Tuesday, November 6, 2012
A public meeting for district taxpayers will be scheduled in the near future.
After nearly four weeks without pay, members of the Central Coventry Fire District recently received paychecks, bringing payroll payments current and allowing for a collective sigh of relief by employees for the time being. On Friday afternoon, CCFD Chief Andrew Baynes explained that he met with Special Master Richard Land on Thursday at the District's Arnold Road headquarters and continues to communicate with him on a near-daily basis. Chief Baynes went on to say that the special master process is moving forward as the district continues to gather records and make financial considerations. Assistance has been and continues to be provided by various state agencies and appointees of the Court. He also said that the district's independent …
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Central Coventry Fire District
240 Arnold Rd, Coventry, RI
/articles/ccfd-employees-receive-paychecks-special-master-process-continues
507996
/locations/8106137
Friday, October 19, 2012
Donations of grocery gift cards and fuel discounts have been donated to Central Coventry firefighters.
Members of Coventry and nearby communities have donated goods and services to Central Coventry firefighers and their families while they are providing fire and emergency services to the district without pay. Members of the Coventry Teachers' Alliance and Anthony Fire District made voluntary donations from their own pockets and dropped $3,875 in Stop & Shop gift cards off to the district's Arnold Road headquarters around 4 p.m. on Friday. "We had no idea that they were doing this but we are so grateful," said Captain Dave Gorman. "We're divvying them up to our membership right now. We do a lot for the community year-round and it's a really great feeling when the community comes together like this. We just want to say thank you." "The …
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Central Coventry Fire District
240 Arnold Rd, Coventry, RI
/articles/coventry-community-members-land-hand-to-ccfd-families
507996
/locations/8040238
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The decision will allow the struggling Central Coventry Fire District to begin receiving some revenue to pay firefighters and other operating costs.
Firefighters, board members and several taxpayers of the Central Coventry Fire District along with several town officials including Town Manager Tom Hoover, Town Council President Gary Cote, Police Chief Bryan Volpe and Asst. Town Solicitor Arthur Reed gathered at the Washington County Courthouse in Wakefield at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The occasion was a much-anticipated hearing regarding the fire district's recent special mastership filing that occurred last Tuesday. Following an annual meeting on Oct. 1 where the passage of the 2012-2013 budget was tabled until Dec. 3, Interim Chief Andrew Baynes and then Board of Directors Vice-President Joseph Bonn announced at a press conference that the district was out of funds needed to pay staff …
Attorney Richard Land briefly discussed the district's ongoing court process before board members were sworn in.
Dozens of taxpayers filed into the Central Coventry Fire District's headquarters at 240 Arnold Road on Tuesday night for the CCFD Board of Directors meeting. It was the first public board meeting since the financially-strapped district filed for receivership a week earlier. At the meeting, residents were introduced to Providence attorney Richard Land, who was appointed temporary Special Master of the district on Monday. Land briefly explained that the court system has determined that a fiduciary is necessary to handle the affairs of the district during this crisis and to help move it into a positive direction. He also stated that the district is in the process of a Special Mastership opposed to a Receivership as stated in earlier reports…
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Central Coventry Fire District
240 Arnold Rd, Coventry, RI
/articles/ccfd-special-master-land-meets-with-board-taxpayers
507996
/locations/8024629
CCFD taxpayers were presented with several district reports and court updates at Tuesday's board meeting.
Following the voting and swearing-in of several Central Coventry Fire District Board members at Tuesday night's meeting, Interim Chief Andrew Baynes proceeded to give his report which included information about the number of calls that the district responded to in recent weeks as well as updates on vehicle and apparatus maintenance. Treasurer's Report When board members arrived at Agenda Item #10, the Treasurer's Report, longtime Coventry resident and owner of C.R. Burns Associates, Conrad Burns explained that he had recently accepted the challenge of creating a new accounting system for the district to bring its books up-to-date from Aug. 31, 2012 to the present. Burns will provide his pro bono services to the district in an attempt to …
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Central Coventry Fire District
240 Arnold Rd, Coventry, RI
/articles/central-coventry-fire-district-treasurer-tax-collector-reports-presented
507996
/locations/8023875
Friday, October 12, 2012
The former CCFD chief speaks about the Central Coventry Fire District's recent financial problems — and how it informed his decision to move to Smithfield.
After watching the recent budget issues in his former fire department — including a decision to pursue receivership for the Central Coventry Fire District — new Smithfield Fire Chief Robert Seltzer spoke with Patch about the issue. "It could have been avoided," Seltzer said during a phone interview. "I attended the financial meeting, since I'm still a resident and a taxpayer in that district — the budget was presented very poorly. Questions were asked to the board about the tax rate, about the deliquencies and the debt, and the board couldn't provide concrete answers, and it upset the people at the meeting." Seltzer also said that he moved to Smithfield — which, unlike Coventry, centralizes its fire and rescue service under the town …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Central Coventry firefighters have unanimously voted to continue serving their district without pay for the time being.
Following this morning's announcement from Central Coventry Fire District officials stating the district may be forced to file for liquidation, CCFD employees took part in a 1.5 hour-long union meeting on Tuesday evening where they voted to continue providing fire and EMS services to Central Coventry residents, despite not receiving pay to do so. "I have several members who are already two months past due on their mortgages, I have several others who are a month or so behind on other bills," said Captain and union president Dave Gorman. "While no one likes the idea of working and not getting paid for it, as of right now we will continue to provide service to the community like we've always done." When asked how or if this decision will …
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Central Coventry Fire District
240 Arnold Rd, Coventry, RI
/articles/ccfd-to-move-forward-with-receivership-plans
507996
/locations/9223631
As of this Friday, the fire district may not be able to respond to emergency calls.
On Tuesday afternoon, Central Coventry Fire officials called a press conference at its Arnold Road station alerting the media to the fact that the district may soon be forced to file for receivership. At the October 1 annual tax meeting, taxpayers voted to table the passing of the 2012-2013 budget, which halted the distribution of tax bills to residents of the district. On October 3, Interim Chief Andrew Baynes requested that Centreville Bank extend the district's tax anticipation borrowing to cover financial obligations until a tax rate and budget is decided and new tax amounts can be billed and collected. Not only was Baynes turned down for additional borrowing, but the district's existing line of credit was seized - funding that …
41.674402
-71.554858
Central Coventry Fire District
240 Arnold Rd, Coventry, RI
/articles/central-coventry-fire-district-may-file-for-receivership
507996
/locations/7988304
unset
10:36 pm on Saturday, November 10, 2012
I am sure these coventry residents dont know that the CCFD union has voted to not participate in the towns annual "tis the season boot drive" for families in need.. As they recently have been.. Seems they forgot who came to there aid when they were not getting paid.. However these same fire fighters will stand on corners for hours at a time collecting for MDA with and issue...What is wrong with … more ›