Rep. Nardolillo Responds to "Second Failed Fire District in Coventry"

Coventry Rep. Robert “Bobby” Nardoillo said Thursday that taxpayers have “witnessed the collision of fire safety and fiscal responsibility for a second time” and urged caution and thoughtfulness in the coming weeks.

Nardolillo, in a release, said that he understands there is a rallying cry among some for a single town-wide fire district. But, he said, although it seems to be a “direction rooted in common sense . . .we need to proceed thoughtfully and cautiously. The last thing that anyone would want to see is good intention gone badly by creating one fire entity that results in fire service costs as high or higher than those rejected by Coventry residents.

“We have 4 fire districts in town - with the Central Coventry fire district having gone bankrupt and the other, Coventry fire district, ‘shut-down’ as a result of the district’s taxpayers voting to dissolve it,” the representative said. “We can’t keep throwing hard-earned taxpayers’ money after a financial mess so deep that it can’t be fixed.”

But, Nardolillo continued “Coventry also has two other districts. I think about the taxpayers in the Hopkins Hill and Western Coventry Fire Districts. Western Coventry is a volunteer district that covers approximately half of our town and those taxpayers enjoy a soundly run district with little concern for run away taxes. Hopkins Hill is in the AMGEN area and provides fire safety and fiscal accountability.”

SEE:

Dissolve? Merge? Fix for Coventry Fire District is Elusive

Coventry Voters Reject Tax, Choose to Dissolve Fire District

Photo courtesy: Dave Gorman