WESTFIELD- The Westfield Fire Commission will convene Monday evening for their first meeting since the appointment of Commissioner C. Lee Bennett.
The meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the Little River Fire Station, will also be the first meeting since the appointment of Patrick Egloff as temporary Fire Chief. The February meeting was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts for the commission.
The first major item on the agenda will be the reading of the record of the minutes from the special meeting on January 18th, during which Egloff was appointed. They will also read the record of the lengthy executive session minutes from that same meeting.
The agenda item detailing that January 18th executive session reads that the commission would discuss, “the character, reputation, as opposed to professional competence, and/or complaints or charges brought against Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Egloff for the purpose of determining viability for either temporary or permanent promotion to chief of the fire department.”
Under Old Business, the commission will discuss the Human Resources Department Certification Fire Chief Civil Service List and the promotion of a Fire Chief. Whether a vote will take place for a permanent chief during the meeting is not clear. The only name on the list of people eligible to be promoted to the position is Temporary Chief Egloff.
Under New Business, the commission will talk about two active grievances against the commission filed by Firefighter Kyle Militmore and Fire Captain Rebecca Boutin on January 16th. Other grievances had been filed by both individuals against the Fire Commission last year.
The commission will then enter executive session at the end of the meeting. According to the agenda, they will do so, “For the purpose ‘to discuss strategy with respect to litigation’ where the Chair of the Westfield Fire Commission, at the advice of the City Law Department, believes that public discussion would have a detrimental effect on the litigation position, regarding resolution considerations as directed by Chairman Christopher Bowman in the bypass appeals both already filed by Leon Morin ‘Civil Service Bypass Appeal Commission Case No. G1-18-130’ and imminent anticipated as was disclosed at the aforementioned hearing.”
