By Susan Misur
The New Haven Register
GUILFORD, Conn. — A shrinking base of volunteer firefighters means that eight new full-time firefighters must be hired and that the Fire Department volunteer incentives program be cut next year, officers of the Board of Fire Commissioners said Thursday.
While preserving and improving services to residents, the Fire Department also must trim its budget, Commission Chair Joseph Travaglino and Vice Chair Kenneth Wilson told the Board of Selectmen and members of the Board of Finance as they presented the Fire Department’s proposed budget for fiscal 2010-11.
They proposed an overall budget of $3.5 million, which includes $320,000 of grant money and $850,000 of ambulance revenue the department is expected to take in. The department’s proposed net budget that excludes those amounts is $2.3 million and reflects a 5 percent increase over the current net budget of $2.1 million.
Wilson and Travaglino added that more staff members are needed since calls for structure and vehicle fires, car accidents, and carbon monoxide and fire alarms have continued to increase, though there’s been a slight decrease in medical calls.
The new career firefighters will be hired by March, as required by the $860,000 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant that was awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the fall.
The town must help pay for the new firefighters by increasing financial contributions over a five-year period, while the federal government will pay $860,000 over four years in decreasing amounts. In the fifth year and beyond, the town will cover all costs of the new firefighters. In fiscal 2010-11, the department will receive $320,000 of the grant money.
“At some point in the next five years, we wanted eight more fire fighters. It’s hard to be a volunteer; you need certifications,” Wilson said, adding that a study conducted a few years ago said the department needed 32 staff members based on town population. It currently has 24.
The volunteer program will remain, but eliminating the incentive program, which paid volunteers for serving at a certain number of fires per year, is a necessary cost-saving step since it hasn’t helped recruit new members, officials said.
“It was the chief’s opinion that the program is not doing what it was intended to do. It was a hard decision to make,” said Travaglino, who added there are 24 active volunteers.
A pension program for retired volunteers will continue, and Travaglino said the department will consider paying higher pensions to make up for eliminating the incentive program.
The department also hopes to replace its pumping engine, which is 25 years old and the busiest truck in the fleet. A new one will cost $620,000, and the amount must be borrowed.
Fire officials said they will defer purchases of a new chief’s vehicle and two ambulance remounts, which are the box-shaped portions of the trucks that cost around $85,000 each.
Finance Board member James O’Keefe asked if any of the five volunteer firehouses could be shut down to save money. Wilson said the department does not want to shut down any firehouses or take away vehicles from volunteers.
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