Citizens oppose direction Council is taking city
Resolve over fire department issues has residents fuming
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
DAVID LOVLEY, a volunteer firefighter, questioned the reasoning behind proposed reductions in staffing at the Presque Isle Fire Department during Monday’s Council meeting.
PRESQUE ISLE — Citizens hoping to prevent reductions at the Presque Isle Fire Department gathered at City Hall to share their concerns with the City Council during Monday night’s meeting, only to have their comments go unheeded as councilors voted 5-1 in favor of a proposed resolution that — if it goes as planned — will reduce shifts from four members to three, limit firefighters’ ability to hold other jobs in their off hours and other restrictions. Councilor Don Gardner was the sole vote in opposition to the resolution.
Gardner began discussion by requesting the public hearing segment be moved after item 5 on the agenda — amendments to the budget and other items, including the resolve pertaining to the PIFD.
“This would allow the public to hear budget talk prior to making amendments,” Gardner said in making the motion for the change.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
RESIDENT PAM PALM said she opposed creating a deputy city manager position when firefighters were facing reductions in their department. Pictured from left are: Councilors Randy Smith and Mel Hovey, City Manager Jim Bennett and Palm.
Not all councilors agreed, voting 3-3, which resulted in the motion failing.
Council Chair Emily Smith then turned the floor over to anyone wishing to address the Council on any issue.
David Lovley, a resident of Presque Isle and a volunteer firefighter, was first to speak, sharing his concerns over what a reduction in staff at the fire station would mean to the community as well as to the volunteers.
“Just because it has one of the largest budgets doesn’t mean it has the wiggle room you think. Council has asked full-time firefighters to be available — work only for the city unless they receive approval. If the Council decides to go to a three-man crew, you’re basically asking call members to step it up,” said Lovley.
“Call members do everything we can. We all have full-time jobs. Asking us to step it up is a contradiction. Asking full-timers to have one job but expecting us to do more is unfair,” continued Lovley, noting it was also unfair to expect employers who are also dealing with cuts and smaller staffs to allow volunteers to respond to calls to make up for the reduction.
Lovley advised councilors going to a three-man crew would “limit fair and due response.”
“Working in structures will end; citizens are looking at 10 minutes or longer for response time,” he said. “Four members minimum is what citizens deserve.”
Staff photo/Kathy McCartyTOM DESCHAINE, of Presque Isle, spoke in favor of a tax increase, citing a reduction in firefighters would ultimately cause his insurance rate to go up and he’d rather have the service than higher premiums. Pictured from left are: Councilor Mel Hovey, City Manager Jim Bennett and Deschaine.
Councilor Mel Hovey indicated “70 percent of departments across the country are all volunteer, some larger than Presque Isle,” noting that many of the surrounding communities “do a great job with 100 percent volunteers.”
Lovley indicated the infrastructures of those communities greatly differed from Presque Isle.
Council Chair Smith indicated there would still be five on duty during the daytime, including the chief and deputy chief, and that one of them would serve as the fourth for the two-in and two-out rule. Lovley said that would only work during the day shift but would leave nights and weekends with reduced staff.
“On call response is great, but that five to 10 minutes is crucial in mitigating damage — crucial to insurance. That’s why our rates are lower,” said Lovley. “Council’s well aware that we need two in and two out to begin working actively on a structure fire,” unless they knew a life was at risk, in which case they’d risk their own to save someone else.
Gardner spoke of his own experience in the Navy and how firefighter training he had then was used during an emergency at sea.
“I can tell you the fear we felt that day. No life is worth sacrificing for dollars we’d save by dropping from four to three, no home worth that. Twenty years ago it was different. These volunteers have to make a living. When it comes to a choice between supporting family and leaving a job for a fire and potentially losing that job, there’s no question,” said Gardner.
Resident Pam Palm spoke next, questioning the need of a deputy city manager.
“We have the manager from a large city who is more than capable of handling our city. We need the dollars to stay with the fire department; we don’t need a deputy city manager,” said Palm. “This would be a created position; you’ve also created a deputy public works director but downgraded a detective and eliminated the MDEA sergeant — since drugs are no longer a problem I assume.”
Tom Deschaine, a 30-year resident of Presque Isle, followed, speaking at length as to why cuts should not be made at the fire department.
“My taxes are $4,200 a year; my share of the (budget portion) fire department is .6 percent of my total bill, about $250. I spend more than that on telephone, cell phones and satellite TV,” said Deschaine, continuing with a list of the many things fire protection provides for business owners and citizens alike, including fire inspections, airport coverage and more.
Deschaine estimated the hours firefighters devote to these tasks and how this would affect a three-person crew.
“Do the numbers … your four is really three (day shift), because you have to have someone involved in other activities. When down to three, will fire inspections continue, follow-ups and what about flights coming to town?” asked Deschaine.
Deschaine said the department is currently at an ISO 3 rating but that could change with reduction in staff.
“Only seven other communities in the state have an ISO 3 or less. It costs me $250 a year to have it. How do we address humanely, fairly and from a fiduciary standpoint? We’re the retail center of Aroostook, have the largest medical facility in the county, largest nursing home, elderly housing, low-income, university, NMCC. The population grows by 20 percent during the academic year. How do we protect people in dorm rooms and nursing homes. Where is the logic of reducing our safety net?” said Deschaine, as he went on to state he’d rather see an increase in taxes to ensure no cuts at the fire department than to give those dollars to his insurance company when rates go up because of fire station reductions. “Dropping from an ISO 3 to 6 would increase my insurance by about $144 a year.”
“I lived in East Berlin, Conn. We were all volunteer because we had the cadre of people at our doorstep. Talked to a friend there — can’t do that today. They’re now paying people. Businesses left, some say the cost is too great to let people go (volunteers respond to fire calls).”
“There’s been dissatisfaction with (traffic) re-routing, Pay-As-You-Throw. You folks need to listen to what the community’s saying, because he’s (City Manger Jim Bennett) going to follow your lead. We have a charter in this community — for the simple reason of discussion, if residents of the community don’t like the structure/decision-making process, we could make the city manager an elected position to have a counterbalance,” said Deschaine.
“There’s so much we are — we’re the hub of Aroostook. Why do we want to start breaking down the infrastructure that makes us what we are,” said Deschaine. “When compared to the rest of the state, we stand pretty good for some back-woods folk.”
Eva Kirk, resident and business owner, also expressed support for maintaining current staffing levels at the PIFD.
“People are coming in my store, talking, not happy with it (proposed cuts). We don’t understand why the Council is even considering this. Insurance rates for businesses with rentals will go up. How will you cover the three-man policy thing, when you’re required to have a fireman at the airport, leaving you two,” said Kirk. “What’s the plan when a fire breaks out? Mr. Bennett, can you answer?”
“I didn’t propose the cut,” said Bennett.
Councilor Peter Hallowell said what Council proposed over the next 12 months would be hiring a deputy chief, with three-person shifts, plus on-call firefighters.
“Nothing’s being eliminated in 2012 budget. Down the road we’d look at and expand on options. Reallocate assets — possibly have a better fire department than currently exists — for a more efficient government,” said Hallowell.
“It still doesn’t make me feel better. Don’t fix something that’s not broke,” said Kirk.
Patti Crooks, manager of the Aroostook Centre Mall, the city’s largest taxpayer, asked councilors to “look at income streams” rather than making cuts to services.
“Combine fire and ambulance. Let’s look at income streams, profit center. Let’s spin it around and look at it in another way,” said Crooks.
Deschaine supported the idea of the city adding ambulance service to the fire department.
“We have people who are cross-trained, some paramedics. They spent their own money and own time to do. Why we’re not doing this confounds me,” he said. “It’s being done in other communities — look at Caribou.”
Craig Green, a citizen and business owner, also shared his concerns, noting dollar for dollar, “what’s spent from taxes (for fire service) isn’t a great deal of my tax bill.”
“They inspect at my office. Life safety issues I appreciate. There’s a lot of value for the service. It’s been many years since we had a headline saying ‘family lost in fire,’ because money has been well spent on firefighters,” said Green. “This is an issue of cost shifting. I’d rather give money in property taxes to the city to have people to protect my family, friends and visitors to the community, than to an insurance company for increased premiums. With fire and police, it’s a safety issue.”
“With regard to the community center, in a year of a tight budget, I’d rather you reallocate money back to the budget to police and other systems in the community. The dark days we’re in financially won’t be here forever. We don’t have $500,000 for cost sharing (on community center project), so to spend on a drawing of a building we can’t afford,” Green said he felt the money could be better spent elsewhere. He also suggested seeking a promoter for the Forum to try to increase revenue there, adding he also didn’t understand the need for a deputy city manager.
“Adding another level of bureaucracy or hierarchy at a time you’re asking city employees to tighten budgets — if it’s really a benefit, it needs to be better sold to us to understand,” said Green.
Resident MacDonnell Smith spoke next, noting “citizens aren’t happy.”
“It starts with fire, police, the way garbage is collected. Taxpayers here tonight, on TV and out in community are upset with the way it’s going. If you continue to go in this direction, citizens will communicate in whatever means that they’re not happy. You have a hard job, but if you continue to go down the road proposed here, citizens will come back and talk to you very sternly,” said Smith. “A lot of taxpayers like me are unhappy with decisions and the way the city is being run … citizens will get their point across to you.”
Willard Green asked councilors to consider sparing the Gathering Place, a senior center, by not cutting funding to the Aroostook Agency on Aging. Bennett assured him the center would not see any cuts.
Pat Cote spoke on recycling and ways the city could better handle recycling by returning the bins to their former location behind City Hall. Bennett said they’d been removed due to misuse, with staff spending more time clearing trash from them rather than dealing with recycled materials.
Gary Michaud, a Presque Isle citizen, also told the Council he “didn’t think it was right to create a deputy city manager.”
Resident Forrest Dudley agreed with other citizens willing to pay more in taxes to keep firefighters.
“I’ll pay insurance and taxes. I’d rather pay more in taxes than watch my insurance rates go up. Only thing I’m asking, when the budget comes up next year, when cuts come up, keep the citizens in mind,” said Dudley.
Discussion that followed by councilors on item 5, the resolve making changes to the PIFD staff, left many of those present bewildered and confused as all they’d said appeared to fall on deaf ears.
The resolve indicated the Council wished to “rely more heavily on on-call firefighters,” directing staff to “aggressively train” on-call crew to operate all equipment, recommended on-call compensation “that would reward and encourage prompt response to fires” and contacting employers “to encourage allowing their employees to respond,” discouraged second job employment for staff unless otherwise approved and to encourage full-time firefighters to have residences within 10 minutes of the station, and reduce the department by 2013 to three members per shift, with a deputy and chief on daytime as well — reduction to come about through attrition or by “offering impacted full-time firefighters jobs in other departments of the city if the impacted firefighter meets qualifications for the position offered.”
“I do not and will never support cutting back to a three-person per shift. It is just not safe. Therefore, I cannot support this resolution,” said Gardner to the applause of the audience.
Hovey indicated “there’s a silent majority who’s not here” who favored such reductions to keep taxes low. Lovley said those people need to be at a public hearing.
“Your public is telling you not to pass this resolve. If the silent want to oppose, they should be here,” Lovely said.
Smith said she’d spoken to area businesses who supported cuts but who “fear repercussion” if they spoke publicly.
Crooks suggested a petition be circulated before any decisions were made.
“I think we’re being railroaded,” said Crooks.
Vince Baldwin, a PIFD firefighter, told councilors the public should have “heard what you planned to do before you shut down the public hearing. If you’d given the public an idea of what your plan was, the room would have been packed.”
Hovey said he’d been given “misleading information” during his years on the Council and that “insurance rates would not go up” because the city’s ISO 3 rating was “due to the water department and not the PIFD.”
Traci Place, business agent for Teamsters Local 340, said response time has never been an issue and that the fire chief, who resides in Easton, has never had a problem answering a call.
Councilor Bruce Sargent said the resolution “was nothing in stone but a work in progress.”
“We have to have a resolution to move forward,” said Sargent.
Councilor Randy Smith said it was important to remember, “when we’re looking ahead at this, we’re trying to not incur bills we can’t pay.”
Hallowell suggested a deputy city manager could be put to use “looking at outside issues” that would generate revenue, as discussed by speakers earlier in the evening. He also said he came to the Council, “looking for efficiencies” and that “you can’t tell me the fire department couldn’t be run differently.”
Gardner concluded the discussion by noting he had one Council session left and that after Jan. 1 it would be up to others to make decisions, but that the “safety of the people should be paramount.”
“There’s no way anyone can justify the loss of a home or a life for a few dollars saved,” said Gardner. “Those coming here to speak, I thank you, you’ve done your duty. I won’t vote for this resolution; I just can’t. I cannot put people in the path of jeopardy.”
Councilors voted 5-1 to pass the resolution as presented.
