At the September 16th council meeting, the Stanley City Council approved ordinance 2024-019 to amend 5-2-1 and 5-2-2 Fire Protection Code to take out the word “volunteer” and to add “EMS” in addition to fire department. A list of officers was added to include Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, Fire Captain, EMS Captain, Health & Safety Officer, Lieutenant, EMS Director and Assistant EMS Director. A portion of the ordinance speaking of the Fire Chief was removed that stated, “Such Fire Chief shall immediately assume office and shall hold office until removed for cause by the Common Council, resignation or death, or the Fire Chief is no longer a resident of the City of Stanley.” The next portion revised stated, “The Assistant Fire Chief shall be appointed by the Fire Chief from the members of the Department and shall serve in such capacity until removed by the Fire Chief (with or without cause), resignation or death, or the Assistant Fire Chief is no longer a resident of the City of Stanley.” It now states, “The Fire Chief and all members of the Fire & EMS Department shall live within 15 miles of the City of Stanley.”
Another portion removed states, “The Secretary Treasurer shall be appointed and confirmed by the member of the Fire Department.” It was replaced with, “A committee consisting of the Fire Chief, Council President, Personnel Chair, and Mayor shall appoint officers to be confirmed by Common Council. This committee shall be named Fire Committee.” Another portion removed stated, “No member of the Fire Department shall be eligible for the office of Fire Chief or Assistant Fire Chief whose entire time, both day and night, is not ordinarily spent within the City of Stanley, and who has not been a member of the Fire Department for at least five (5) years.” It was replaced with, “The Fire Committee shall recommend department by-laws for approval by the Common Council.”
Mayor Mike Henke explained the changes, “In our old ordinance, we had in there, ‘volunteer’. We can’t really call them volunteer if we pay them.” Henke further explained that the previous ordinance required the Stanley Fire Chief to live within city limits. However, on June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in a court case that a fire chief could reside outside those limits.
“The most restrictive you can be, they have to be living within fifteen miles of the government unit,” said Henke. “Our ordinance before was unenforceable,” he mentioned that they put “within fifteen miles” in the revised ordinance.
Henke also explained that a short-term fire committee was wanted to recommend officers to the Council to be hired to the fire department and to create bylaws to bring back to the Council for review, bylaws that Henke said should have been created a long time ago. The Council’s vote created the Fire Committee comprised of Mayor Henke, City Administrator Nicole Pilgrim, Alderperson Mark Fitzsimmons, Alderperson Josh Seidl and Interim Stanley Fire Chief Ron Patten.
Alderperson Jason Meyer enquired if the Council was planning to recruit all new officers for the fire department.
“No, no, not at all,” said Henke.
“In the future, I would like there to be some requirements to be considered an officer,” stated Meyer. He emphasized that being an officer requires more than just being a skilled firefighter; it also demands strong leadership and management abilities.
Henke restated that along with the officers, the fire committee would create bylaws and bring it before the Council for approval.
The Council then approved Ordinance 2024-020 to repeal 5-2-9 Authorization to maintain Volunteer Fire Department funds.
“In the Ordinance it had in there that the fire department had a separate checkbook and that’s been non-existent for fifteen years,” said Henke. He stated that all the funds are run through city hall. “It hasn’t been followed for that long, it shouldn’t be in there,” he confirmed.
A meeting of the new Fire Committee Monday Sept. 23 adjourned with interviews made but no action taken. The Council next meets Monday, Oct. 7.

In other news
The Council approved a contract with CBS Squared for professional services for the Maple Street Force Main project at a cost of $352,646. The engineering service would be for W. Maple Street from west of Urquhart Road to S. McKnight Street, and for S. McKnight Street from W. Maple Street to Church St. The project includes sanitary gravity main and services, sanitary force main, water main and services, and design of street. Henke said that the project would likely be completed in 2026.
The Council voted to approve software services with BS&A Software for City operations for 2025 at an annual cost of $17,520.00 with one-time fees of up to $100,000.
City Administrator Nicole Pilgrim explained that this new software for the City is the cheapest and “would allow everything to be done on the cloud.”
She mentioned that the software allows invoices and payroll to be completed online.
“It’s one of those things where you kind of have to keep up,” Alderperson Jacob Huff commented.
Alderperson Laurie Foster asked if this company “would keep up with everything.”
Pilgrim mentioned that the software will also include an area for community engagement where the community can comment on items they feel need to be fixed or addressed.
“So, you can record potholes online?” asked Alderperson Jason Meyer.
“Yes, you can,” Pilgrim confirmed.
“Oh, that will be nice,” said Alderperson Aaron Dickson.
“Just wait until you see what’s going to be complained about,” said Huff.
“Everything,” answered Dickson.
Pilgrim confirmed that the software will be set up for next year.
New Hires
The Council hired Don Goettl for consulting services for Department of Natural Resource reporting at $75 per hour for a total of $337.50.
Jeriame Czubakowski was hired in the Water Department at a wage of $23.50 per hour, while Terry Oemig was hired to work as needed in the City’s Public Works Department, also at a wage of $23.50.