CCFD Pays $300K to Flush Away Outstanding Hydrant Fees

COVENTRY, RI—The Central Coventry Fire District has reached an agreement with the Kent County Water Authority to pay more than $300,000 in outstanding hydrant fees to bury a lawsuit filed while the fire district was in receivership.

The agreement was mediated by retired Rhode Island Supreme Court Justice Frank J. Williams, who said Tuesday in a district news release he was "delighted to serve as the mediator in this case in which both parties took reasonable positions in an effort to resolve the matter without further litigation. This settlement will provide relief to taxpayers of both public entities and the fact we were able to resolve this issue with one morning of mediation is a credit to the hard work done by both sides. This is exactly the way the appellate resolution process which I first implemented when leading the courts is supposed to work.”

The $303,750.13 payment will cover the period from Oct. 9 of 2012 to yesterday, June 6, 2016. The district was ordered by a Superior Court Judge earlier this year to pay the outstanding fees. Mediation with Williams began after CCFD's appeal reached the Supreme Court.

District officials said the payment was made on Monday, which settles all outstanding fees owed by CCFD.

“We are pleased to enter into this settlement agreement and look forward to a productive relationship with the Central Coventry Fire District,” said Timothy Brown, Kent County Water Authority General Manager & Chief Engineer. “This settlement and our receipt of the CCFD check means they are paid in full.”

Gayle Corrigan, fire district administrator, said clearing away the outstanding hydrant fees is another step forward for the beleaguered district and comes on the heels of a deal with the fire union to settle outstanding claims totaling nearly $1.5 million with a payment of $282.289. That reportedly saved taxpayers $1.2 million.

“In the last 10 days we’ve settled the two of the largest claims against the District resulting from its bankruptcy and in doing so, we’ve taken another giant step forward on the road to finance," Corrigan said.

The agreement comes a day after a state representative called for the resignation of the district's fire board chairman, Fred Gralinksi, who has been under pressure since last week when a video of him comparing firefighters flying American flags on their fire trucks to terrorists went viral and sparked national media coverage.

Firefighters said they were ordered to remove American flags from fire apparatuses last month. Gralinski has said the issue was about union decals and dirty flags that might not be properly displayed and he was simply trying to start a discussion.

Firefighters insist they were given an order, which they refused.