Last Thursday’s approval of an agreement with the Neosho Fire Protection District will allow two city firefighters to keep their jobs.
The approval is good news in the wake of massive layoffs that heavily impacted the fire and police departments. Seven firefighters chose to leave immediately rather than give a two-week notice, while two others opted for early retirement. The department had previously let go several paid-on-call volunteers and its training officer because of the city’s financial crisis.
The agreement, effective from now until the end of the next fiscal year, is in the amount of $93,670 and includes the two annual salaries, overtime and benefits. The firemen will remain city employees and should they be laid off during the contract period, the contract will be terminated.
A direct result of retaining the two firefighters is keeping Fire Station 2 open more often than it would be otherwise. Fire Chief Mike Eads had previously told the Daily News Station 2 would be closed for the day whenever the number of firemen present fell below two, as would happen if someone called in sick. Furthermore, Eads previously told the board that the move would save the job of a firefighter who does most of the equipment maintenance work.
But the move isn’t only beneficial to the Neosho Fire Department, but will help the fire district as well, a fire district board member said recently. Beverly Walters stated in a public meeting that keeping someone on staff who can do equipment maintenance will continue to save both districts money. The fire district provides equipment to fight rural fires, with the NFD providing manpower.
Now it’s time to keep our fingers crossed, as Eads has applied for a FEMA grant which would provide funds to rehire the remaining laid off firefighters.
DAILY NEWS
