Selectmen send Fire Department requests to Town Meeting
By Penny Hilton

New Gloucester--After discussions spanning two board meetings, the New Gloucester Board of Selectmen voted March 25 to put three Fire Department requests to the voters as separate articles at the May 6 town meeting. All of the requests concern the process by which the town accepts funding for equipment through gifts or grants rather than tax dollars. Board discussion centered on the question of what on-going costs for maintenance and operation the town will be committing itself to by accepting the funds; and the fact that the items were not brought through the regular budgeting and Capital Improvement Plan procedures.

Town Manager Bill Cooper said that the town will have little in the way of out-year costs to consider with the new Thermal Imaging Camera bought after significant fund-raising by the Fire Department. A $40,000 federal grant for purchase of 44 new individual breathing units, on the other hand, will require a initial 10% match from the town, and implies a larger replacement cost in the future. The match can be made "in kind," including with the value of the hours of personnel time it takes to write the grant, and initial up-keep costs will be low. Cooper argued that this item is in the nature of replacement of equipment already approved by the town, because fire-fighters are required to have them, and the ones in use now are becoming obsolete.

The item that provoked the most discussion was the "Mule," or four-wheeled vehicle, to be bought with a gift from the Libra Foundation, and used for rescues and fire fighting in areas like the new ski trails on the Pineland Farm property. The gift of $9,800 will pay for the 4-wheeler as well as the trailer and hitch needed to transport it behind a Fire and Rescue vehicle, and still leave $750 earmarked for maintenance. Insurance will not be a cost in the first year, under the terms of the town’s insurance plan. Board Chairman Steve Libby cast the lone dissenting vote to include this item on the town warrant. He argued the 4-wheeler would never have risen as a high priority item if it had been put through the town’s standard Capital Improvement Plan review, and that the Fire Department is going after it simply because it is "free," without proper regard to the costs it will bring about in future years, including an expectation of replacement when it wears out.

While the Town Manager Bill Cooper and all the selectmen expressed to varying degrees their own impatience and frustration regarding the by-pass of budgeting process, Selectman Steve Chandler argued that the town should keep itself open to unexpected funding opportunities. "I’d hate to see us get into the position that we can not answer the door when opportunity knocks." He suggested the selectmen include some words to the effect that accepting the machine now does not imply automatic replacement later, and that the Board develop some method to "warehouse" gift equipment when maintenance funding fails. As a result, the Board agreed it will develop a new policy regarding using gift and grant funding when time constraints preclude putting the requests through the normal budgeting process.

During the individual reports that concluded the meeting, Libby noted that an article in the January and February issues of The Maine Townsman, supports the concept of regional safety services such as the town is now discussing in regional meetings. He warned that he would not welcome any requests from the Fire and Rescue Departments to consider offering remuneration for the services that are now done for free. "I think it would be a disservice if we jump into paying."