While many firefighters and residents in Weathersfield have said that making the conversion to a municipal fire department should have happened years ago, the most common question asked by those unfamiliar with the years of conflict is: “Why?”
The Weathersfield Selectboard first identified a potential solution to the dysfunction and miscommunication between the two independent nonprofit fire departments, and between the departments and the Selectboard, by creating the Weathersfield Fire Commission in 1990. While the mission was clear, and the dedication of the commission members has been appreciated over the years, the actual results were largely ineffective.
At the June 17, 2013, Selectboard meeting, held at the Ascutney fire station, former Selectboard member and Fire Commission chair Patricia Daniels said, “it was difficult having the Fire Commission be a facilitator between the Selectboard and the two fire departments. It was not working. Because the town pays for some vehicles, the insurance and $20,000 to each department each year, the two departments should work together for the town and communicate with the Selectboard.”
It was at this meeting that the concept of an outside evaluation of fire services was first introduced. A year later, at the November 2014 elections, resident Michael Todd conducted an independent, written-response exit poll. His survey posed 10 questions about school and town services, completed by 255 residents. Question No. 2 was “Should Weathersfield support one unified Fire Department?” The results: 159 residents (62 percent) responded yes; 54 (21 percent) responded no; 35 (14 percent) were unsure and seven (3 percent) left the answer blank.
Accusations of safety and operational concerns have been lodged against each department by the other for many years. The Selectboard addressed the issue in 2015 by contracting with John Wood to conduct an independent review of the town’s fire services. Wood’s 33-year career included 19 years as the chief of the Hartford Fire Department, as well as seven years as the deputy director and three years as deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety.
Wood provided a comprehensive list of recommendations, including the finding that “the single-department concept is the best practice for fire protection in the community. The Selectboard and the two fire associations should move to identify the best approach to create a single department.” He concluded, “the most important reason for creating a single fire department is to reduce the risks of injury and death to firefighters, while enhancing fire protection in the community.”
In June 2018, the West Weathersfield Volunteer Fire Department asked the Selectboard to investigate a municipal fire department concept. In August 2018, the Fire Commission and Selectboard held a joint meeting, which was attended by both departments, to discuss the recommendations from the fire consultant’s report. The meeting quickly transitioned toward the possibility of a municipal department with a single fire chief.
In September 2018, the town manager presented his report, recommending a move to a single municipal department under the direction of a full-time fire chief. The report showed that this move would solve or address every recommendation within the Wood report.
Shortly thereafter, members of the West Weathersfield Volunteer Fire Department reaffirmed their commitment to a municipal department by voting to pass the organization’s assets to the town, as well as use of the station in Perkinsville.
In October 2018, the Selectboard suspended Fire Commission meetings so that its members, fire department volunteers and community members could participate in ongoing, twice-per-month, collaborative brainstorming sessions for the purpose of forming the municipal structure.
At the Nov. 5, 2018, public meeting, the Selectboard exercised its statutory authority by voting to create a municipal fire department.
At the Jan. 3, 2019, meeting, a unanimous vote confirmed a full-time fire chief would be necessary to successfully implement the transition.
When a financial analysis was conducted of the town’s fire expenses and the expenses of the two independent departments, the total cost of providing fire services for fiscal year 2017 was $265,960.
Despite the addition of a full-time chief, the proposed expenses for fiscal year 2020 are $265,070. Eliminating redundant operating expenses among three separate budgets for one service and identifying efficient practices have allowed the reduced budget figures to be achieved.
Although the transition to a municipal fire department shifts the burden of maintaining operational costs to the town, it also addresses a resounding complaint from the volunteer departments. In addition to the time volunteers spend training, running their stations and responding to calls, they are also required to devote a considerable amount of time to fundraising for operational costs.
While there’s been conflicting information circulating within the community, no one can dispute the fact that the idea of having a municipal fire department is not new, not unexpected, and not without a significant history of conversations, heated debates and meetings. This topic has dominated discussions at public meetings, private organizations and the dinner tables of our town’s residents for more than 30 years.
The time has come for a unified and collaborative Weathersfield Fire Department, in which the daily operations are consolidated and streamlined for effectiveness and efficiencies and the firefighters are empowered to focus solely on what they love to do: serve their neighbors in times of greatest need.
John Arrison, Daniel Boyer, C. Peter Cole, Tom Leach and Kelly Murphy are the members of the Weathersfield Selectboard.