Apr 7, 2011 By Steve Ferris 5 min read

?Uniontown City Council on Wednesday bolstered the fire department by naming a fire chief, hiring two firemen and agreeing to apply for a grant to buy a new fire truck.

Council promoted Charles Coldren from assistant chief to the chief’s position, which has been vacant since former chief Myron Nypaver was terminated in February.

This is the second time Coldren has been promoted to chief in the last two years. His first promotion came in May 2009 almost half a year after council demoted Nypaver to assistant chief over allegations that he was overpaid by $10,000 in 2006 and 2007.

To comply with an arbitration award in September 2010, council reinstated Nypaver as chief and recalled five firemen who had been laid off since March 2009. Council reassigned Coldren back to assistant chief after reinstating Nypaver.

However, council terminated Nypaver in February after he was charged with collecting unemployment compensation after he had been recalled from a layoff, but didn’t name a new chief until Wednesday.

Coldren, a 39-year department veteran, told council it was time to treat the past like water under the bridge and he thanked council for the promotion and hiring the two firemen, which restores the department to the complement of 13 it had before council laid off dozens of city employees in 2008 and 2009 in light of a $1.6-million budget deficit.

“I certainly appreciate it,” Coldren said. “We’ve turned stumbling blocks into stepping stones.”

The promotion to chief carries an increase in his annual salary to $52,533 from the assistant chief’s $50,715 salary.

The two new firemen, Michael W. Deems and Christopher J. Hughes, will start making $30,135 a year. Their pay is coming from the $632,835 federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant the city received last year.

The city applied for the grant in 2009 for money to recall seven laid off firemen. Since then, one active fireman retired, one of the laid off firemen resigned, the remaining laid off firemen were recalled, the chief was terminated and one fireman was hired.

Mayor Ed Fike said hiring the two firefighters would help eliminate overtime pay from the department’s budget.

Councilman Philip Michael, the director of accounts and finance, said the hiring would eliminate all overtime except for what is mandated in the contract between the firefighters’ union and the city. The contract provides for overtime wages when firefighters are called to a fire while off duty, he said.

Council unanimously voted to hire Deems, voted 3-2 against hiring Robert W. Plavi and then voted unanimously to hire Hughes.

Councilman Gary Gearing, the director of public safety, made the motions to hire all three men. He said he took their names from an eligibility list from the civil service commission. Plavi scored the highest on the civil service test, Gearing said.

Plavi is a volunteer firefighter for the city and was once employed as the city’s parks and recreation director.

Coldren noted that Deems served 22 years in the Navy’s firefighting service.

In addition to the new firemen, the department wants a new pumper truck.

Council agreed to allow the department to prepare an application for a $300,000 federal Assistance for Firefighters Grant that requires a 5-percent, or $15,000, match from the city.

The truck would replace a 1982 truck in the East End Fire Station, Coldren said.

Councilman Blair Jones Sr.’s motion to table the resolution for the grant application failed in a 4-1 vote. He said he was concerned that the department was accumulating too many vehicles.

Coldren said the 1982 truck would be sold if the city buys a new new truck.

Jones didn’t vote on the resolution to apply for the grant.

Council unanimously approved a resolution allowing the department to perform above-baseline service for the Fayette County Housing Authority for $10,000 a year.

Coldren said the money would pay for services the department has been providing for years such as conducting fire prevention programs and preparing evacuation plans for authority-owned high-rise apartments Marshall Manor and Mount Vernon Towers.

A resolution to advertise for bids to replace the roof on the East End Fire Station was tabled. Michael said council would explore alternatives.

Council also addressed parks and recreation matters including agreeing to submit a $100,000 grant application to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the second phase of restorations at Bailey Park.

The work includes completing a paved walking trail, which would connect to the proposed Sheepskin Trial, repaving both parking lots and landscaping, according to Uniontown Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Mark Yauger.

Earlier in the day, the authority opened bids for the first phase, which involves installing new fencing around the larger ball field and relocating and refurbishing the lights in the park. Community Development Block Grant money would be used to pay for the first phase.

The grant for the second phase requires an equal match. Yauger said the authority would use cash and in-kind services for the match.

Gearing voted against the resolution for the match. He said he wanted in-kind services to be used for the entire match.

In addition, council voted 4-1 to borrow $20,000 from the sewer system fund for the recreation fund to pay the salaries of playground directors.

Councilman Frances “Joby” Palumbo, the director of parks and public property, said the Uniontown Area School District usually pays those salaries, but the district couldn’t afford the expense this year.

Gearing, who voted against the loan, said the money should come from the general fund instead of the sewer fund.