by April Scheinoha
Reporter
The Thief River Falls City Council made it official at its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 17. Rick Beier, who had been serving as interim fire chief, is now officially the fire chief.
Beier was appointed to serve as the interim full-time fire chief in November. In his new, official capacity, he will be paid an annual salary of $102,984.96 and continue in the firefighter rotation schedule. The position is a part of the Management, Administrative, Professional and Supervisory employees union. His shift performance will be reviewed in six months.
The decision came about eight months after Co-Fire Chief Marty Semanko announced his intention to retire Sept. 2. After speaking with the firefighters and weighing its options, the council approved continuing with the co-fire chief system in July. Mark Bieganek was appointed co-fire chief and served in that capacity for six days before resigning Sept. 8. Beier, who had been co-fire chief since 2016, announced his intentions to resign effective Sept. 26. With Beier’s resignation imminent, the council approved seeking a sole fire chief and filling the job opening Sept. 20.
On Oct. 18, the council unanimously tabled the acceptance of applications for a sole fire chief and moved the matter back to the Public Safety/Liquor Committee for further discussion. Eight days later, during a special Public Safety/Liquor Committee meeting, two committee members verbally reprimanded the firefighters for their indecisiveness regarding the position and the lack of information that the fire department provided to the committee when it was considering its recommendation. At that time, the firefighters provided a petition to the committee seeking Beier’s appointment as sole fire chief. The petition was signed by the majority of Thief River Falls firefighters in the combination full-time and volunteer department.
The council approved hiring Derek Neisen as a full-time firefighter. Contingent on pre-employment requirements, Neisen will fill the firefighter position vacated by Semanko. The council approved filling the position Dec. 20. Neisen has served as a volunteer Thief River Falls firefighter for about five years.
City Council approved a step change for Deputy Police Chief Mike Roff. Upon reviewing Roff’s promotion Oct. 29, it was determined that his wage should move two steps from Step 1 to Step 3 of Grade 9. He had been paid $37.40 per hour and will now be paid $40.55 per hour. Roff will receive the 2% cost-of-living adjustment for 2023, which was effective Jan. 1. In addition, he will receive retro pay going back to Oct. 29.