By Beurmond Banville
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Copyright 2006 Bangor Daily News
LIMESTONE, Maine — The Loring Development Authority voted Wednesday to dismantle its full-time fire department and approved an agreement with Limestone and Fort Fairfield for fire protection, a move that could save the LDA hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
Fort Fairfield already has approved the agreement, and Limestone will act on the proposal next week.
The LDA vote was 8-1. Philip St. Peter, the lone vote against the plan, said he still believed the LDA should have full-time fire protection.
The LDA will pay Fort Fairfield $60,000 for the service. The LDA is now paying $420,000 a year to upkeep its fire department which includes up to seven full-time and nine part-time people.
The LDA will keep one full-time person, fire chief Paul Barnes, as a public safety officer. Barnes will oversee safety programs on the former Air Force base.
The fire station and all of its equipment, including three vehicles, will remain available for use by firefighters while at the Loring Commerce Centre.
The Fort Fairfield and Limestone fire departments operate under one fire chief, Paul Durepo, who is an employee of Fort Fairfield.
Central to the plan, according to Carl Flora, president and CEO of the Limestone department, is that several volunteer firefighters for both towns work at the commerce center and will be available on-site to answer fire calls.
“This plan provides us with access to a large group of firefighters,” Flora told the LDA members. “The cost will be significantly less than the full-time service.
“It’s a win-win situation for all of us,” he said. “We owe a great debt of gratitude to the many firefighters who have worked for us over the years.”
Philip Parent, an LDA board member from Van Buren, called the new system a “novel approach that will benefit all concerned. It’s very worthy and produces a cooperative effort.”
Originally, the LDA had sought a plan that would have brought fire protection from Caribou. It would have saved the LDA about $100,000 a year.
The plan was met with furor by Limestone officials who had not had an opportunity to take part in negotiations.
The center is located in and pays property taxes to Limestone.
Several LDA trustees were bothered by the way negotiations and discussions were going, saying they believed Limestone should be involved in discussions.
The Loring Fire Department, whose members are trained emergency medical technicians, also do initial emergency ambulance calls at the center. That is done with an ambulance furnished by the Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department.
The Caribou Fire and Ambulance Department will continue to provide ambulance services to the center.
Problems remain with the Loring Job Corps buildings, which do not have a sprinkler system.