Vote on N.C. Fire Dept. Building, Land Raises Concerns

April 23, 2013
A Newton City Councilor said the decision making on the building of a new fire department headquarters needed more transparency.

April 23--NEWTON, N.C. -- Newton City Councilman Robert Abernethy says his reason for turning to social media last week after a council vote on a new fire department headquarters was the need for transparency in government.

Abernethy took to the city's Facebook page after a majority of the council voted to purchase land for the new fire department headquarters last week. Abernethy and Council Member Wes Weaver voted against the measure.

In two posts to the page after the meeting, Abernethy seemed upset because the council voted after it came out of closed session on April 16 and the item was not on the agenda.

"What seems like limited transparency is what upsets me," Abernethy said on the city's page. "There have been a couple times over the last few years where a Fire Department discussion was held at an open meeting, but the way it was done last night could cause accusations of cigars and backroom deals."

He ended the posts with, "Voting to build a new F.D. took around ten years and it almost felt like it was pushed through in fear that if we took two more weeks to vote on it...it might not pass."

The council went into closed session to discuss negotiations on purchasing land for the new fire department headquarters, said Mayor Anne Stedman. There was nothing inappropriate about the vote the council took after coming out of the session, she said. She said that's a normal procedure that can happen after a closed session.

The council voted unanimously on March 19 to approve its capital improvement plan for 2014-18, and a new fire department headquarters was included in the plan, said Julie Chang, public information officer for Newton.

After a motion from Council Member Wayne Dellinger, the council again voted on April 16 to build a fire station, with Abernethy and Weaver voting against it, Stedman said.

The council also voted 4-2 that night to purchase four parcels of land that total about 2 acres to build the fire station headquarters. The land is located at the corner of D Street and South Brady and runs up to East View Cemetery, Chang said.

In addition, the council voted to authorize City Manager Todd Clark to negotiate a land contract. Chang said the cost of the four parcels of land is $395,500.

The estimated cost to build a new city fire department headquarters is $3.05 million, which includes purchase of the land, engineering, fire equipment and kitchen appliances, Chang said.

Abernethy said the council has talked openly about the fire department and he didn't feel like the council should have voted on it that night. He thinks the council should have waited until its next meeting to allow the public to be there for the vote.

Even with his postings on Newton's Facebook, Abernethy said he doesn't think the vote after the closed session was underhanded but it would be easy for someone to perceive it that way.

"Transparency in government is a big deal to me," Abernethy said.

He said the council went into closed session to talk about multiple properties and narrow the choices down.

Abernethy said the issue doesn't seem to be anything that has drawn a lot of attention, saying he hasn't heard from the public about it, just family members and the media.

Stedman, who was disappointed Abernethy made the comments on the city Facebook page, said the headquarters for the fire department has a lot of problems and a new building is something that has been needed for a long time. The last time the headquarters was built was in 1956 and it was last renovated in the 1970s, according to officials. Stedman said the foundation is cracked, the bay doors aren't big enough for all of the needed vehicles and records have to be stored in the attic, which is full of asbestos, it's cramped and it doesn't have adequate bathroom facilities.

"So we've been in need of this fire department for many, many years," Stedman said.

Stedman said she doesn't like spending the kind of money it is estimated to cost but it's something that's needed to provide needed services to residents. She said there will be no tax increase to pay for the fire department. The city will borrow the money to build it.

Stedman said the city will likely close on the property in October.

Copyright 2013 - Hickory Daily Record, N.C.

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