Tontitown Council Repeals Public Safety, Approves Police, Fire Departments

TONTITOWN -- The Public Safety Department is out and city Police and Fire departments back in.

Tontitown's City Council voted Tuesday to split the department created in March. The town will have a Police Department and a Fire Department.

Ordinances repealing Public Safety and creating the new departments were added to the agenda at the start of the meeting. All were passed with an emergency clause putting the ordinances into effect immediately.

One reason for the change, according to Kris Arthur, public safety director, was the reluctance Springdale's City Council to approve a mutual aid contract with Tontitown. Arthur is be the head of the Police and Fire departments.

Springdale's Police and Fire Committee tabled a proposed agreement with Tontitown on Monday. The agreement needed some ambiguities cleared up, said Eric Ford, chairman of the committee.

The ability to place volunteer firefighters on a retirement program also factored into the decision, Arthur said. The Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System doesn't cover volunteer fire departments, but does cover part-time workers in city departments. Splitting the department was the best way to get the firefighters covered quickly, he said.

The Public Safety Department was created when the City Council couldn't agree with the Tontitown Area Fire Department on a contract for fire and emergency medical response. The city has paid the department for the service for years.

"We were compelled to establish a fire department," said Alderman Clint Penzo, referring to that part of Public Safety. "We had to have a department we could depend on."

The council also approved a budget revision adding $75,o00 to buy a fire engine and a brush truck. The city previously bought a fire truck.

The area fire department has been dependable for decades, said Henry Piazza, alderman.

"This is a travesty," Piazza said. "We still don't have our ducks in a row."

A proposal to pay the Tontitown Area Fire Department for April tied at a 3-3 vote and didn't pass. Sunny Hinshaw, Piazza and Mike Zulpo voted for the $9,512 payment with Bobby Pianalto, Penzo and Donnie Davis voting against.

The city has a department of its own, Penzo said, and payments shouldn't continue. The city made payments to the Area Fire Department from January until March while a contract was being negotiated.