Bob Joly, president of the Peyton Fire District, resigned his position Aug. 9, citing a failed motion to expand his duties beyond the district bylaws as the reason for his decision.During the July board meeting, Peyton district treasurer Alice Levering referenced the district’s bylaws as they relate to the position of board president. According to the bylaws, Levering said the board president’s duties calls for presiding over the meetings only.Acting on the advice of the district’s attorney, Joly said he made two motions to revise the district’s bylaws to more accurately reflect the work he has been doing; however, both motions failed 3-to-2.”When I ran for the board, I told people I would lower their insurance rates by improving the district’s ISO [Insurance Services Office] rating,” Joly said.In his resignation letter, Joly wrote, “I no longer feel that this board will allow me or help me to keep this district moving forward. I feel this board has lost its focus of what the goals are and has tied my hands to do anything.”Joly said he has spent time learning about the ISO ratings so the district could take the necessary steps to lower its rating, which would in turn lower the cost of homeowners insurance for residents in the district. Joly said the majority of the Peyton Fire District has a nine rating; a few areas have a 10 rating. The lower the rating, the better.”Bob stepped up to the plate and did all the work and to have board members act this way will be the demise of the department,” said Troy Anderson, volunteer firefighter for the Peyton Fire District. “Bob has the vision of bringing the ISO rating down to six. Without that vision, people will never see a decline in their insurance rates.”Jack Rauer, also a Peyton volunteer firefighter, said “I back up Troy 100 percent. Bob’s the one that got us the new brush truck.”The funds for the brush truck and a new pumper truck, which will be delivered in September, came from grants – grants that Joly pursued. The Peyton fire station was recently refurbished with new bunks as well. “Bob got us those bunks,” Anderson said.Joly also negotiated costs with a local college for firefighter training. “The way to get a rating of six is through training and a pump test,” Joly said. “So I called up Pikes Peak Community College and lined up training for eight Peyton firefighters that would have cost $8,000, and they gave it to us for $5,000.” The firefighters began their training program in August.The pump test had been planned for this fall or next spring, he said. “All we have to do is pump 250 gallons per minute for two hours to get a rating of six,” Joly said. The pump test would have required water delivery from other fire districts in the area, but Joly said all fire districts that don’t have hydrants have to rely on other districts. “No district out here can do it on their own,” he said.Joly said he worries about the district’s ability to maintain an ISO rating of nine. After he resigned, Joly received a letter from the ISO notifying the district of an ISO inspection in six months and requesting copies of training and other records. “If the district doesn’t maintain its rating of nine, it will be a year or two before the district can apply for the pump test required for a rating of six,” he said.”An ISO rating of 10 will cause insurance rates to go up and may make it impossible to get homeowners insurance in the Peyton fire district.” Joly said he has offered to help the district prepare for the ISO audit.The board has not accepted his resignation. A board meeting was scheduled for Aug. 14, but it was canceled because there were not enough board members present, Joly said.Joly also represented the Peyton Fire District as a member of the Falcon/Peyton Small Area Master Plan Advisory Committee. “I told [the planning committee at a recent meeting], ‘The Peyton fire district doesn’t want anybody representing them or speaking for them and saying anything on their behalf. So, right now I am here as a private citizen and I do not represent the fire district anymore,'” Joly said. The committee is not certain about how they will proceed with Joly as a member, he said.The resignation follows another “hot” issue related to the Peyton Fire District. Board members have been dealing with the Santa Fe Springs development’s request to exclude acreage from the district. The acreage in question is slated for commercial development, and Joly said it’s the district’s first opportunity for commercial revenue. Its exclusion would mean the loss big dollars in tax revenue over the next several years, he said.Joly said he thinks the Santa Fe Springs exclusion request will go through now that he has resigned. “There are four other developers right now that are talking about opting out [of the Peyton fire district] if Santa Fe Springs gets out,” he said.”They [the board] don’t want to do anything, and they don’t want me to do anything. I’m starting to think Peyton doesn’t want any help. I haven’t seen anybody come down to the meetings or ask other board members what’s going on.”All five board seats are up for election in May. Joly said he would be willing to run for the board again, if other Peyton residents who support his efforts to improve the district are willing to run, too.Editor’s note: Alice Levering declined an interview with the NFH. And all of the board members were contacted for individual comments, but none returned the NFH’s calls.More news from the Peyton Fire DistrictKathleen Wallace attended the Peyton Fire District Board just prior to the NFH going to press. The board accepted Bob Jolyís resignation. According to a news release from the board, “The Board of Directors rejected his demand for greater authority, citing Colorado Revised Statutes Title 32; all authority by law remained with the Board and would not be delegated out to individual Board of Directors. Mr. Joly felt he could no longer work for the District given those restrictions on his authority, so he made the choice to resign from the Board of Directors.” At the meeting, the board elected Dave Stoddard president and Chuck Burnett vice president. Steve Whittaker and Alice Levering remain as secretary and treasurer, respectively. The board also approved a motion to advertise that the board director position is open.
