By Matt Michael
The Post-Standard
CAMILLUS, N.Y. — The Camillus Fire Department and the village of Camillus Board are discussing a 2-for-4 swap of fire apparatus that fire officials say will support the department’s plan to downsize while improving service.
The fire department, which is owned by the village, wants to lease two newer vehicles that would provide the latest firefighting technology. Ann Clancy, the village trustee who oversees the department, said the 15-year leases would cost $95,000 a year.
At the same time, the department would sell four older trucks. The village would stand to make roughly $261,000 from those sales, Clancy said at the village board’s June 9 meeting.
About $186,000 of that money would be used to pay off the village’s current loan for a fire truck. The payments that the village was making on that truck — $39,000 a year — would then go toward the $95,000 a year loan for the two new trucks.
The fire department, as part of its streamlining, said it could slice $38,000 from its annual budget. So that’s $77,000 toward the new loans, leaving the village to raise about $18,000 per year.
Most of that money would come from town of Camillus taxpayers, who pay for 91.4 percent of the fire department’s operation (village taxpayers pay the rest). To pay the village’s share, the village would need to raise the tax rate. One increase tossed around at the June 9 meeting was 25 cents per $1,000, or $25 a year for a taxpayer with a $100,000 home.
Village Mayor Kurt Brunger said he would meet with Town Supervisor Mary Ann Coogan to discuss the plan and get the town’s opinion. The village also wants to get additional estimates on the four vehicles it would sell.
Fire department president Jesse Norcross also said the department needs to take a closer look at its budget and determine if it could make the cuts necessary to make the math work.
Deputy Chief Doug Groesbeck said the two new vehicles would be the ideal complement to the apparatus from other departments that cover the town. He said more people are moving into the western part of the town, which is covered by Camillus, and the department needs to upgrade its equipment to provide a higher level of service to those residents.
In other news from the June 9 meeting:
The board approved the purchase of four portable radios ($6,983.04) and six pagers ($2,070) for the fire department. The department also asked the board to consider buying three new automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) for victims of cardiac arrest.
The board is moving ahead with plans to pave Main Street in the heart of the village. The board is expecting to pay up to $8,000 for bid packages, inspections and engineering work, and $50,000 to $60,000 for the paving.
The village has $46,000 set aside for the project from the state’s Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement program (CHIPS). It also has $24,000 in the budget for the work.
Village officials said the project wouldn’t start until at least until mid-August, after the fire department hosts the Onondaga County Fireman’s Association convention.
The board also discussed ideas for repairing or replacing the village garage. The options ranged from a brand new garage at $325,000 to rebuilding only a part of it for $80,000.
The board decided to move the village records and documents that aren’t in the vault at village hall into a storage room on the second floor. The board agreed to put a policy in place whereby only village clerk Marie Stanczyk and Brunger have keys to the records room.
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