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Members of the Oliver Volunteer Fire Department looted six kegs of beer (maybe more) from the fire damaged Mesa Hotel last month and afterwards drank two of them (500 glasses) at the Municipal Fire Hall. Oliver taxi service did not report any extra fares that night so, presumably all drove home. Mayor Hampson’s statement that “although the fire fighters paid the hotel owners for the beer” is as false as suggesting that Oliver’s Main street economic development is healthy.
Mayor Hampson and Council’s heads are obviously not in the town. The majority in town and rural knew that the beer was stolen / went missing the day of the fire May 23 or the next day. Mayor and Council did not know until Monday June 14 and only learned about it during their bi-weekly meeting feast, this time at the Fire Hall Bistro. It is not known if after their meeting Mayor and Council went for beers at the Fire Hall.
We look forward to the Mayor’s action regarding what he calls a “serious breach of discipline”.
Only the Mayor and a Fool would give regard by repeating the alternate asinine reasons given by the insider yes men for the beer removal so, we won’t.
For your information, on the way to save the beer the firemen had to walk past a 5 ft high 10” diameter 5000 psi nitrogen welding bottle, four big 2500 psi CO2 beverage dispenser tanks and two 25 lb propane tanks. All were full.
There were eight kegs for the taking , we wonder why they left two never mind the 4 tapped kegs in use.
We strongly suggest that the upcoming meeting between Council and the Fire Dept ought to be open to the public or a public independent person be allowed to listen. Forgive us, we know this is only common sense.
The decision to temporarily suspend 2 firemen for consuming beer taken from the Mesa is as ridiculous as downtown parking regulations and fly in the face of all common sense.
Either the 2 suspended firemen have a Herculean capacity to process beer or all the firefighters who drank are guilty.
The Mayor is a former Fire Chief and his allowing the Fire Department to internally spin the external public information campaign, and is unbecoming behaviour, amongst real Fire Fighters is considered just short of treason to the Fire Fighter’s Code.
So one must wonder what else was taken from the still standing strong building before the Town’s management gave the order to demolish the Mesa. We won’t have to wonder long about what else went missing from the rubble because the owner’s are working on the ever growing list.The feelings, predictions and opinions in and around town (something foreign to Council) is that the real, true and underlying reasons for the refusal to fight the fire from within, to rescue anything from within and then to unnecessarily raze the building crushing the very life from the owners, is so that the building would be destroyed by more than 75 % which it was not even close when the fire was out.
The management decision to tear down, effectively erases the grandfathered, non-conforming status of the Mesa forcing the owners to comply with the whims and wishes of Town Management.
This is the policy, which has been in effect since before the Collins Dept store burned that causes Councilor Jack Bennest to publicly wonder when his hole will be filled on Main Street.
In closing, for your information, the Fire and Town Management Departments yarn that the top floor of the Mesa was condemned is only for those so uninformed that they would believe that certain parts and not others of a building can be condemned.
The reality is that either an entire building is condemned or not. The mesa was not. As a matter of fact, the Mesa was in the completion upgrading and decorating stage and arguably soon to be Oliver’s only functioning Hotel.
Now that the nonconforming status, which virtually all other Main Street Buildings enjoy, has been decimated, Town Management, Mayor and Council can relax. They again have driven Oliver’s economic development out of town.
Don Kazakoff, Owner, Mesa Hotel
Mayor P. Hampson
Municipal Manager T. Szalay
C/O Town of Oliver
35016 97th St.
Oliver, B.C. Via Email to council@oliver.ca
Original to follow by mail
RE: THE “LOOTING” OF THE MESA HOTEL.
We acknowledge receipt of your June 15, 2010 communication and Thank you for the opportunity to correct Mayor Patrick Hampson’s and Municipal Manager, Tom Szalay’s, P.eng, assumptions / misinformation.
These are only some of the corrections. More to follow! :
1) six minimum,( as far as we know, not several) kegs taken
(2) two kegs were tapped (non saleable after that point) and totally consumed (500 glasses)
3) the remaining kegs under any normal business transaction would also be non returnable as improper care and custody would taint the beer.
4) we were informed three days later – not the following morning
5) the “ reimbursement cheque” is dated June 02, 2010 and delivered in the late afternoon June 03, 2010 some eleven days later from the fire of May 23rd.
6) The cheque was for the arbitrary wholesale price. When given the circumstance, the amount should have been for all the kegs taken, at retail plus an extra large tip
Retail value is actually six (kegs) x 250 (glasses) x $2.75 x 5.0% (gst) x 10% (liquor pst) + (Deposit of each keg of $50.00 + pst + gst) = $5,088.00 (a fraction OF THE real loss)
Each keg weighs (approximately) two hundred pounds.
What should have been removed?
Perhaps some chairs, as well as tables, artwork , computers, tvs, satellite receivers, clothing, liquor, wine, jewelry and money, which weigh nothing!
Oh’ yeah they, (the firefighters) did go in to save one bar chair because the “chief “ was tired and had nowhere comfortable to sit.
You ask; “What would assist us to an acceptable point of closure “? We answer:
1) Please tell us who made the decision to demolish our building after the fire was out and still standing strong?
2) Why was no attempt at (the early stages) fighting and beating down the fire from the inside. See http://sageauthoring.com/fdny/ft&p/ftpeng04.pfd
3) How is it nothing was saved from the first floor except for the chief’s chair, the beer kegs and Govt. lottery terminals?
4) Why the building and everything inside was crushed by two hydraulic crawlers instead of our personal and business items being saved and taken good care and custody of by (33) firefighters standing around.
5) We would like to know why three fire departments (Oliver, Ok Falls, Osoyoos) could not coordinate a real Firechief’s plan of attack?
6) How was the chief able to do a proper size up of the fire without putting on a fire fighting helmet/gear and going into the building?
(7) Even though the owner’s vehicle was parked in the Mesa Hotel parking lot, why was it no one bothered to investigate that anybody was still in the building?
We hereby put you on notice that there are many other items missing from the rubble. The Investigators are still in the process of itemizing missing property and we will advise.
With all due respect
Don Kazakoff Lisa Chalmers Mesa Hotel, Rumour Mill Bar & Grill, Crush Pad Bistro
VICTIMS OF CRIME
St. Paul--Ephesians 6:2
Allan Patton when asked about 'The Sawmill Road Swindle'
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A.A. Mendilow
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D.H. Lawrence
