No solution to dispute

At the end of a 90 minute meeting Monday night between the Columbia Fire Police and Borough Council, there was no resolution to a dispute between the two groups.

Borough Council had requested the meeting with the fire police to reach a resolution to an almost two-year-old problem that saw the fire police stop working special events in the borough.

With about 10 of its members present, the fire police and borough council discussed what caused the problem. During the discussion, it seemed that the two groups were going to meet halfway and perhaps get the fire police back to providing security and traffic control at special events in Columbia.

But after hearing from Bob Hetter, who provided security for the Antique, Art and Craft Show and the Bridge Bust, two events sponsored by the Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, the fire police said there would be no change in their status, that they would continue to respond to emergency calls such as fires and accidents only.

Hetter said he charged the chamber for the two events.

“I don’t put a uniform for under $35 an hour. I do that for a living and I had two people handle both events,” Hetter said.

“The fire police will only volunteer to do fires and accidents,” said Ken Murphy, a spokesman for the group.

See more in this week's Columbia Ledger.