and Fluhr promised that he would investigate.
“There are a lot of rumors going around that we [the Supervisors] are going to shut down the fire company, and I just want to take this opportunity to tell everyone that it’s just not true. There are too many people out there spreading these rumors, and I know who they are, but I just want everyone to know that they are false. We are not going to let the fire company go bankrupt, and we are going to do everything we can to ensure that we have a viable fire company in Shohola. I’m going to investigate this issue as well as the rest, and I will get to the bottom of it, I promise you.”
The latest volley in Shohola Township’s ongoing civil war has drawn another fire company into the fray.
At the March meeting of the Shohola Township Board of Supervisors, Fire Chief Don Wall said without a half mil tax increase, the fire company will not be able to operate, and may be forced to close. George Fluhr, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, maintains that the department’s books have been kept from the board despite repeated requests for them, but that leaked information shows glaring disparities in the department’s accounting.
Fluhr was president of the fire department until December 2009, when he become a township supervisor.
At the most recent Supervisor’s meeting April 14, along with the shouts and insults that have become commonplace at the meetings, the issue exploded again with a new twist as Supervisor Greg Hoeper grilled Wall over how much money the fire company actually has in its accounts. He says he knows the company has just shy of $500,000, Wall says his numbers are “way off base”.
Neither Fluhr or Hoeper would say where their figures come from, except to say they are from a reputable source close to the fire company. Amid numerous shouts from the packed audience – directed at the Supervisors, at Wall, and at other audience members, the issue degenerated into a confusing argument between Hoeper and Wall on a host of issues while Fluhr gave his gavel a workout on the table in front of him. Before the meeting was finally called to order, Hoeper got the last word on Wall, saying, “You nipped the wrong dog this time, buddy”, before one last outburst of applause and cheers from his supporters in the crowd.
In a new twist, Fluhr read a letter from the Damascus Volunteer Ambulance Corps (DVAC) regarding an ambulance they bought from Shohola fire and rescue last year.
According to the letter, written by DVAC President Grant Sheard, the agreement between the two companies was that DVAC would pay $80,000 for a fully equipped ambulance, except for a few pieces of equipment which were specifically exempted in correspondence on the deal. When the ambulance arrived, however, it had been stripped of all its equipment.
Thinking the equipment would be arriving later, DVAC personnel paid for the ambulance anyway, which Sheard’s letter calls “A business mistake on our part.”
According to the letter, DVAC officials and the salesperson responsible for the sale made “many failed attempts” contact someone in Shohola about the missing equipment, but their calls were never returned. Sheard says his company then sent certified letters to Wall and President Ken Yeaw. The return receipt proved Yeaw received his letter, but Wall’s was returned unopened.
After deciding that no one was going to work out the dispute with them in good faith, Sheard says DVAC then contacted their attorney Nick Barna, who wrote a letter to the company in November. Several months later, R. Anthony Waldron responded to the letter with one of his own denying that the equipment had ever been a part of the deal. Rather than incur the legal expenses that would come from suing over the missing equipment, DVAC decided to drop the issue.
Sheard’s letter questions who disposed of the equipment that was promised DVAC, and Fluhr promised that he would investigate.
“There are a lot of rumors going around that we [the Supervisors] are going to shut down the fire company, and I just want to take this opportunity to tell everyone that it’s just not true. There are too many people out there spreading these rumors, and I know who they are, but I just want everyone to know that they are false. We are not going to let the fire company go bankrupt, and we are going to do everything we can to ensure that we have a viable fire company in Shohola. I’m going to investigate this issue as well as the rest, and I will get to the bottom of it, I promise you.”
