Breakaway Salisbury fire company ordered to repay city
By Liz HollandThe city of Salisbury has won a significant victory in a lawsuit filed by a group of volunteer firefighters who broke away from Salisbury’s Station 1 in 2017.
Judge Paul M. Bowman ruled this week that the firefighters must repay $324,742 to the city and $27,303 to the Salisbury Fire Department after Company 1 used money from several sources to pay for legal fees, equipment and other items after separating from the fire department.
City officials were notified of the decision Thursday afternoon.
“The citizens of Salisbury want their money back that you and your group of renegades squandered over the past three years,” said Muir W. Boda, Vice President of the Salisbury City Council.
The ongoing case began in February 2017 when members of Company 1, the volunteer firefighters at Salisbury’s Station 1 on Beaglin Park Drive, decided to separate from the Salisbury Fire Department after the city refused to participate in formal mediation to iron out disputes over station staffing.
The breakaway firefighters later moved into a building on Snow Hill Road with plans to take over a part of the county served by the city’s Station 1. However, a new fire service agreement between the city and county signed in April 2017 kept the boundaries of the Salisbury Fire Department’s coverage area intact.
In May 2017, the firefighters filed a suit against the city for the return of equipment and other items they say belong to them. The firefighters also asked for $494,316 in damages.
But Bowman said the firefighters had no right to the money once they exited the fire department.
“It is undisputed that, beginning with its resignation in February of 2017, Company No. 1, immediately began spending tax funds and charitable funds to re-establish Company No. 1, independently from the City of Salisbury and outside of the Salisbury Fire District which was managed and controlled by the Municipal Code and the City of Salisbury’s agreement with Wicomico County,” Bowman wrote in his Jan. 27 opinion.
According to the court documents, the fire company had financial assets totaling $324,742 as of Feb. 28, 2017, including money from the city and county, the Lacy Fund through the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore and the state’s Amoss Fund.
Among the money spent from the various sources was $102,215 for rental and tax payments to SVN Miller Commercial Real Estate, $59,488 to Ayers, Jenkins, Gordy & Almand for legal fees, $30,000 to the Painter Volunteer Fire Department for a fire engine, $10,000 to the Vienna Ambulance Fund for an ambulance, $29,746 to Atlantic Bingo Supply and $46,653 to Chief Cory Polidore for operations equipment, EMS equipment, electric, engine paint and supplies, insurance, and reimbursements for furniture, open house breakfast, CPR cards, and base station radio.
The fire company’s actions “constitutes a breach of its legal obligations to obey all laws, as set forth in the Municipal Code and a breach of its fiduciary duty charged with the obligation to properly spend both tax and charitable funds,” Bowman said.
In addition to awarding money judgments against Company 1, the judge also appointed a special auditor to examine all of the fire company’s expenses after it left the Salisbury Fire Department. Mitchell J. Cornwell, a certified public accountant in Easton, was named as the auditor at $315 per hour and Robert Denise of Oxford was appointed as the court’s expert at $250 per hour.
Fees for the two men are considered court costs to be paid by the city with a right of contribution of one-quarter each from the Salisbury Fire Department, Company No. 1 and the individuals named personally.
Bruce Bright, the attorney for the firefighters, could not immediately be reached for comment.
This story will be updated.
