By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Prudential Committee convened for its regular meeting on Thursday, April 3.
The Committee heard from Jan Coolidge and Jeff Cohen on behalf of former customers of Brandon Fire District #2 (BFD2), which had served the 58 homes in the Forrestbrook subdivision in Forest Dale before BFD2’s merger with Brandon Fire District #1 (BFD1) in 2023.
At issue was an account balance of $19,000 that BFD2 had signed over to BFD1 as part of the merger of the two districts. BFD2 held that BFD1 was obligated to return the $19K to the former customers of BFD2 under the 2023 merger agreement between the districts.
BFD1 had received $125,000 from the town of Brandon’s COVID-era ARPA allocation to cover the costs of the merger. Those costs, according to BFD1, ultimately reached $126K, exceeding the ARPA grant by only $1,000. Ms. Coolidge and Mr. Cohen, residents of Forrestbrook and former officers of the defunct BFD2, asked BFD1 to return the remaining portion of the $19K to former customers of BFD2 by dividing the amount equally among the 58 homes of the former BFD2 and crediting each home on its water bill from BFD1.
BFD2 relied on language from the merger agreement for its claims. The agreement, dated November 9, 2023, states that BFD2’s funds would be used “to offset connection fees or related costs associated with the merger or discontinuance of BFD2 and/or the future water service fees assessed by BFD1 to BFD2’s former customers, with the funds to be applied evenly to each property formerly served by BFD2.”
For its part, the Prudential Committee of BFD1 had argued that the $19K should be used to offset the costs of the merger, including connection fees for each of the 58 homes, effectively viewing each one as a new customer connecting to the BFD1 system, and for the time spent by BFD1 employees on the actual physical work of the merger.
But BFD2 insisted that BFD1’s employees were salaried and the work was simply part of their regular jobs. Plus, they said, the 58 homes in BFD2 were already connected to a water-distribution system to which BFD1 needed to make only one connection, not 58.
Ultimately, the Prudential Committee agreed to a $35.70 credit for each of the 58 former customers of BFD2, after subtracting the costs of connection fees that the Committee continued to maintain were not covered by the ARPA grant. At Mr. Cohen’s request, the Committee also tasked BFD1 Water Superintendent Ray Counter with drafting a letter explaining the credit to the former customers of BFD2.
Ms. Coolidge and Mr. Cohen expressed relief that the issue had finally been resolved after months of impasse between the Committee and the representatives of BFD2, even though the final credit was significantly less than BFD2 believed it was owed under the terms of the merger agreement.
The Committee also asked Brandon Fire Department (“the Department”) Chief Tom Kilpeck for an update on the new truck that the Department had taken delivery of that week.
Of particular concern to Committee member Dennis Reisenweaver were the numerous differences between the build specs originally approved by the Committee and the final product as delivered. Mr. Reisenweaver asked for a complete list of change orders so that the Committee would have accurate knowledge of the truck as delivered rather than as originally ordered. Chief Kilpeck agreed to provide the list.
Please see this week’s article about the new fire truck for more details.
