By Meg Heckman
The Concord Monitor
EPSOM, N.H. — Friday was quiet in Epsom, with the campgrounds dormant for winter and the river too frozen to flood, but firefighters and police officers remained busy, hurrying to the traffic accidents, medical calls and safety inspections that grow more numerous each year.
A rollover shortly after midnight kept a rescue crew busy for hours. Later, a man called the fire department worried that his mobile home might succumb to the pile of snow on its roof. Around suppertime, a woman at one of the town’s elderly housing complexes fell. She wasn’t hurt but needed the medics to check her out.
Then there were the traffic stops, the field sobriety tests, routine patrols and fire alarm activations — basic services that Epsom’s police and fire chiefs struggle to provide with stagnant budgets, rising utility costs and salaries lower than those in surrounding towns. The departments have cut corners wherever possible, but the chiefs fear that, without help from voters Tuesday, the quality of Epsom’s emergency services may be at stake.
“It’s like a business,” said Police Chief Wayne Preve. “People want our services, but it’s going to be difficult if you can’t put gas into cars to go on calls.”
There’s no single thing driving the demand on the departments. Rather, Preve and Fire Chief Stewart Yeaton say it’s a combination of factors: An aging population, more cars on the roads, serious crimes committed by folks passing through town. These last two years, flooding and wild weather have added to the load.
These trends aren’t unique, but in Epsom, finances exacerbate the situation. For the last several years, voters have defeated proposed budgets, thwarting town leaders’ attempts to repair roads and hire additional help.
At the same time, it’s become pricier to fuel fire trucks, heat the station, provide insurance and run trainings. The police must monitor more 24-hour businesses, and paid firefighters get less help from volunteers, who are often too busy with their day jobs to answer calls multiple nights each week.
Last year, Preve went $2,600 over his budget. Yeaton stayed in the black, but only because one of his firefighters chose not to enroll in the town’s health insurance plan. And both men say they’re losing employees to higher-paying, better-staffed towns.
“If we go into a default budget this year, I don’t know how I can stay within my figures,” Yeaton said. “Before, you were lucky with maybe one call a day. Now we’re up to three.”
Voters will consider warrants to hire a seventh full-time police officer and an additional firefighter, and to increase the departments’ salaries so they’re on par with those in nearby towns. The new hires would join the departments mid-year and cost about $57,000. Raises for all police and fire employees total about $82,000.
Selectmen endorsed the chiefs’ proposals, but the budget committee is wary of asking voters for too much at once. The proposed budget already includes a $525,000 increase, with about 70 percent of the additional money earmarked for road repairs.
“There are always choices that have to be made,” said committee chairman Harvey Harkness. “Generally, the budget committee felt that the police and fire departments are in pretty good shape. They’re not in such a critical condition as the roads. The roads have been neglected for years.”
Selectmen. meanwhile, are hopeful that voters will approve the budget (which includes the road repairs) and the departments’ requests for raises and staff.
“I know it’s a lot of money,” said Selectman Joanne Randall. “But the department heads are asking for what they honestly believe they need to bring the town back to where it’s supposed to be... I think we’re ready to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps.”
Donations received
Tight budgets don’t mean a lack of respect for Epsom’s firefighters or police officers. Members of both departments are quick to point out donations, such as the boat a couple of residents gave to the fire department after last year’s flooding or the pro bono care the police dog, Rigz, receives from a local veterinarian. Even the fire station was built using money from an endowment left to the town.
But the chiefs say hiring new employees and offering broad raises takes tax money. Fire Capt. Matt Moulton hopes that money will help attract another paramedic. He’s the only one, now that others have left Epsom for jobs in better-paying towns.
“It would help me out,” he said. “And give the town much better coverage.”
Better coverage is a common wish among long-timers at both departments. One of the first things Preve did after he was promoted to chief four years ago was institute round-the-clock patrols. It means more work for him and Sgt. Brian Michael, but the men think it’s better than leaving nighttime calls up to the State Police, who might be miles and miles away.
“If you’re the female half of a domestic disturbance and you’re getting knocked around, 45 minutes is a long time,” Michael said.
Without raises, Michael fears two of the six officers will leave within a year, reducing coverage by more than 80 hours a week. The department will have to pay for overtime, plus hiring and training replacements.
“I would rather everybody around me gets a raise,” he said. “Then we could keep the people and service the town the right way.”
On Friday, Michael &mash; with Rigz pacing the cruiser’s backseat — handled mostly traffic stops, but the department deals with all sorts of crime: arsons, burglaries, assaults. Last year, officers investigated several stabbings. Summers are especially busy, with Epson’s four campgrounds full of tourists. While most are great guests, some crowds get rowdy.
In 2007, Epsom police handled 2,619 incidents, up 513 from the year before. The tally includes 122 accidents, 29 warrants, 3,806 citations and 229 arrests.
“People would be amazed what goes on,” Preve said. “They think, ‘Oh, Epsom. Quiet little town.’”
Neither Preve or Yeaton has much tolerance for egos, so interdepartmental basketball games are about as fierce as police- fire relations get in Epsom. Those close ties also help when things get busy. Michael has hauled hoses and vented windows at fires, and says an ambulance crew once stopped to help him when a traffic stop got out of hand. And when there’s only one officer patrolling the streets overnight, a fire truck will sometimes follow the cruiser to a risky call.
“We’re not much for backup, but we’ll go along,” Yeaton said. “We all work together, but it’s getting tougher every day.”