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Colo. fire board delays final decision on Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach’s termination

After two hours behind closed doors, the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority board delayed a final decision on Chief Sendelbach, who has been on paid leave since Jan. 28.

Tim Sendelbach

By Sharla Steinman
Loveland Reporter-Herald

LOVELAND, Colo. — The Loveland Fire Rescue Authority board postponed their final decision on Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach’s termination to next week.

After two hours in a closed executive session with legal staff Thursday, the board unanimously passed a motion to postpone and continue their meeting to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 19.

“I know everybody is waiting for us to make a decision here, but there is a lot of information and not enough time,” Chairman Jeff Swanty said during the meeting.

The agenda for Thursday’s meeting, which included a single item to discuss and consider final action on the fire chief matter, was amended at the beginning of the meeting to include a closed executive session that ended up lasting nearly two hours.

In a special meeting Wednesday, City Council member Andrea Samson, who also serves on the LFRA board, made a unanimous motion for the personnel committee, composed of Swanty and City Manager Jim Thompson, also on the LFRA board, to work with legal counsel to prepare a final decision terminating the fire chief’s employment with LFRA.

The board will once again meet virtually next Thursday to continue their discussion on terminating the fire chief, who has been on paid administrative leave since Jan. 28.

The agenda and a link to next week’s meeting should be posted on the LFRA website at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, https://lfra.org/AgendaCenter/LFRA-Board-2.

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