Jan. 15--WEST BURLINGTON -- The city of West Burlington soon may be subject of a lawsuit from a member of its fire department.
Capt. Skylar Limkemann's attorney sent a letter to the city threatening litigation over disparaging remarks West Burlington City Council members made about a grant application he prepared last year.
The council discussed the issue during a closed session Jan. 9, which the state's open meeting law allows to discuss active or imminent litigation.
City Manager Dan Gifford, Mayor Hans Trousil and the five council members declined to comment on the matter, saying the city's attorney, Mitch Taylor, has advised them to remain silent on the matter.
Taylor also declined comment.
Though the specifics remain unclear, Limkemann's potential lawsuit stems from threats of disciplinary action by council members after he submitted a grant application on the city's behalf last year.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant awarded to the city in July was intended to help retain more firefighters.
Limkemann's grant application netted the city $523,430 for the purpose.
To retain department employees, about $40,000 from the grant went toward hourly pay increases among the fire department's 10 officers and $37,800 went for pay increases for the city's 29 firefighters.
The rest of the funds are being used to pay for mileage, training, protective gear for new firefighters and a higher education stipend for department members looking to attend college.
Councilmen Rick Raleigh and Rod Crowner publicly accused Limkemann of lying in the application during a meeting in August.
During the meeting, council members debated whether Limkemann's description of West Burlington as having several retirement communities and nursing homes was accurate.
Though Limkemann was able to identify three such nursing homes, Raleigh and Crowner persisted, complaining Limkemann's application seemed to imply the city council mismanaged or poorly treated the fire department in recent years.
Crowner and Raleigh took further issue with the fact neither City Manager Dan Gifford nor anyone on the council read the application before it was submitted to FEMA.
Other council members disagreed with Crowner and Raleigh's perspective, and Gifford pointed out it may be unwise to jeopardize more than $500,000 in funds for the city over such a disagreement.
At the time of the August meeting, Limkemann was not afforded an opportunity to speak in his defense. He appeared stunned by the council's reaction and after the meeting denied he embellished the application.
"Last time I checked, $523,430 for the city of West Burlington was a good thing," Limkemann said. "I've never been threatened with disciplinary action before over doing a good thing."
Though Limkemann could not be reached for comment Monday, he previously said Raleigh wanted to suspend him from the fire department over the issue.
Copyright 2013 - The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa
