SALISBURY, Md. - The city of Salisbury has won a momentous victory in its years long saga with the former Salisbury Independent Fire Company.
Wicomico County Circuit Judge Paul Bowman ruled Company 1 must repay the city $324, 742.88 and the Salisbury Fire Department $27, 305.13. Judge Bowman says the firefighters used money to pay for legal fees, rent and equipment after separating from the city fire department.
"Do they have that cash on hand? No they do not," says Salisbury city council vice president Muir Boda (R, 2), "they expended a lot of money on trying to get a building. They bought some equipment and they had a lot of legal fees."
In terms of legal fees, Company 1 owes a local law firm around $59,000; bringing the total owed to over $410,000. WBOC attempted to contact the fire company through their lawyer, Bruce Bright, but neither were available for comment.
Council Vice President Boda says the money Company 1 spent was not their money to begin with. "The issue, our concern is that it was public funds. More than anything. It wasn't anything they had made through bingo or chicken sales. This was money apportioned to them to serve a fire district that they failed to do."
Company 1 broke away from the Salisbury Fire Department's Station 1 in 2017 with intentions to serve a part of Wicomico County.
Lawsuits and counter-suits were filed and now Company 1 finds itself in a deep hole.
