Removal of old station stirs debate
Resident says public not properly notified of plans to remove building

Upper Pine's new Station No. 6, on County Road 502 north of Bayfield, is nearly completed. The old station, which was donated by the Gerber family in 1982, had to be removed so construction on the new one could continue. A member of the Gerber family said the fire district did not do an adequate job of notifying the public of the need to get rid of the building, which went to retiring Fire Chief Jim PIccoli./Photo by Todd Newcomer.

by Missy Votel

Upper Pine Fire Chief Jim Piccoli steps down after 20 years of service this week, but his departure has been clouded by a disagreement over what one resident says was an inappropriate gifting.

While Piccoli and Upper Pine Board President Roger Pennington say that allowing the chief to dismantle and keep the material of the former Station No. 6 was not out of place, Bayfield resident Candy Gerber, whose family donated the material, believes the building should have been advertised for public bid.

"We are very concerned that a public official would accept this building/material without going through the proper public notice process," stated Gerber, whose family owns the Gerber Sawmill, in Bayfield, in a letter given to the Upper Pine Board of Directors during its monthly meeting April 20. "Our family would have been and still is interested in the material, particularly because of the involvement of our family history."

According to Gerber, her husband, Gary, and late father-in-law, Lou Gerber, fell, hauled and cut to size the wood for the original station in 1982. The 900-square-foot, single-bay station, located in the Ben Springs area of County Road 502, was recently upgraded to a new, four-bay station. The new station was paid for by state energy-impact funds as well as a $5.2 million bond issue approved by district voters in May 2004.

Gerber said she heard via word of mouth that the fire district was giving away the building, which needed to be moved so construction on the new station could be finished.

"I heard through the grapevine that they were giving away the building, and I thought, 'Wait, they can't do that,'" she said.

Gerber said when she heard the news in mid-March, she sat on it for a few days before calling Fire Chief Piccoli. However, when she talked to him in late March, she was surprised and upset to hear the building was already spoken for. Had she known the building was being given away, she would have liked to have had it, she said.

"We definitely wanted it back," she said. "I think that's only fair. If someone donates something, then you should ask them if they want it back."

However, Pennington said the board was not aware that the building had been donated, let alone who had donated it, until it was too late. Gerber called Pennington with her concerns on April 15, but according to Piccoli, the building had been removed a few days prior.

"None of us were aware the lumber was donated," said Pennington. "If the Gerbers had said something earlier, we would have been more than happy to give it to them."

Pennington said construction on the new station began late last summer and there was ample opportunity for Gerber, who lives nearby, to see that the old station was going to need to be removed. He said the cost of dismantling, hauling and disposing of the old station was cost prohibitive, so the board notified volunteers and others working on the project of the building's availability. Last September, the board agreed to give the building to the new station's project manager, Bob Estes, as part of his compensation. However, Estes later backed out because of the high cost of dismantling the building. Pennington said a few more prospective buyers then stepped up to the plate, but those deals also fell through for various reasons.

"We were at the point of, 'Now what do we do?'" he said.

Finally, with construction of the new station stalled due to the location of the old station, Piccoli said he would take it off their hands - a move the board unanimously approved at its Feb. 16 meeting.

"At the meeting, the chief said, 'I don't mind having it if you guys don't object,'" Pennington said. "It was either pay to have it disassembled, hauled and dumped or give it to the chief and save taxpayer money.

The old Station No. 6 is seen in this undated file from the Upper Pine Fire District's web site. The station was recently dismantled and hauled off by Fire Chief Jim PIccolo who plans to re-use the material. The family that donated the station says it would have liked to have gotten the building back but was not notified of its removal.

"At the meeting, the chief said, 'I don't mind having it if you guys don't object,'" Pennington said. "It was either pay to have it disassembled, hauled and dumped or give it to the chief and save taxpayer money.

Pennington said the chief told the board he was going to reconstruct the building as a camper shed.

He said the building was never advertised because there was always an interested party who wanted it. He did note that one public official, La Plata County Sheriff Dan Newman, who was approached about taking the station, turned down the offer.

"Dan Newman said he thought it would be a conflict of interest," said Pennington.

And while Gerber said she agrees, Pennington and Piccoli said they do not see a problem with the way things turned out.

"There was no wrongdoing," said Piccoli. "That thing was offered to four other individuals, and there was enough notice to people that it made people aware of the situation."

Piccoli said it took him about a month to dismantle and remove the building, and he now has the materials stored. He added that although the building was donated, he, too, has donated time in the construction of the building as well as the last 20 years of his life to the district - 13 as an unpaid volunteer firefighter.

"I did help out with the construction of the station, and I put 20 years into this department," he said.

Evan Goulding, a Denver attorney and executive director of the nonprofit Special District Association of Colorado, said no laws were broken in giving the building to the chief.

"There really is no requirement that special districts put items up for auction or bid," he said. "The primary rule by which they play is to safeguard the district's finances and make sure that the district gets a fair return."

Nevertheless, Gerber feels the deal crossed an ethical, if not legal, line.

"If it was politically incorrect for the sheriff to take it, why wouldn't it be politically incorrect for the fire chief?" she asked. "The bottom line is, they had this building, they did not advertise or notify the public, and this was public property."

In closing, Pennington said the situation was just an unfortunate lack of communication between the parties.

"If the Gerbers had come one meeting sooner, they could have had the building, but I guess it also was partly our fault because we didn't have it advertised," he said. "I think both parties maybe fell down on the job."