Cumberland Times News
MCCOOLE, Md. — A former volunteer fire station and 1.88 acres of surrounding land has been sold to a local businessman for $150,000, according to state records.
Roy F. Droll Jr., as a trustee, is listed as the owner of the property, which was sold Oct. 27. Droll owns D&D Homes in Barton and other business enterprises in Allegany County. The building will be used to repair and detail cars for resale on his lots, Droll said.
“We’ve been fortunate ... we’ve been in business for 31 years and growing,” Droll said.
The Times—News was not able to confirm the apparent sale of the department’s bingo hall and the remainder of the 9-acre property to another individual.
The Marquette Bank of Chicago sold the fire station property to Droll. The same bank is listed as the seller for property at 34935 Crooks Ave. to Robert J. Spangler of Cumberland on Aug. 14 for $85,000. The building sold to Spangler is listed as having 5,320 square feet.
The full 9-acre property failed to get a bid on the starting price of $350,000 at a June auction.
The buildings were being sold after foreclosure. The financial collapse of the McCoole fire department resulted in the department being closed in April 2013 by officials with the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services. The demise of the once solvent fire company resulted in debts of around $900,000, fire trucks and equipment being sold off, and the land and fire station in foreclosure. The enclosed area of the station is 5,800 square feet.
The department was an independent corporation and was not owned or controlled by the county. The county is undertaking a study to obtain recommendations for better accounting practices for volunteer fire departments. The $16,000 study, now underway, was sought after several local departments ran into financial trouble.
Some of the troubles involved financial mismanagement and at least two involved criminal misconduct by individuals who were at the time department officers.
Some departments already have formal audits, but most can’t afford to have audits prepared, county officials said.
The study, which is being conducted by Turnbull, Hoover &?Kahl of Cumberland, a certified public accounting firm, is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
The request for bids outlined the requirements of the study “to be performed of the 26 volunteer fire and emergency medical services departments and one auxiliary unit in Allegany County. The study should also include the Allegany and Garrett County Fire and Rescue Association. The study should include a review of existing account procedures utilized in the different organizations. The study should then make recommendations on improvements and standardizations ... to provide a greater accountability of funds within each organization.”
A critical part of the study will be the recommendations, which the request for proposals said should include a set of generally accepted accounting practices to be implemented in all fire and emergency medical services organizations in Allegany County; a common software platform that may be adopted to computerize the accounting process; training in financial accounting practices; and methods to identify fraud and theft in an organization.
The Baltimore Pike, McCoole and Clarysville volunteer fire departments ran into serious financial troubles over the past two years. At Baltimore Pike, embezzlement by two then-members of the department helped cause financial problems for that organization.
McCoole and Clarysville departments were ultimately taken out of service by the county Department of Emergency Services.
Tri-Towns Emergency Medical Services officials had expressed interest in acquiring the site of the former McCoole fire department to set up a satellite ambulance station for use in that portion of Allegany County.
An investigation of the situation and finances of the McCoole department by law enforcement has not brought any charges.
Copyright 2014 Cumberland Times News
All Rights Reserved