By Sharla Steinman
Loveland Reporter-Herald
LOVELAND, Colo. — A rural district resident announced Wednesday that she and other concerned residents have started the recall process for some directors on the Loveland Rural Fire Protection Board.
During the Loveland Rural Fire Protection District’s board meeting Wednesday at the Loveland Public Library, 300 N. Adams Ave., directors discussed the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority’s 2027 budget goals and heard Loveland residents share their thoughts on the termination process for Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach during public comment, including rural district resident Tracey Powell, who shared about the recall.
| EARLIER: Colo. fire board delays final decision on Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach’s termination
The Loveland Rural Fire Protection District, which is governed by five elected directors, is a special district that is served by the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority and is not the board that placed Sendelbach on paid administrative leave Jan. 28 . LFRA is governed by the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Board, but two members that serve on the rural board, Chairman Paul Bukowski and Director Jeff Swanty, also serve on the LFRA board.
Over the last seven weeks, the LFRA board has held several special meetings to discuss Sendelbach’s termination with each other, legal staff and Sendelbach. The board is scheduled to make a final decision Thursday at 1 p.m.
At the beginning of the rural board meeting, District Manager Dominique Devaney made a few announcements to the board and the public regarding their website and recent tax issues.
She said the rural board launched a new website that will now be their designated posting location. Devaney also cleared the air on a Larimer County tax mistake that incorrectly added properties in the 2025 inclusion election into 2025 tax statements.
“I did talk to probably half a dozen residents that were very upset, understandably, and I explained that we were working on a solution,” Devaney said, adding that everything has since been resolved and that the county’s assessor office was easy to work with and quick.
Acting Fire Chief Greg Ward presented the rural board with a similar budget presentation that he presented to the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Board during their meeting last month.
LFRA’s budget goals surround the organization’s 5 R’s: response, readiness, resources, relationships and resiliency, Ward said during the meeting. Some of LFRA’s focus areas were figuring out how to manage workloads for battalion chiefs, funding for new apparatuses and station fixes, whether the Office of Emergency Management should be with the fire department or the city, and improving employee compensation rates.
During public comment, most community members said they were disappointed in the LFRA board’s decision to continue Sendelbach’s termination process, but some said they respected it.
Former City Council member Dana Foley said three members who previously sat on the LFRA board, which he didn’t name, were “asleep at the wheel” and didn’t address issues the board mentioned in their “just cause” notice to Sendelbach when they first arose.
“We would not be worried and talking about firing the fire chief if I was on that board in 2023 because we would have addressed the issues that they are having,” Foley said during public comment.
Foley also said that he believes the board has Loveland’s best interest at heart, and recommended that attendees not “just throw in the boards under the bus.”
“What I can also tell you is, during executive sessions, board members have information you don’t,” Foley said.
Rural district resident Tracey Powell announced during public comment that she and other concerned constituents have begun the process of recalling Bukowski, Swanty, and Director Tom Chesney.
“Papers are being prepared that should tell you how serious this is,” Powell said. “Each of you have a choice. Step up, correct the course, and build trust with us. Allow this situation to continue and face the consequences of the bailout.”
Local 3566 union member Jeremy Bell said he was concerned the board’s actions could lead to dissolution of the LFRA.
“Without a strong fire chief, the narrative becomes dangerously simple that the rural district is the obstacle,” Bell said. “All it takes is notice, asset division and a return to the city fire department … The rural district is left covering more than 200 square miles ….”
Rural district resident George Shell advised the board to host a town hall meeting to talk to the public, not necessarily about the fire chief, but to hear their general concerns.
“When you’re governing people have no confidence in you, ‘Wow, what do you do?’” Shell said. “You better get out there and talk to them yourself.”
The next Loveland Rural Fire Protection Board meeting is at 3 p.m. April 8, according to its website.
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