FREDERICKTOWN – After over a year of debate, including heated public meetings and consistently close votes, the Fredericktown Community Fire District’s Board of Trustees voted 4-2 in favor of hiring two paid, daytime firefighters during its meeting on June 13.
“This is a huge relief to me and to my firefighters,” fire chief Scott Mast said. “You know, we’ve all been pushing for this, working hard for this, trying to educate and talk to people about this, and it’s really taken all of our focus.
“It’s just a great gift that the board just gave our community and the surrounding communities where we run mutual aid. I mean, everybody relies on everybody these days, and having a reliable department during the day is great for our community and the surrounding communities. It’s a win-win across the board.”
The Fredericktown Community Fire District is comprised of volunteer firefighters, but recent years have seen a decline in the number of volunteers and the availability of the firefighters during the daytime hours. The amount of runs per year has increased steadily as well, as the district went on 259 runs in 2017.
This raised the issue of whether or not the district needed paid, daytime firefighters, an idea that was brought forth by Mast. The board has spent the last year educating itself and the public on the issue, gaining understanding on what it would mean for the district financially and how it might affect the district long-term.
The board seemed to gain ground during its May 9 meeting when it dug deeper into the financial logistics of such a hire. What seemed to sway the board on Wednesday, however, was a proposal brought forth by Fredericktown trustee Doug Turpen – who had previously opposed the idea in the board’s last vote (April 10).
In the proposal, the two daytime firefighters would be paid $14 per hour and would work 37 hours per week. There would be $1,800 set aside for uniform costs as well. Paying both firefighters would ultimately cost the department $72,000 per year, which fiscal officer Sandy Casto has said is well within the department’s budget.
The main attraction to this plan, though, was that Turpen introduced the idea of a $430,000 cap, which he calculated was the average amount in carryover funds that the district has had each year for the past five years. Turpen said the department would need to hold that average, even while paying the firefighters, or else they should abandon the idea (getting rid of the paid firefighters) or institute a replacement levee (to keep them).
By introducing this cap, Mast said the majority of the board was able to feel “a comfort level” with the idea.
Some trustees had questions, though. Newly appointed Middlebury Toendhip trustee Alan Albright asked about what might happen if a financial catastrophe occurs – such as a fire truck getting damaged – and the district is left short of money.
Mast responded by noting that insurance would cover any catastrophe that might happen to one of the trucks, and that he believes the trucks will last “10-15 more years” before needing to be replaced.
Albright then asked, “What if the levy doesn’t pass?”
Before getting to the crux of Wednesday’s meeting, which was the paid firefighter issue, the board agreed to keep their renewal levy on November’s ballot, which brings in $144,000 per year. The district has not asked for a public increase in funding in 18 years, operating with funds from two, one-mill real estate tax levies.
Mast responded to Albright’s question by saying the levy typically passes with flying colors – usually 70 or 80 percent of voters are for it – so it shouldn’t be an issue.
When the issue came up Wednesday, those who voted ‘yay’ were Turpen, fire board chair and Berlin Township trustee Gary Alverson, Wayne Township trustee Richard Yarman and Pike Township trustee John Crunkilton. Those who voted ‘nay’ were Albright and Morris Township trustee Dick Kershner.
In what was a tensely quiet meeting for the first hour, it seemed as if both the board and the public audience – which sat three rows deep in the back of the station’s meeting room – let out a collective sigh of relief following the vote.
“This has been a long time coming,” Alverson said with a smile.
The public audience then burst into applause, with one attendee shouting, ‘Thank you, Doug!’ to the man responsible for the breakthrough proposal.
Mast does not believe that Albright or Kershner, who voted against the proposal, will seek a rebuttal. He said that he did not know why they voted ‘nay.’
“Mr. Albright, this was his first meeting, so he was kind of thrown into the fire on this. I can understand him not being fully educated and up to speed, and probably not comfortable enough to say yes,” Mast said. “Mr. Kershner, he’s been a no-vote from the beginning and I don’t clearly know why. But it’s democracy.”
Kershner could not be reached for comment following Wednesday’s meeting, but he did say after the board’s April vote that his reason for opposition “was for the taxpayers.”
“The increases in taxes down the road that could possibly happen … My argument was there are a lot of people in this area that are on fixed incomes, people who are just getting by,” Kershner said. “Not everybody is fortunate.”
The new plan will take effect on Aug. 1, which will also be the date of the board’s next meeting (starting at 7 p.m.). The hirings of the two paid, daytime firefighters will be announced at that time.
