Alice Pickering
Wyoming Area Reporter

Settlement terms have been reached between the city of Wyoming and former Chief of Police Anthony Pangal.

A check for $10,000 to Pangal from the city and payment of all legal fees ends the formal association. Terms and other details of the agreement were made public after the last council meeting in June.

The check settles any claims and charges by Pangal about unpaid wages, attorney fees and other costs. Under the agreement, Pangal withdraws any claim for unemployment and releases all claims of any kind, now and in the future, about anything related to recruitment, employment, or separation from employment.

He submitted a written release to that effect.

In the cityís part of the deal, it agrees to ìwaive its objection to Pangalís right to a Veterans Preference Hearing, and to reinstate him to his position. The city accepts Pangalís resignation, effective immediately. The circumstances leading up to Pangalís resignation had nothing to do with his competency as a police officer or his work performance.î

There is a non-admission portion to the agreement. It says that the agreement is not intended to be an admission of liability by either party.

Pangal may submit a letter of disagreement to the content of his personnel file which can be released to anyone making a proper request to view it and with his authorization.

Under the agreement, neither party is to make false statements about each other. The city covers all the cost of the mediation.

Pangal history

Pangalís appointment to the department was approved by the city council Feb. 17, 2004. His contract with the city was approved and he was sworn in March 15, 2004.

In October 2005 he was placed on administrative leave so that complaints against the chief could be investigated.

Pangal was dismissed January 17 of this year.

An independent investigation determined that he had a pattern of poorly organized paperwork, failed to follow departmental procedures regarding the sale of forfeit property, and had dismissed two traffic citations, ìwithout sufficient cause,î and without consulting the officers who wrote the citations.

Radio purchase

The city council has approved the purchase of a MCS200 Motorola mobile radio for Wyoming Ladder One. According to Fire Chief Dennis Berry, the Emerson radio has become unreliable and its problems have not been corrected by service calls.

Motorola is the same type as those installed in all the other units, all the firefighters know how to use it, and communication would be improved, Berry said.

The price for the radio is $2141, with installation to run between $450 and $650. Only one bid was available because the model is no longer being built. The model replacing it has many different features and firefighters would have operating challenges.

From experience with the radios in the other trucks, Berry believes it will be dependable and provide service to the department for at least 10 years.

Council member Joe Zerwas asked if in-house installation would affect the warranty on the radio.

Because of the wiring which must be connected, Berry said he would prefer to have the radio installed. CM Ted Phillips made a motion to approve the purchase of the radio but to have it installed in-house; cost is not to exceed $2791.

A bid of $2500 has been accepted for the Wyoming fire truck, ìEngine 21.î Proceeds from the sale of the truck would be applied to the purchase of the radio.

Other business

In other business, the council:

ïApproved a peddlerís license for Power Fireworks, Inc., a Plymouth company, permitting it to sell fireworks at the Wyoming Citgo gas station.

ïApproved the Maintenance Agreement between the city of Wyoming and Green View, Inc. from May 1 through December 31, 2006 to assist with park maintenance, at a cost not to exceed $12.25 per hour.

ïApproved planning commission meeting minutes of June 5.

ïApproved the building inspectorís report for June 15.

ïApproved reports from City Attorney, Tom Miller, City Engineer, Mark Erichson, the fire department and acting Police Chief Scott Dexter.

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