Atwater names new fire chief Firefighter Mel Russell gets job; trustees also hire part-time firefighter

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By Deborah Guziak
Record-Courier staff writer
ATWATER " The township fire department has a new chief and a new part-time firefighter.
Mel Russell was appointed chief by trustees Monday. Russell was a firefighter under former fire Chief Lynn Whittlesey.
The assistant Fire Chief is Don DeCrane, who previously was appointed by trustees. DeCrane is paid $10 per hour for working part-time at the station.
The new part-time firefighter is Joe Corbin Jr. He will work 24 hours per week at a rate of $10 an hour.
Wages for DeCrane and Corbin will come from the township's ambulance fund. This fund is created by fees generated by ambulance runs.
Trustees also set a rate for ambulance service. Depending upon the degree of medical care a patient needs, the costs are $450, $550 or $700 with a $10 per mile fee. Trustees agreed residents and teachers and students of Waterloo schools will be soft billed, which means the township will accept whatever insurance will pay toward the bill, even if it is not the full amount.
Trustees also agreed to pay $5 to any firefighter responding to a call. The department is all volunteer, with the exception of Russell, DeCrane and Corbin.
Trustee Danny Derreberry presented a rules and regulations book for the fire department upon which he, Russell and DeCrane collaborated.
"This covers every possible situation," Derreberry said. "We had three work sessions to create this."
The department has had 40 calls so far this year and has been able to purchase many items and equipment for the department using a portion of a $6,000 grant. The grant needs to be used up by June 1. Trustees previously OK'd a grant application for the same grant for this year.
Lang, who has served as interim fire chief, and Diane Bunker, who has served as interim assistant fire chief, no longer will assist the fire department.
"Everything is in place," Lang told trustees. "You have good people in place to run it. I am confident they'll do a good job."
In January, trustees asked Lang and Bunker, the fire chief and assistant fire chief of Randolph respectively, to help convey concerns and questions about the department between firefighters and trustees.