By Sophia Gonzalez
Staff Writer
Posted March 6, 2:55 p.m.

Cresskill | After an ex-volunteer firefighter embroiled the town in a lawsuit, Borough officials now want out of Fire Department personnel matters.

The Borough Council deleted from a local law a clause that requires the governing body to approve the suspension or expulsion of any Fire Department member.

Mayor Benedict Romeo said that in the past the council has had final say in Fire Department disciplinary matters, causing "quite a controversy and a stir."

Such was the case with ex-volunteer firefighter Kevin Peter and his wife Linda.

Peter and his wife eventually included the Borough along with Romeo and ex-Fire Chief Glenn Petillo in a three-week long trial at the state Superior Court last fall. The lawsuit ended in a stalemate on Oct. 15, 2007.

The Peters claimed the ex-firefighter was suspended in 2004 for disobeying an unusual order. Petillo had told Peter that his wife, then fiancée, could not stay with Peter in his hotel room at a fireman’s convention in Wildwood.

The reason for the order was because Peter’s wife, accused of serving alcohol to underage firefighters, was reportedly banned from all Fire Department functions.

"After that incident and in checking with other towns, we’ve left it with them to police their own membership," said Romeo.