James L. Golden III has been hired as Pell City’s new fire chief.

Golden’s appointment came Monday on a 4-2 vote by the city council, with Councilmen Greg Gossett and James McGowan dissenting.  

“I’m sure we’ll all come together and support him as he leads the department,” Mayor Bill Hereford said after the vote.  It remained uncertain Wednesday when Golden will begin work at PCFD.

Currently a training officer with the Alabaster Fire and Rescue Service and an instructor for the Alabama Fire College, Golden has been a firefighter since 1994.

The Maylene resident holds an A.A. degree in fire service from Jefferson State Community College and a B.S. degree in public safety and health administration from Athens State University and is pursuing a master’s degree in fire and emergency management administration from Oklahoma State University.

“As a native of Pell City, this is a special opportunity for me,” Golden said.  “The prospect of returning to my home and giving back to the community I was raised in fills me with happiness and pride.”

The vote to hire Golden immediately followed the council’s decision not to hire interim chief Jim Parsons, who has had oversight of Pell City’s fire department for the past year.  

Gossett recommended that Parsons remain permanently as chief, and McGowan seconded his motion, but it received no support from other council members and the mayor.  

“If I had been with a place 24 years, it would make me sad to know that I’d given my life to it and was qualified but overlooked,” McGowan said.  “I feel bad for anybody who has worked hard but doesn’t get to see it pay off.”

Parsons, who was not interviewed for the fire chief’s job, does not currently have a bachelor’s degree, which the job description calls for.  He has told city officials that he expects to complete requirements for a degree by the end of the year.  

“I know I just voted against hiring him, but I want to thank Jim for the excellent job he did running the department since Chief (Mike) Sewell left,” Councilman Donnie Todd said.

Floyd Wilks, Trussville, and Jeffrey Monroe, Five Points, were also interviewed as prospective chiefs.  Gossett indicated that he opposed hiring Golden because he does not have five years of service as a captain in a fire department.  The new chief served for two years as a captain with the Lee County Fire Protection Authority in Auburn.

The city’s official fire chief’s job description requires candidates to have firefighting and EMS certification and a four-year degree in fire science, public administration, business, or a related field and have served for five years or more at the rank of at least captain with a department having a minimum of 37 employees.

Prior to hiring Golden, the mayor and council agreed to consider at its next work session and meeting a request by Councilman Donnie Guinn that the city revoke a conditional zoning designation allowing the property at 202 Johnson Drive to be used for a group home.

“This situation has been going on for five months,” he said.  “The work being done at 202 Johnson Drive is a good thing, but with the removal of Recovery Journey, the conditional use as approved by the planning and zoning commission is no longer valid.”

The property is zoned for residential use, but Recovery Journey had received conditional approval to use the property, owned by local businessman Curtis Capps, as a group home providing court-directed rehabilitation services to recovering drug offenders.  Recovery Journey recently relinquished use of the property, which is now being used for a similar purpose by Grace Harbor, Inc.

“Grace Harbor is not licensed by the state Department of Mental Health, it is not 503c qualified, and it is not qualified to operate under the conditional use of the zoning ordinance,” Guinn said.

“You could go ahead and handle it tonight, Donnie,” Councilwoman Dot Wood said.

Guinn said he would prefer it be discussed at the next work session and voted on at the next council meeting “in fairness so that both parties can have opportunity to speak.”