Jefferson Hills Council no longer legally recognizes Gill Hall Volunteer Fire Company

Gill Hall Volunteer Fire Company is no longer legally recognized as a fire department in Jefferson Hills.

Council passed an ordinance May 9 solidifying the decertification of the near 74-year-old, 20-member department that has been idle for several years.

The effect of the ordinance is something that the majority of council has been looking to do for quite some time.

Multiple attempts to put Gill Hall back on borough dispatch and renew services failed with only Councilman Keith Reynolds and Councilwoman Nicole Ruscitto voting in support of Gill Hall.

Other council members wanted the independent company to merge with Jefferson Hills Fire Rescue, which, itself, is an operational merger of Jefferson 885 and Floreffe volunteer companies.

Fire company officials have said they are still in the process of completing the full merger.

Council president Melissa Steffey said Gill Hall leaders repeatedly declined numerous opportunities to join JHFR.

Previous legislation had Gill Hall decertified on a temporary basis.

“The ordinance was necessary because we were waiting to see if GHVFC was going to want to merge with JHFR and form one department as we have been discussing over the past few years,” Steffey said. “GHVFC’s final decision was to remain independent; therefore, it was necessary to finalize the current ordinance and change the ‘temporary’ to ‘permanent.’

“Our residents and some members on this council no longer have the luxury of trying to understand or referee a 20-plus-year-old discussion/battle between the fire departments that serve Jefferson Hills. We are growing exponentially here and it is time to move on, let JHFR continue to do what they do well and look for other viable options near the Gill Hall area that will only help give support to our amazing first responders when it is needed.”

Steffey said having one official department in the borough also sets a standard of service.

“Our community deserves a consistent, professional, well-staffed organization that continuously trains together and works well together under one set of standardized operating procedures,” she said. “That is what JHFR provides.

”GHVFC was welcomed to join them and help continue to serve our community together. They chose to take their own path, and I wish them well.”

Council vice president Hilary Budd echoed Steffey’s comments, and noted no decisions have been made about a new JHFR station in the Gill Hall neighborhood.

“The borough is fortunate to have excellent services and competent leadership through JHFR,” Budd said. “A location to expand their services is in its infancy stages and many other options will be explored.”

Reynolds blasts colleagues

Reynolds called the proposed merger with Gill Hall a “hostile takeover,” and that council has played political games with Gill Hall from the start.

“I am embarrassed to be part of a council that would root for an organization to fail and applaud its misfortune,” Reynolds said. “How do I feel about everything that JHFR receives? KISS — keep it simple stupid. If they have to lie to get it, they do not deserve to have it.

“The residents have been lied to from day one. They are the ones that have suffered in a decrease and lack of coverage. They are also the ones responsible for the paying the bills for the additional expenses that this has and will create.

“The only way that I see this getting fixed is if someone at the county or state level steps up to look into the lies, special interest, political favors and the corruption that is behind this. It is hard to believe that public safety can be toyed with like this and no one seems to care.”

Gill Hall had a short-lived partnership with Pittsburgh Safety & Health EMS to provide non-emergency transports from the fire station.

Reynolds and Gill Hall leaders said that effort was snuffed out within months due to political pressure as well.

Jefferson Hills’ primary emergency ambulance service is through SouthEast Regional EMS. There is mutual aid from Baldwin EMS.

Gill Hall vice president Brian Hutson said council’s recent actions changes nothing from how things have been the past several months. Its vehicles already were taken off borough insurance and its firefighters removed from workers’ compensation.

“It really hasn’t changed anything,” he said. “The ordinance is politics. It’s just certain people are trying to set a narrative. We haven’t gotten any (fire) relief money in over a year. Six months ago we weren’t getting insurance coverage and we still aren’t.

”This was never about merging. This was a hostile takeover. We were going to sign papers that said we would be willing to work with (JHFR), but we wanted to remain independent, and it wouldn’t have changed anything.”

The Tribune-Review on May 13 filed a Right-to-Know request to obtain a copy of the ordinance, as well as a resolution defining contribution arrangements with JHFR.

Borough clerk Erika Horvat said Tuesday afternoon it was under review by Solicitor Deron Gabriel.

Steffey said the resolution was to identify shift crew payments to JHFR as an hourly rate, and no other contributions will come from the taxpayers such as paying into Social Security, Medicare and other benefits.

“That is the responsibility of the fire department, itself, to cover not the borough,” Steffey said.

A call to Jefferson Hills Fire Rescue leadership was not immediately returned.