Discussion Continues on Memorial Account Restructuring
The Colchester Fire Department (CFD) Board of Trustees had a full agenda at its meeting Wednesday evening, which lasted nearly 2.5 hours. At the center of the Aug. 12 meeting was an update on allegations of the misuse of money, tools and fuel by former members, as well as the status of an external audit of district finances.
At a meeting last month, Trustee Mike Weaver said the trustees and members had been going through files, with the understanding that an external audit would be recommended if the job was too unwieldy and/or discrepancies were found. The board voted that due to the magnitude of the task, along with some discrepancies, that the board's attorney, Dustin Clark of Bougher, Krisher & Clark of Macomb would hire an external auditor to take over. Following the vote at the special meeting in July, Greg Butler of Butler & Associates was hired to conduct the audit.
'I talked to the attorney on Friday and was led to believe that they're about twothirds through the audit. They are missing some documents and they have a list they'll be providing so we can try to find those,' Weaver said at the Aug. 12 meeting. 'They are piecing together itemized lists of withdrawals and deposits to determine purchases and reimbursements. As for the other allegations, the attorney is only focused on the Memorial Account because it's most important and could have a possible criminal impact if something was uncovered. I'm not saying it will, but it could.'
Members of the audience, which includes volunteer members of the force, suggested bringing in the Illinois State Police to conduct an investigation. Weaver said he'd discuss this with Clark; however, the audit will continue through Butler at this time as voted upon. He also noted that they'd like to have this wrapped up by Labor Day as the fire department and trustees will have an active presence during the community's weekend celebration and he'd like to be able to answer the public's questions. A special meeting may be scheduled prior to the Labor Day weekend event if the audit is completed prior to Sept. 4.
Weaver also discussed the Memorial Account, which had previously covered equipment and other larger purchases; fundraising buys and reimbursements, and daily expenditures, such as water and Gatorade for the firehouse. At Wednesday's meeting, the trustees decided to split the nicknamed 'Memorial Account' into three separate accounts, with trustee oversight, including monthly treasurer's reports, for each account. The Board also voted to reactivate the department's Casey's credit card for daily expenditures, and to consider getting a department- issued credit card so purchases can be tracked and one account is used for those daily expenditures, Amazon buys and more.
'No one knew the rules for that Memorial Account. We sat down last week with the chief and moving forward, we decided the best thing to do was split the account, with the Memorial Fund being 100 percent trustee-controlled,' Weaver said.
Weaver told The Community News Brief in an earlier story about the allegations there is 'no real undeniable proof' that two people are responsible, and there is 'no proof of wrongdoing pointed to any one or two people.'
However, because of the recent assertions and the lack of oversight – and records –between the fire district's finances and the board, the way the Colchester Fire District does business is changing. There are now locks and meters on the fuel tanks, which are located in a public-access alley, the power is shut off when not in use and there is a log book for fuel fill-ups. In addition, Weaver and Chief Jared Dixon are establishing an inventory list of department-owned tools.
In other business, trustees discussed filling the vacant trustee position following Kory Nichols' resignation last month. Weaver nominated Randy Faxon, who currently serves as the City of Colchester clerk; however, after a lengthy discussion between fire department members and trustees, which included a possible conflict of interest for a city employee to serve on the board, the nomination died.
Additional recommendations will be brought forward, and Weaver will clarify with County Board Chair Eric Blakeley on the timeline to bring a new trustee forward for a vote by the McDonough County Board.
The Board also determined that they will each take the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) training as required by the Public Access Counselor in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. The trustees, working together, will handle the district's FOIA requests.
