Acting Fire Chief Jeff Williams announced his resignation from that position to return to his former position as captain at last night's Nelsonville City Council meeting.
In a letter to council, Williams said his resignation, effective Feb. 18, stems from Nelsonville's on-going budget crisis. With the lack of money, he wrote, "it will be difficult to take the fire department in the direction I feel is best for the safety of the Nelsonville citizens and our firefighters."
Williams said he could not run the fire department in good conscience with the budget limitations. In 2003, the Nelsonville Fire Department faced a cut of $58,700 from last year's budget of $293,500.
Captain Tim Carr will take over duties of acting fire chief, said Acting City Manager Ted Jones.
Council also gave first reading to an ordinance that would set new pool rates for the Nelsonville Aquatic Center. The ordinance would raise the admission price for those aged 6 to 17 to $2 from $1.75 for this summer.
Councilman Doug Bentley said the revenue generated from the pool in 2002 was $70,697 and the total cost for operating the pool was $145,351. The city's recreation levy covered about $35,000 of the $74,654 shortfall, but the rest came from either the general fund or carry-over money, he said.
With the fee increase, Bentley said the city could generate $15,000 in additional revenue. "That leaves us far short, but we're trying to be gentle on the pool users," he said.
Council Vice President Greg Smith said he disagreed with the new prices. "Very poor people were asked to foot the bill for this project with an income tax, people who make seven or eight dollars an hour. We're pricing their kids right out of the equation," he said. "We need to do something for the low-income kids. Their parents can't come up with the money to send their kids to the pool."
Councilman Bill Wend said the pool was overstaffed and the concession stand was run poorly last summer. "It's ridiculous we lost money (on the concession stand)," he said. "We should've made $20,000." He said the pool had 20 lifeguards.
"Maybe we'll just bid out the concessions and get rid of the headache," he said. "We need to revamp how we do this."
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Chuck Bowen
