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Fairplay Volunteer Fire Company (File Photo / July 29, 2012) |
A task force created to study the operations of the suspended Fairplay Volunteer Fire Company is scheduled to meet for the first time Wednesday.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the county emergency management office at 16232 Elliott Parkway in Williamsport, according to an email written by Kevin L. Lewis, the county’s director of emergency services.
County Attorney John M. Martirano has said the task force’s meetings will be open, although a request to close a meeting could be considered if it fits a limited exemption allowed by Maryland’s Open Meetings Act.
In an email, Lewis said the task force’s first meeting will be “somewhat informal.”
“The purpose for this meeting will be for everyone that is available to meet each other and primarily discuss future individuals availability and their scheduling,” he wrote in an email that county spokeswoman Sarah Lankford Sprecher shared withThe Herald-Mail.
The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 last month to suspend the fire company indefinitely because of its ongoing problem in quickly responding to calls, especially during the day.
The commissioners agreed that a task force would meet to review the problem and suggest a solution.
The task force must submit a report within three months.
After that, the fire company can apply to the county for reinstatement, which is not guaranteed.
The 13-member task force includes representatives from Fairplay Volunteer Fire Company, as well as four nearby fire companies — Sharpsburg, Williamsport, Boonsboro and Funkstown — that have shared in the work load in Fairplay.
Other task force members represent the Washington County Division of Emergency Services and the Washington County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.
Five residents of the Fairplay coverage area also were named to the task force.
