BULLETIN

ONEONTA TOWN

FIRE DISTRICT

GONE A’GLIMMER

ONEONTA – A few moments ago, the Oneonta Town Board of Fire Commissioners met for the last time, and the Fire District is gone that allowed the city’s Oneonta Fire Department to serve Southside and other town neighborhoods since the early 1980s.

Specifically, the commission, which dissolved on Dec. 31, passed a $400,000 budget for next year, about one-third of what the district has been paying.

The fire district is gone, but the contract remains in place through the end of the year.  Meanwhile the Town of Oneonta can negotiate with the city to continue services in 2019, said Fire Commissioner Al Rubin.

The vote was a unanimous 5-0, with Commissioner Fred Volpe teleconferencing in to the meeting, which was quickly convened after state Supreme Court Judge Michael V. Coccoma threw out an Oneonta Town Board suit seeking a delay to allow an orderly transition.