Page 6 The Dispatch/Maryland Coast Dispatch September 13, 2013 ✴✡✌✗✆✘❜✆✔✗¤❙s❘ ❖❛✥✘❜✌✡¤✯✎✔✎✔✞ ✰✛✕✡❜✎✡✔✟✡ FEATURING: ✱✆✒✒¤5✔✗¤✣ Berlin Fire Funds Partially Restored By TRAVIS BROWN STAFF WRITER Amuse Bouche First Course Intermezzo Main Course & Dessert $35 (Add A Wine Flight For $15) ✵✍✘❜✌✠✆✜✌¤❂¤✼✘✔✠✆✜✌ ❖¤✕❉❉❛sw¤✕❉❉ 2 0 1 3 Voted Best Restaurant For Gourmet Dining And Special Occasions In Metropolitan Magazine’s Best Of The Eastern Shore Awards 2009 James Beard Foundation Honoree Recipient Of The Prestigious Distinguished Restaurants Of North America (2009-2013) 213 North Fruitland Boulevard (Just South Of Salisbury University) 410-677-4880 www.restaurant213.com Closer Than You Think, Far From Normal, Simply The Best BERLIN – A little more than a year after cutting all financial support to the Berlin Fire Company (BFC), the Mayor and Council voted unanimously Monday to restore $200,000 out of the $537,000 that was withdrawn. There doesn’t appear to be a clear winner in the dispute at this time, with the BFC vocal about its fear that lower funding could impact service, the town still upset over the soured relationship and legal actions from disgruntled BFC employees brewing. Though it’s a rough start, Mayor Gee Williams said that Monday’s decision to return partial funding to the BFC should be seen as a positive step forward. “The Mayor and Council believe that tonight marks the beginning of the end of the ongoing dispute between the town of Berlin and the Berlin Fire Company,” said Williams. The last year has marked a dark chapter in the relationship between the town and the company. In the summer of 2012, the council voted to sever ties with the BFC, due to an ongoing dispute over allegations of harassment by employees and some head-butting over how much the town should try to manage the company’s day-to-day operations. The loss of funding, about $537,000 annually, was a hard blow, according to David Fitzgerald, the BFC president. Even the restoration of $200,000 of that Monday after a year without funding could come to impact service, he warned, though he clarified that the company is not threatening the town when he says that. “We have not threatened the town or the taxpayers to stop responding. We have merely stated, factually and directly, that the fire company will have to consider which services that may need to be reduced to mirror the reduction in funding,” Fitzgerald said. “These are not decisions that we want to make. We are being forced to make them.” With the cost of outfitting a new volunteer member around $10,000 including training and equipment and the constant need for maintenance and replacement of vehicles and gear, $200,000 a year from the town could go quickly, Fitzgerald said. After that, the BFC might need to cut services or coverage or training, he continued, and any diminishment of operation could jeopardize everything from resident safety to home insurance premiums. The town did not dispute the point, but did question whether BFC finances are in that bad of a spot right now. John Stern, an independent auditor from PKS and Company, reviewed company finances and noted that the BFC is in “a very SEE NEXT PAGE