Jefferson Hills council moves to permanently decertify Gill Hall VFC

Gill Hall Volunteer Fire Company will not return to service in Jefferson Hills as long as the current council majority is in power.

That message was delivered April 11 as borough officials voted 5-2 against reinstating the idle fire department, restoring its run cards, having its vehicles back on borough insurance and its members on workers’ compensation.

Council also voted 5-2 to direct solicitor Deron Gabriel to prepare an ordinance to permanently decertify the company. It had previously adopted resolutions temporarily decertifying Gill Hall.

Councilman Keith Reynolds and councilwoman Nicole Ruscitto were the lone votes in support of the 74-year-old, 20-member department which has been idle for several years.

Reynolds apologized to Gill Hall, its neighborhood and borough residents.

“I think we set a poor example on how to conduct (ourselves) throughout this whole merger,” Reynolds said. “I think it’s our moral duty, as we sit up here, to take a look at an organization. If they needed a little bit of assistance, to help an organization out. Not to do a government, council takeover of it. This was allowed to continue for so long, and individuals sat here (and) rooted for an organization to fail. Applauded every time that misfortune came Gill Hall’s way. Watch the way some of the individuals celebrate over this.”

Jefferson 885 and Floreffe volunteer companies have responded to all calls in Gill Hall’s absence. The two are under an operational merger and still in the process of becoming one department that will be called Jefferson Hills Fire Rescue.

Run cards include information for dispatchers so they know what departments to call out during an emergency. Gill Hall wanted to keep its station’s number and not be under JHFR’s card.

Reynolds pleaded to at least have its members be put on borough insurance so they could continue their training as Gill Hall firefighters instead of as members of neighboring departments.

Gill Hall vice president Brian Hutson said several firefighters had joined other companies in an effort to continue their education and volunteerism. He also reiterated the department’s stance on remaining independent.

Council president Melissa Steffey and councilwoman Karen Bucy, who both live in the Gill Hall area, explained their votes to move on from their neighborhood company. Other council members did not comment on Gill Hall.

Bucy talked about mediation efforts through the state Department of Community and Economic Development. After six sessions, Gill Hall wanted to remain independent while Jefferson 885 and Floreffe wanted a merger.

She also talked about the firefighter training she and Steffey completed last year to get a better understanding of what firefighters go through.

After more historical recap, the former council president said everything boiled down to unity.

“We have one Jefferson Hills Police Department,” said Bucy. “We have one Jefferson Hills library. We have one Jefferson Hills public works department. We have one Jefferson Hills recreation board, environmental advisory council, planning commission, zoning board and public safety committee and are forming one comprehensive steering committee … It is realistic and an obtainable goal to have one unified Jefferson Hills fire department with three stations.”

Steffey echoed Bucy’s statements. She said she has been in favor of an operational merger between all three departments for years, and expressed disappointment with the station’s top brass.

“Nothing has changed on top,” Steffey said. “Sometimes when things aren’t working, you have to get rid of the manager instead of the team players, and that’s been my vision the entire time with Gill Hall. Yes, they have history. Yes, their volunteerism was down. Yes, they’ve had issues in the past, but it’s the same leadership. I can’t trust the fact that anything is going to change.”

Gabriel said the ordinance will be drafted, advertised and potentially adopted in May or June.

Brief council vs. Gill Hall history

The 5-2 vote tally has been synonymous with Gill Hall-related motions from the very beginning of the battle between the local lawmakers and staunch Gill Hall members.

Council voted 5-2 in January 2019, with members Vickie Ielase and Mary Reynolds dissenting, to drop the department as a recognized company, meaning it was cut off from municipal funds and no longer received dispatches from Allegheny County Emergency Services.

Elected leaders at the time cited flagging membership and a decline in quality of service for the move.

Those in favor were Tracey Khalil, David Montgomery, Francis Sockman, former vice president Jay Weber and formerresident Chris King.

Khalil, Weber, King, Ielase and Mary Reynolds are no longer on council.

The company was briefly re-certified in April 2020 with certain conditions. Those included all fire companies get audited and seek mediation.

Gill Hall’s hopes of returning to borough dispatch were dashed seven months later as council voted 5-2 on Nov. 18, 2020, to once again no longer recognized it as a borough fire company after a lengthy back-and-forth about Gill Hall’s future both that evening and on Nov. 16, 2020.

Keith Reynolds and Ruscitto were again the lone supporters.

The next motion was made on Nov. 18, 2020, after Gill Hall’s decertification was to approve the distribution of more than $66,000 in Pennsylvania Foreign Fire Insurance funds to Jefferson Hills Fire Rescue Relief Association. It has been the lone recipient of said funds since.

A motion to recertify Gill Hall in January 2021 failed via 2-5 vote with Reynolds and Ruscitto in favor.

Bucy, who was president at the time, vice president Dave Montgomery, Steffey, Ielase and councilman Francis Sockman dissented.

In February 2021, council gave Gill Hall an ultimatum — merge or remain off borough dispatch.

Motions to recertify Gill Hall as its own fire company with no merger stipulation, and to table the ultimatum both failed by a 2-5 vote with Reynolds and Ruscitto as the only two voting in favor of them.

The borough had recently sent Gill Hall a certified letter checking to see if their stance had changed. The company’s response was the same.

Steffey said after more than two years and multiple opportunities, it was time to move on from this issue.

“This council, by making these choices and these votes tonight, are choosing to move forward with another option,” she said.

Gill Hall officials did not return calls seeking comment Monday night.