Fire commission members at the center of PPP fund controversy skip meeting to discuss its fate

In a special meeting Thursday, members of the Blue Hills Fire Commission discussed repaying a $120,000 federal payroll protection loan instead of applying for loan forgiveness.

“Personally, I think we should return the money to the federal government,” said Commissioner Michelle Adams. “We were not in distress, records show the money was there and we didn’t need it.”

However, action on the issue was put off until the fire commission’s regular meeting on Wednesday due to the absence of Commissioner Ariel Marzouca-Jaunai and the taxing district’s finance director Errol Bartley.

“We’re going to postpone action on what we know, but there should not be an application for forgiveness,” Adams said. “Let’s give the finance director a chance to make his report next week.”

The loan and Bartley’s decision to apply for it without a vote by the commission, and despite the fire district having more than $800,000 in the bank for payroll and operations, has become a source of controversy.

Questions have also been raised about the application itself, which listed the federal tax identification number, known as an EIN, of the Blue Hills Volunteer Fire Department instead of the Blue Hills Fire District. The volunteer fire department, a nonprofit, has no employees.

The fire district has eight full-time employees, listed on the application, along with about two dozen volunteers, who receive stipends based on the number of calls they respond to.

Payroll protection loans were aimed at protecting jobs by helping businesses continue to make payroll during the pandemic.

There is also some question of whether the fire district, as a taxing entity, was eligible to apply for the loan. Taxing entities were not on the list of the US Small Business Association’s eligible organizations, but nonprofits were.

Bartley has defended his actions, saying that the volunteer fire department’s EIN is the one he uses for district business, though several district payroll tax documents shows the use of the the proper tax district EIN.

Marzouca-Jaunai, who voted to give district employees, including her husband, an extra week’s pay with the loan, has defended Bartley’s actions, saying he was doing what he thought was best for the fire district.

The fire commission’s regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. March 3.

Steven Goode can be reached at sgoode@courant.com.