Fire Department staffing will be discussed June 5th

One of the three full-time employees of the Decorah Fire Department is retiring in July.  The Decorah City Council will meet Monday, June 5th, to again try to come up with an agreement that will break the deadlock over future staffing of the department.

At one point the City's Personnel Committee discussed the possibility of not filling the position.  Two weeks ago, city council members said they unanimously supported keeping the department with three full-time employees.  But the issue of how to supervise those three full-time employees could not be resolved.

On Monday night, City Council member Chuck Lore tried to introduce a motion to go ahead with the hiring of a replacement, but leave the issue of supervision to be decided later.  City Attorney Rick Zahasky ruled that such a motion was out of order, since it hadn't been included on Monday night's agenda.

City Council member Gary Rustad then asked that a Personnel Committee meeting be scheduled, saying "We can't just let it lay."  Personnel Committee Chair Kirk Johnson said he didn't want a Personnel Committee meeting, but a discussion at the next full city council meeting, which will be the first Monday in June.  The item will be added to that agenda.