Copyright 2005 Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc.
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By JAMES F. RUSSELL
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
BARRE - At a spirited town meeting last night, voters unanimously approved a $500,000 death benefit for call firefighters and part-time police officers killed in the line of duty, transferred $250,000 in certified free cash to lower the tax rate and handily rejected a proposed bylaw that would have stripped the town moderator of the sole authority to appoint members of the Finance Committee.
Providing the $500,000 death benefit to a surviving spouse will cost the town $6,000 that will be paid out of free cash. The new insurance takes effect July 1.
The measure “ensures families will be taken care of (when a firefighter or police officer) makes the ultimate sacrifice,” Barre Fire Chief Joseph Rogowski said during the special town meeting.
But Emergency and Rescue Squad Captain Charles F. Fullam, who runs the ambulance service for the town - and who is also a part-time police officer - questioned why ambulance squad personnel were not covered by the insurance.
“Some of you remember when the police department ran the ambulance,” Mr. Fullam said. “The police chief is who we are responsible to.”
“It is a point of law that should be explored,” said Police Chief John J. Manzi. The chief said “for all intents and purposes” ambulance squad personnel work for police.
Town Administrator Lorraine Leno said the town’s insurance carrier set up the organizational structure which might bar ambulance squad personnel from eligibility for the $500,000 death benefit. “We can set it up differently,” she said.
“We all have to look at the inequities Charlie speaks of,” Sen. Stephen M. Brewer, D-Barre, said during the meeting. “I would be the first one to support Emergency Management Technicians” being eligible for the death benefits.