MONROE - After nearly an hour of closed-session discussion involving Monroe Fire Chief Dan Smits and Police Chief Fred Kelley, the Monroe Common Council agreed to a separation agreement with Deputy Fire Chief Lane Heins Feb. 21.
Heins was placed on paid administrative leave Aug. 31 in connection to an undisclosed personnel issue, which led to the six-month investigation by Madison-based law firm Boardman and Clark LLP. A consent agenda approved by council members Feb. 21 referenced an invoice dated Feb. 2 to Boardman and Clark for "Heins Investigation" at a cost of more than $27,000.
City Administrator Phil Rath issued a statement Friday that Heins asked to leave his employment with the city. Heins' attorney Katy Lounsbury of Ehlke, Bero-Lehmann and Lounsbury S.C. confirmed Rath's statement in an email.
A copy of the separation agreement indicates Heins signed it Feb. 19. The terms of the severance agreement include a taxable payment of $7,500 to Heins and monetary compensation for any unused paid vacation per city policy. His position as deputy chief and assistant emergency management director held an annual salary of just over $70,000.
By signing the agreement, Heins "knowingly and voluntarily" cut ties with the city and any of its related departments or groups. The agreement also specifies Heins cannot be hired for any position with the city in the future.
The deputy chief has been a member of the Monroe Fire Department for over a decade after moving from the Platteville Fire Department. He served as the direct subordinate to former chief Daryl Rausch until April 2016, when Rausch was hired as chief of the Fort Atkinson Fire Department. Upon his departure, Rausch recommended Heins to fill the role and said Heins was "an excellent candidate."
Rausch declined to comment on the investigation and referred all questions to the city.
Heins was put in place as interim fire chief while the city Board of Police and Fire Commissioners considered candidates for the chief position.
The board narrowed down prospective hires to two candidates by mid-December of that year, Smits and Heins. That is when 10 firefighters signed a letter asking the board to reject Heins as fire chief because of what they alleged was a misuse of department equipment, vehicles and office space, as well as negative treatment of employees.
In December 2016, Heins had also been cited for disorderly conduct after creating a disturbance by entering a duplex within the 3000 block of 16th Street in October of that year. Following an investigation by the Brodhead Police Department, Heins agreed to pay a fine for the incident.
Lounsbury issued a statement on behalf of her client that Heins' "first concern has always been, and continues to be, the good of the Fire Department" and that he "tendered his resignation and intends to move on with his career."
Heins was placed on paid administrative leave Aug. 31 in connection to an undisclosed personnel issue, which led to the six-month investigation by Madison-based law firm Boardman and Clark LLP. A consent agenda approved by council members Feb. 21 referenced an invoice dated Feb. 2 to Boardman and Clark for "Heins Investigation" at a cost of more than $27,000.
City Administrator Phil Rath issued a statement Friday that Heins asked to leave his employment with the city. Heins' attorney Katy Lounsbury of Ehlke, Bero-Lehmann and Lounsbury S.C. confirmed Rath's statement in an email.
A copy of the separation agreement indicates Heins signed it Feb. 19. The terms of the severance agreement include a taxable payment of $7,500 to Heins and monetary compensation for any unused paid vacation per city policy. His position as deputy chief and assistant emergency management director held an annual salary of just over $70,000.
By signing the agreement, Heins "knowingly and voluntarily" cut ties with the city and any of its related departments or groups. The agreement also specifies Heins cannot be hired for any position with the city in the future.
The deputy chief has been a member of the Monroe Fire Department for over a decade after moving from the Platteville Fire Department. He served as the direct subordinate to former chief Daryl Rausch until April 2016, when Rausch was hired as chief of the Fort Atkinson Fire Department. Upon his departure, Rausch recommended Heins to fill the role and said Heins was "an excellent candidate."
Rausch declined to comment on the investigation and referred all questions to the city.
Heins was put in place as interim fire chief while the city Board of Police and Fire Commissioners considered candidates for the chief position.
The board narrowed down prospective hires to two candidates by mid-December of that year, Smits and Heins. That is when 10 firefighters signed a letter asking the board to reject Heins as fire chief because of what they alleged was a misuse of department equipment, vehicles and office space, as well as negative treatment of employees.
In December 2016, Heins had also been cited for disorderly conduct after creating a disturbance by entering a duplex within the 3000 block of 16th Street in October of that year. Following an investigation by the Brodhead Police Department, Heins agreed to pay a fine for the incident.
Lounsbury issued a statement on behalf of her client that Heins' "first concern has always been, and continues to be, the good of the Fire Department" and that he "tendered his resignation and intends to move on with his career."