The Peoria Heights Village Board will hold a special meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1 at Village Hall to discuss the future of fire service in the community.
With Fire Chief Greg Walters to retire from the otherwise volunteer fire department in November, and with volunteers increasingly difficult to find, Village leaders are exploring various alternatives for this critical provision of public safety at a reasonable cost.
The three options now before the Village Board are employing a crew for dayside coverage with volunteers on call for weekends and after-hours shifts, contracting with the City of Peoria for fire service, or creating a fire protection district with the tax base to support it.
Walters will be present to share his recommendation and to answer questions. Representing the City of Peoria will be its fire chief, Tony Ardis, who will detail his proposal, as requested by the Village.
“This is not where I thought we would be today, by any stretch of the imagination,” Walters said at the July 21 Village Board meeting. “What set us back was COVID-19 … We had a plan to move forward. When the world stopped turning for three months, it stopped us in our tracks.”
Walters said he appreciates the “anguish” being felt in some quarters but expressed confidence that a shared “baseline of information” would help decisionmakers get to a conclusion that would be in the best interests of the community.
“Everybody needs to be on the same page,” he said.
Mayor Michael Phelan commended Walters and called for a meeting where “we can devote nothing but our full attention to fire,” where participants can “respectfully listen to each other and arrive at some solution.” The date of the chief’s departure is fast approaching and “I’m concerned what happens when that comes. We want to be, as a board, prepared for that.”
Saturday’s meeting is for information and discussion only, with no action anticipated. Social distancing is being practiced. The wearing of masks is voluntary but encouraged.