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Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine receives a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from family planning nurse Linda Vieira at the Community Health Services building in Aspen on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine has been put on notice by the district board that he needs to improve his relationships with other local public safety agencies by June, when his contract likely will come up for renewal.
The Aspen Fire Protection District Board is putting Balentine on a six-month employment contract rather than an annual one-year or multi-year deal he has had since becoming chief in 2014. He had two consecutive three-year contracts and then a one-year deal, which expired Dec. 31.