A project at the Fredonia Fire Department created a stir at a village meeting this week.

Fredonia’s chief code enforcer attacked the Fredonia Fire Department this week, stating its volunteer corps has a history of doing “whatever they want.”

Charles “Chuck” LaBarbera strenuously objected to a shower stall project going on at the fire department when Fire Chief Joshua Myers brought it up. The two had their dispute at a Fredonia trustees workshop.

“A lot of things can get solved in this village if someone just picks up the phone and calls people, but let me displace any rumors. The volunteer fire department incorporated is paying 100% of those showers. We, as a village. are paying zero,” Myers began.

“If you remember, last year, it was approved in the budget to get the work done — and I never did that,” the fire chief continued. “So then this year, instead of requesting it be back in the budget, the volunteers had a sizable donation, that was right around the cost of the shower stalls to be dropped in. So, I approached the volunteers and said ‘Hey, this would be a great project to put that money towards,’ and they agreed.”

Myers said he “talked to Chuck yesterday. He wanted a building permit. That’s really not my lane, that’s the contractor’s lane. We talked about that yesterday — we’ll make a path to get healthy.”

Trustee Jon Espersen asked LaBarbera, “Has the contractor contacted you?

“No, not at all…. It’s not just the contractor,” LaBarbera responded. “The fire department should have known better. You’ve got code officials who are in the volunteer fire company who should have known that a permit is needed.”

The code officer complained, “Now I’ve got to issue a permit with closed-in walls. That means I have to compromise my license to say ‘Yes, this meets code’. It’s very, very frustrating.”

He continued: “The fire company does whatever the fire company wants. It’s no reflection on Josh, it’s been going on for years. But they don’t come to us. They think they’re a government body, they can do whatever they want. No, they’re wrong! The only one that doesn’t need a permit in this village is the post office, because it’s a federal building. Every other building in this village needs a building permit. And when you do stuff after the fact, it’s very frustrating.”

“It’s a very simple project,” said Myers.

“It seems simple, but there are still requirements that need to be met,” Espersen replied. “My opinion would be, until those permits are issued, there should be no work going forward.”

LaBarbera brought up handicapped accessibility concerns. “You could have disabled firefighters who need to use those showers — are there grab bars and things like that? I am a disabled person. I was a fireman for many years. There are disabled firemen out there. I was an active fireman, I fought fires and everything.”

Myers continued to defend his department.

“You needed a permit!” LaBarbera declared. “I don’t want to argue the point with you, you needed a permit, bottom line.”

Myers wondered if every single building project by a government entity in the community has to get a permit. LaBarbera responded that if the code office knows about them, they do.

Mayor Michael Ferguson concluded the discussion: “We do want to thank the volunteers for funding that, but everyone has to follow the rules and regulations from that standpoint.”