By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
As a 60-year member and former chief of the Stafford Fire Department, David Vicary knows a thing or two about the volunteer firefighting business.
Speaking at Monday night’s Stafford Town Board meeting, which attracted about 40 residents, Vicary said he thinks the fire company is making a mistake by purchasing a $1.2 million pumper truck with a 3,000-gallon tank.
(Photo-Mike Pettinella)
But Robert Mattice, the fire department board’s new president, disagrees with Vicary’s assessment – stating that the nonprofit organization is saving money by consolidating its operation.
(Photo-Mike Pettinella)
The two went back and forth – with comments from others in attendance – for about 25 minutes, discussing the pros and cons of the truck purchase as well as internal issues, budget considerations and fundraising prospects.
Link to meeting: GENESEE COUNTY/Stafford Town Board Meeting/August 12, 2024 – Video News Service
VICARY: EXPENSE IS TOO MUCH
Vicary asked if the cost of the proposed truck is turning out to be more than what was budgeted.
“I understand there was an agreement on the cost of this new truck that’s being purchased, and my understanding is the cost has ballooned over what you tentatively approved,” he said. “Is there truth in that?”
Town board members then gave the floor to Mattice, the part-time town justice who said he reluctantly agreed to become president following the July resignation of James Call.
Mattice said the “hybrid” truck is vital to the department’s plan to consolidate and did not come in over budget.
“Rather than have three big trucks in the fleet, which is very expensive to maintain, we’re merging the tanker with a pumper,” he said. “This is going to be a larger vehicle, but we’re going to a two large-truck fleet (with) a 20-year replacement. So, every 10 years we have one new large truck, rather than replacing three big trucks and trying to maintain a small fleet as well.”
He said the fire company put $1 million down on the purchase and received “a substantial discount” as a result.
“We didn’t buy a solid gold-plated pumper. It’s pretty basic by today’s standards. It looks big – it’s big and yellow – but it’s pretty basic,” he said. “We could have bought a $900,000 pumper and then a $600,000 tanker, but financially speaking, we saved $200,000 by merging the two.”
Mattice noted that it will be another two years before the truck arrives and said he’s hoping that the motor and chassis with the Vehicle Identification Number arrives “in time” otherwise the cost would increase by another $100,000.
“So that was part of the urgency of needing to get this thing ordered; was to get that VIN number on that block to save us some money,” he said.
Vicary said the department doesn’t need a truck with a 3,000-gallon tank.
“I think you’ll have a better department, and you’ll have better response if you got some trucks with smaller tanks,” he said. “You’re going to have water … in the whole town within three years, and the fire coordinator has said that if they were going to respond to a fire, they can get mutual aid help as far as more water.”
He also said that drivers of these large trucks would require a chauffeur’s license, something that Mattice said wasn’t true.
DEPARTMENTAL STANDARDS BROUGHT UP
Vicary, a former Stafford Town Board member, said he hears from residents who are concerned about rising costs, not only of the trucks but of the expenses surrounding regulations and training.
“One thing that’s coming around, it has been in the works for some time, is OSHA (Occupational Health & Safety Administration) is going to set standards for firefighting, more or less maintenance, and these are things that are going to have to be met,” he said.
He said OSHA is concerned about the rate of cancer among firefighters due to the contamination of their gear and is going to devise a system to decontaminate all of that equipment.
Mattice said the Stafford Fire Department utilizes portable decontamination at the scene of the fire and full decontamination at the firehall.
“So, we’re ahead of the curve on that,” he said.
Deputy Supervisor Ron Panek then asked Mattice if the fire department will be able to stick to the budgeting plan launched a few years ago. The town reportedly allocates around $426,000 annually to the department for fire protection and emergency services.
“I’ve been president one week. Give me some time to get my feet wet,” Mattice responded. “So, again we’re already going to have to start putting money away for the next truck in 10 years, because they have a 20-year shelf life, and the one that’s in service is three years old.”
Panek asked if the department is putting $200,000 a year against this truck.
Mattice said he isn’t sure because he hasn’t been able to see the books yet.
He also said the department is saving money by replacing SUV rescue trucks with pickup trucks but noted that it costs $10,000 to equip one firefighter “from head to toe.”
“It’s not a cheap operation. We’re doing the best we can,” he said. “If we get the state to change the laws and get our Corvette raffle back, we’d love it. For a while, in the county we had the lowest fire tax, right now, … we’re in the middle.”
TOWN BOARD OVERSIGHT NEEDED?
Citing previous ventures that cost the fire department money, Vicary urged the town board to keep “a close eye on what’s going on.”
Gary Snell, a fire department member for 65 years and former highway department employee, said the fire company has gone from “a $100,000 little fire department to a half a million-dollar fire department that takes some education or some coaching to handle that kind of business.”
“So, there either should be an oversight — people from the town whose taxpayers’ money, $400,000 a year that’s going into there or maybe there should be an oversight committee that attends their meetings and at least listens and maybe can say something, so to know what’s going on.”
Supervisor Robert Clement suggested a town board member be designated to attend the fire department sessions that are open to the public.
Concerning the internal issues that prompted the resignation of Call and Treasurer Stephanie Call, Board Member Terry Young said he attended a recent meeting to find out what was going on.
Resignation letters from the Calls mentioned numerous problems, including negativity, bullying, lack of interest, wasteful spending and collusion.
“There’s no hard feelings over there towards what happened,” Young said. “Two people decided to quit, resign, retire, whatever you want to call it. I’m not saying they all got along despite they probably should have.”
“We discussed kind of what should be happening there, and we should kind of play nice together, and they seem to accept that. I can’t be there every minute to make sure they do that, and nobody can. But it was brought up. Bob agrees. He’s well aware of it. He’s the new president, and if somebody from this board can go to their business meeting, it would be great.”
Panek said he met with Stephanie Call to go over the items listed on Jamie Call’s letter.
“I would say this tiff skirted about as close to a hostile workplace,” he said. “And I asked that specific question, ‘Did this turn into a hostile workplace that should be followed up with some type of legal action?’ And the answer was no.”
He said he doesn’t want to see the situation get out of hand.
To which Mattice replied, “It won’t get out of hand with me in charge; that’s why they appointed me.”
“I didn’t want this. I don’t need this extra hassle. I got plenty of work, but my job is to drive them out of this mess and that’s my plan – to interpret and enforce the bylaws and that’s what I’m going to do, whether they like it or not. Be careful what you ask for because you’re going to get it.”