Chronology of Events
Trustee Campaign
Linda Hollingsworth campaigned in 2006 on the promise to strongly support the Indian Creek Fire Fighers (ICFF). As a result of that promise, many citizens who support the ICFF voted for her. "I will work with the Indian Creek Firefighters to increase locally manned firefighting services and emergency response," quoting from her campaign literature.
January 20, 2007
At the annual meeting (and 20 days after taking office), the trustee presented a "Supplement to Contract" that included numerous demands unacceptable to the fire department. The most ludicrous included the ability to terminate the contract AND the property lease with only a 30-day notice--and without cause. Needless to say, the ICFF board did not sign this.
January 30, 2007
ICFF Board sent a very polite, friendly letter to the trustee, explaining why certain demands in the supplement were not acceptable. The letter asked to negotiate with the trustee over any differences. It additionally asked for the check, due and payable by contract, that the trustee had not paid. No check was sent.
February 3, 2007
With the full support of the ICFF, the trustee hired Welch's Fire Equipment to assess the condition of ICFF vehicles. The expert spent two hours on this task with the trustee present. When finished, he told the trustee, in front of four witnesses, that three of the vehicles were fine, and that, although two had minor mechanical problems, all five were fully operational. (Welch's truck report)
February 9, 2007
The trustee's attorney prepared and the trustee mailed a 90-day "Termination of Contract" notice to the ICFF Board. Its cover letter gave a single justification for the action: the "five . . . emergency vehicles are either completely inoperable or seriously defective." The trustee reiterated that monies due on the existing contract would not be paid.
February 16, 2007
As cited in The Herald-Times, the trustee stated she would meet with the president and members of the ICFF Board to address concerns.
February 17, 2007
The president and treasurer of ICFF met with the trustee at her home. At that time, the trustee gave a letter stating she would NOT discuss terms of contract until certain information was provided to her--documenting vehicle conditions, medical bags, and firefighter and EMT certifications. All requested information was provided in a neat, orderly fashion, with many volunteers putting in extra hours to meet these demands.
March 2, 2007
The trustee, through her attorney, offered to purchase all ICFF equipment for $1.
March 15, 2007
The trustee, through her attorney, sent a letter stating that she had reviewed the documentation and "found it to be satisfactory." Rather than fulfilling the promise to negotiate, the trustee then stated that ICFF and "IC Township will terminate their relationship . . . on May 10, 2007."
April 2, 2007
The trustee presented a modifed version of the original "Supplement to Contract" that still contained the clauses stating the trustee could terminate the contract AND lease without cause on 30-day notice. Shortly thereafter, ICFF presented to the trustee a modified version of the 2006 contract (similar to previous contracts, used by her predecessor and spouse, Sam Hollingsworth).
April 19, 2007
The trustee, through her attorney, notified ICFF attorney that she would NOT enter into a contract with ICFF but had, instead, signed a contract with Van Buren Township. The letter demanded ICFF vacate the fire station on May 9, 2007, and sell her all property for $1. The letter was delivered about 1.5 hours before the ICFF board meeting. Nearly 50 people came to the ICFF public board meeting to discuss these issues. All present publicly affirmed the decision to proceed with negotiations but not to hand over the fire station or equipment.
April 24, 2007
Trustee refused to attend but instead sent a representative to the Community Meeting (requested by the membership of the ICFF so they could hear from the trustee) to read a statement full of untruths and misrepresentation and containing bogus "documentation." After the Trustee's representative read the statement, she cursed and yelled at the board and walked out shortly thereafter. Several of our members left the meeting during this harangue, including those with young children. Nearly 100 persons attended this meeting and heard and saw this display for themselves. ICFF publicly refuted every allegation with facts and real documentation.
April 26, 2007
Per the request of two of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners and our membership, ICFF offered the Trustee the opportunity to choose a professional mediator to iron out whatever differences she felt were present.
April 30, 2007
ICFF received a letter from the Trustee's attorney that stated in no uncertain terms that the trustee would NOT negotiate and was NOT interested in mediation.
May 4, 2007
ICFF through its attorney replied to the trustee's attorney about his April 30 letter.
May 8, 2007
ICFF attends the trustee's business meeting and reads its final statement before the contract with the trustee expires on May 9 at midnight. At this meeting, ICFF announces it already has 35 contracts signed with Indian Creek Township residents to provide subscription fire services, effective May 10.
May 10, 2007
Trustee Hollingsworth and Township Board President Mike Lucas show up at fire station with a tape recorder, demanding the firefighters turn over the station and equipment. ICFF members present told them, "No." This is an attempted grab of private property! Other residents have stopped by to sign up for subscriber service. As of 5:00 p.m. on this date we have 49 subscribers.
May 12, 2007
We now have 58 subscribers!
The fire board president and the chief visited with Van Buren Township's trustee and fire chief to discuss smooth handling of fire scenes and mutual aid.
May 16, 2007
WFHB 91.3 FM (another all-volunteer organization!) played one hour
of the May 8 trustee meeting on its Standing Room Only show. The link to
listen is available at news.wfhb.org/news/newstopics.php?tid=4. Hear what your neighbors had to say about the cancellation of the fire contract!
May 17, 2007
We have 76 subscribers now, and the numbers grow daily. Many of
your neighbors do not know about the contract cancellation. We have
contracts for subscription at the firehouse; stop by, say "hello" to one of
your volunteer firefighters, and pick up a few contracts to take to YOUR
neighbors. They will appreciate your help!
Tonight we had a pitch-in dinner honoring Joe Stannard, a long-time board
member and community resident. Joe received a plaque for his years of
service. The board of directors and a room full of the membership held its
monthly board meeting as well.
May 18, 2007
At 7:42 a.m. on May 18, Van Buren was dispatched to an Indian Creek location at Victor Oolitic. VB is a full-time, if distant, operation. They arrived at 8:02 a.m. due to their distance from the call. ICFF's last run to Victor Oolitic took 6 minutes. Until the trustee canceled the contract, ICFF had 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. firefighter and EMT paid coverage Monday through Friday at the Kirksville station. We were forced to lay off our paid day staff when the contract was terminated.
May 18, 2007
Board President Dee Owens is a guest on The Herald-Times Online Chat,
11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (www.heraldtimesonline.com/livediscussion/owens0518.html).
May 29, 2007
The Democratic Party admonishes the trustee to be transparent, to respect grassroots democracy as Democrats should, and to "restore calm, civility, and reason to this issue" in a letter to the trustee.
July 5, 2007
ICFF files its legal response to the Trustee's lawsuit, filed last month, and answers each allegation, paragraph by paragraph. Judge Todd and Judge Galvin both recused themselves from hearing the proceedings, so another judge will be chosen. Stay tuned to the local media and to this Website for developments!
July 27, 2007
The Honorable Michael Robbins from Lawrence County assumed jurisdiction in this case as a special judge.
August 6, 2007
Judge Robbins ordered the parties to mediation, which ICFF requested before the trustee filed her lawsuit. He denied a preliminary injunction hearing, which stopped the trustee from immediately taking the lease and, therefore, the fire station from ICFF.
August 24, 2007
Mediation was held all afternoon. The mediation failed. A full day of court is set aside for October 5, 2007.
September 17, 2007
A pretrial conference was held; Judge Robbins ordered the October 5 hearing to be cancelled and a second pretrial conference to be held on October 9. There will be NO COURT on October 5.
October 9, 2007
ICFF Board President Dee Owens and Board Secretary Beverly Himes accompanied Attorney Catherine Stafford to the pretrial hearing in Bedford. The judge denied most requests made by the trustee's attorney, but he did allow a quick building inspection after court. We came back to the fire station, and they walked through (the trustee and her attorney) with Dee and Catherine and Board Firefighter Representative Steve Staggs.
The Judge Robbins has yet to rule on our Motion in Limine. The bench trial is currently scheduled for Thursday, November 15, at 8:30 am in Bedford Superior Court.
October 31, 2007
Due to the death of Judge Richard McIntyre, the other judge in Lawrence County, our court hearing with Judge Robbins has been cancelled on November 15 and will be rescheduled.
November 12, 2007
The trustee pushed through an $18,000 budget proposal to pay for legal fees *already spent* to try to oust this fire department from its building. She ordered her board not to respond to questions from the public, but Board member Cheryl Munson very forcefully made the case that the meeting was outside legal boundaries in more than one area. Citizens angrily spoke, and after 20 minutes all public comment was STOPPED by the Board president. Many other taxpayers wished to speak but were disallowed.
February 4, 2008
Attorney Catherine Stafford, ICFF Board members Dee Owens, Pat Munson, and Beverly Himes, along with Township Board member Cheryl Munson, Indian Creek Township citizens Meri Reinhold, Andy Alexander, and Renee Miller, plus three Indian Creek volunteer firefighters (Donnie, James, Clint) attended the hearing in Bedford on Monday, February 4, 2008. Judge Michael Robbins listened to 30 minutes of oral argument on the ICFF Motion for Summary Judgment, where we essentially asked to have the suit dismissed, and he gave the parties 20 days to file additional papers and will take no more than 30 days after that to decide. If he rules favorably, the lawsuit brought against ICFF by the trustee will be dismissed. If he rules against our motion, then we will prepare for and go to trial. We should know the answer in less than 60 days.
April 15, 2008
It was announced on April 15, 2008, that the lawsuit filed against the Indian Creek Fire Fighters has been dismissed by special judge Michael Robbins, stating "that judgment is entered in favor of Defendant, denying Plaintiff any relief for its claim that Defendant breached the lease."
Indian Creek residents have been without centrally located fire protection and paid EMT services since May 10, 2007, severely compromising public health and safety in the township. The Indian Creek community has expressed outrage about actions taken by the trustee, including the cancellation of the township's contract with the volunteer fire department and the subsequent lawsuit, brought by the trustee with taxpayer monies, to evict the volunteers from the fire station they spent many years building and maintaining. Barring other costly legal maneuvering by the trustee, the Court's ruling ends the trustee's expensive legal efforts to cancel the lawful lease.
Citing that "the court having found no genuine issue of material fact on the issue of whether Defendant has breached the lease, and that Defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law," the Court's ruling allows the volunteer fire department to continue to provide services from the building located at 8019 South Rockport Road. The trustee continues to send nearly $6500 per month in Indian Creek Township taxpayer revenues to Gary Bruce and his fire department in Van Buren Township, distant from many rural locations in Indian Creek Township.
W e C O N T I N U E t o s e r v e y o u !
