Greenport Village, fire department discussed issues at firehouse in executive session
In a closed-door meeting Wednesday evening, Greenport Village officials met with the leadership of the Greenport Fire Department to discuss “potentially pending litigation” involving the two entities.
Mayor George Hubbard Jr. said the roughly hour-long meeting addressed the results of an evaluation completed by the Public Employees Safety and Health Bureau at the Third Street firehouse last week.
Speaking after the executive session, Mr. Hubbard said an inspector from PESH “found some issues in the firehouse that need to be addressed,” though the mayor declined to discuss the specifics of those concerns, citing potential litigation.
At the time of the inspection, Mr. Hubbard said, PESH required certain paperwork from the fire department. The department did not have that paperwork “readily available” when the inspector was present, he said.
The mayor said the fire department has since collected all of the paperwork and he expects the situation to be resolved in about a week.
The paperwork, Mr Hubbard said, is “just standard operating procedures.”
“They want to see that all this stuff is done in writing, they want to see a written procedure for everything we do,” he said.
According to the state website, PESH was created in 1980 to enforce safety and health standards promulgated under the United States Occupational Safety and Health Act and several other state standards. The PESH Act creates occupational safety and health protection to all public sector employees, the website states.
Online OSHA records of the inspection detail show the case was opened Jan. 29. A conference was scheduled July 16. The inspection detail lists the case as a health concern and the case is listed as open. Additional information is not provided.
Village attorney Joseph Prokop said it’s unclear if there were complaints filed related to the inspection and he said information is still being collected.
Fire Department member Pete Harris said the mayor requested to meet with members of the fire department to receive feedback from them “pertaining to what problems there may be.”
Mr. Hubbard said he expects the issues will be discussed publicly with the fire chiefs at an upcoming Village Board work session.
