At Tuesday’s Hannibal City Council meeting, Fire Chief Bill Madore and a representative of the International Association of Firefighters Local 1211 announced a new contract for Hannibal’s firefighters. The three-year collective bargaining agreement includes a number of changes that Madore and Barry Louderman, former chairman of the now-defunct Fire Board, said were designed to clarify the authority at the top of the Fire Department, in addition to addressing what Louderman called “economic items.”

Here’s a rundown of the bigger changes, in the order in which they appear in the contract:

• Fire Department facilities may be used for union business, but political activity is prohibited in fire stations, and city equipment may not be used for political activity.

• The grievance process has been refined and the city manager added to the process. The new contract also provides for a grievance committee that may review grievances before they are sent up the chain of command.

• Funeral leave is allowed for direct relatives of spouses and fiancees.

• New firefighters will see a decreased city contribution to health and dental insurance (50%) and will receive fewer years of post-retirement health insurance (three years). Current firefighters will be grandfathered in with a 65% city contribution to insurance and five years of post-retirement health insurance.

• Firefighters will receive a decreased benefit for working out-of-rank — one hour off for every 12 hours worked out of rank. Madore noted in a memo to the City Council that this will save the city $19,000 a year.

• The new contract clarifies management rights and asserts that the fire chief reserves the right to deploy personnel as necessary.

• The heat and cold index remains for non-emergency functions, but the reasoning behind that is clearly explained.

• Light duty is established.

• If a future agreement cannot be reached, a mediator will be employed. Under previous contracts, nothing has existed to break deadlocks.

Louderman noted that “economic issues,” including insurance and wage scales, will be discussed on an annual basis instead of during triennial contract negotiations. However, the full contract is effective for three years.

Contract negotiations began in February and were endorsed by the Fire Board June 28, in one of its final acts. The negotiations included the Fire Board, City Manager Jeff LaGarce, Madore, Deputy Fire Chief Mike Benjamin, City Clerk Angel Vance and various members of IAFF Local 1211.

“Negotiations were spirited at times, but were always in good faith,” Madore said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The contract was approved unanimously without debate, apart from a question about the frequency of the fiscal discussions versus the overall contract negotiations.

If you saw Hannibal firefighters responding to a call last fall, you might have seen them wearing pink Hannibal Fire Department T-shirts. Perhaps you even bought one from them in the past year. The fruits of those sales are now in the hands of a local cancer support group.

International Association of Firefighters Local 1211, the Hannibal Fire Department’s union, recently made a $2,000 donation to Pinky Pals, raised through the sale of those pink HFD shirts. The group helps cancer patients with medical costs not covered by their insurance.

Pictured below are firefighters Neil Johnson and Jeff Moore, Local 1211′s vice president, with Pinky Pals members Sherry Ingram, Barb White and Sarah Roth.

Hannibal firefighters present a donation to the cancer support group Pinky Pals.

Tuesday’s meeting of the Hannibal Fire Board sought to address the critical but not always high-profile issue of juvenile fire-setters, the topic of a National Fire Academy seminar Chief Bill Madore attended last year.

Previous chiefs have spent a decade trying to address the problem of kids who set fires, but the Fire Department as a whole hasn’t always done so effectively, Madore said. More often than not, such young offenders have simply been referred to juvenile justice authorities.

That’s something the department is hoping to change this year.

“The Hannibal Fire Department is willing to step up our role and responsibility in curtailing this problem,” Madore said after Tuesday’s meeting, where he presented to the Fire Board on juvenile fire-setters based on what he and firefighter Ryan Sparks learned last year from National Fire Academy training on the subject.

The presentation, which also was attended by representatives from the Hannibal Police Department, Hannibal School District 60 and Hannibal Regional Hospital, focused on education as the backbone of juvenile fire prevention. Participants focused, too, on the nationwide problem and possible local solutions, including clarifying the roles of various parties involved in addressing juvenile fire-setting.

Madore said the meeting was a productive one that will help the Fire Department and its partners address juvenile fire-setting head on.

“We got some positive feedback,” Madore said. “We have a basis for building the program further and bringing other agencies into play.”

Below is the text of a Hannibal Fire Board memo to members of the Hannibal City Council, outlining its reasons not to renew Fire Chief Tim Carter’s appointment as chief, which is set to expire today. The Quincy Herald-Whig obtained a copy of this memo Tuesday.

The memo went to councilmen in an envelope marked “Confidential” and was accompanied by a printout of a relevant e-mail. Near the end of Tuesday’s open city council meeting, councilmen mentioned that the memo appeared to be anonymous, but City Clerk Angel Vance appeared to indicate that the memo came from the Hannibal Fire Board.

The council met in closed session for a couple of hours Tuesday night. Fire Board Chairman Barry Louderman also met for 25 minutes with Carter, who was not admitted to the closed meeting.

Carter, who’s been on administrative leave since last November, was to face impeachment charges in July alleging fraud, insubordination, neglect and other wrongdoing. The reasons for his suspension and for dropping the impeachment charges at the last minute have never been made public, but the memo below appears to echo those charges.

Reasons for not renewing Tim Carter as Hannibal Fire Chief

• “Maverick” personality style – not a team builder, e.g. believes that since going for the “white shirt,” he has been ostracized.

• Disregard of subordinates’ perceptions, e.g. their opinions did not matter – they should be told what to do.

• Multiple Probation extensions during his time as Fire Chief.

• His belief that essentially “the ends justify the means,” e.g. providing blatently (sic) false statements on a FEDERAL Grant Application, e.g. disregarding Asbestos Inspector’s instructions during renovation work.

• Disregard of MO DNR Regulations resulting in a fine to the City of Hannibal.

• Attempted to commit City funds without authorization or budgetary approval of $100K.

IMPORTANT DATES:

9/23/08 Carter informed of decision to reappoint him as Fire Chief – per Minutes, but City Clerk records show 9/22/08

Unacceptable Conduct Reasons for “At-Will” Dismissal 9/24/10

No. 1 “…any action that is detrimental to the City of Hannibal’s efforts to operate effectively.”

e.g. Disregarded a MO DNR asbestos related requirement resulting in a FINE.

e.g. Failure to disclose to his firemen a POTENTIAL exposure to toxic materials.

No. 3 “Dishonesty when providing information….”

e.g. Making over a half dozen false statements on a FEDERAL Grant Application.

e.g. lying to the Fire Board as to his presence at Station No. 3 during the removal of potentially asbestos-containing materials.

While tonight’s events brought the saga to a head, it doesn’t appear to be over. Far from it. Expect this one to show up in City Council again soon.

What could have been a tragic turn of events came out all right Wednesday afternoon thanks to the rescue efforts of the Hannibal Fire Department, solid equipment — and a lot of luck.

Ruth Hart of Milan, Ill., simply wanted to show Hannibal’s Lover’s Leap to her friend, Nancy Stohl, of Rock Island, Ill. The two got more than they bargained for at the popular overlook when, instead of hitting the brakes at the top of the hill, Hart accidentally pressed the accelerator, sending her 2008 Toyota Camry through the protective fencing and over the bluff, which is one of the highest points in Hannibal.

Here’s where the luck came in: The car overturned and landed on its roof in some trees about 30 feet down the bluff.

Then the training and equipment kicked in.

Hannibal Fire Department trains for rescues just like this all the time. Hannibal has too many hills and bluffs like Lovers Leap not to do so.

The fire department also now has the equipmeent on hand to handle such a rescue. Fire Chief Tim Carter pointed out that the new rescue truck was bought in 2007 specifically with a winch rated strong enough to hold vehicles in place during such a rescue. Also, the department’s aerial truck ladder is perfect for hoisting a rescuer and victim out of vertical position like this car was in.

So “attaboys” have to go to training program, the equipment purchases and to the men who did the work, especially Assistant Chief Shane Jaeger (who secured the car and then Hart and Strohl) and Engineer Jeff Moore, who safely brought the two women back to the top of the bluff.

“Attagirls”, too, should go to Hart and Strohl, who assisted the rescue by remaining calm during the ordeal.