Medina FD promotes 2 to lieutenant; Fire chief to retire April 30
Photos by Tom Rivers: Medina Fire Chief Tom Lupo, right, pins the lieutenant badge on Michael Young during the Village Board meeting this evening. Steve Cooley, left, also was promoted to lieutenant.
Steve Cooley shakes hands with Fire Chief Tom Lupo after the chief pinned the lieutenant’s badge on Cooley. Lupo will be retiring as fire chief on April 30.
MEDINA – The Village Board promoted to veteran firefighters to lieutenants during this evening’s Village Board meeting. Michael Young and Steve Cooley both are moving up in the ranks.
Young has worked for the Fire Department for 12 years while Cooley has been with Medina for nine years. They will work opposite shifts helping to lead the department.
Both were praised for their dedication and skills they bring to the department by Fire Chief Tom Lupo.
The fire chief also submitted a letter notifying the board of his intention to retire on April 30. Lupo has been working as fire chief since March 28, 2016. He stepped in the position in a part-time role for up to 30 hours a week while he was also the assistant chief at the Lockport Fire Department.
Lupo was brought in to provide leadership to the department on a short-term basis. The village will replace him with a full-time chief and Medina wants to have the successor ready before Lupo leaves on April 30, Mayor Michael Sidari said.
The position will be posted through Civil Service.
The mayor said Lupo has been a hard-worker who has made a big impact at the Fire Department.
“Thank you for what you’ve done for us, the department and the village,” Sidari told Lupo at the meeting, where the board accepted his resignation “with our sincere regrets.”
Lupo told the board he appreciated the chance to serve the department as fire chief.
“The opportunity that the Village Board gave me to lead the Medina Fire Department as Chief has been one of the best experiences of my professional career,” Lupo wrote in a Jan. 14 letter to Mayor Sidari. “The experience I have gained from working for the Village has been wonderful. I could not ask for a better place of employment. The village as a whole is absolutely beautiful. The whole area seems to be on an upward arc. I hope in some small way, I helped in the resurgence.”
“It is truly refreshing to see a governing body that cares about its workforce and places a high value on team work and respect,” Lupo continued in his letter. “The esprit de corps among the village workforce is great to see. I feel the fire department will function as well under the current cadre of officers as it has during my tenure.”
