{"id":63749,"date":"2025-04-15T21:41:58","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T01:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/?p=63749"},"modified":"2025-04-16T12:16:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T16:16:00","slug":"genesee-county-batavia-town-board-backs-fire-departments-initial-effort-to-financially-reward-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/04\/15\/genesee-county-batavia-town-board-backs-fire-departments-initial-effort-to-financially-reward-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Town Board backs fire department\u2019s initial effort to financially reward volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Batavia Town Board is supporting the Town of Batavia Fire Department in its effort to provide financial incentives in the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a unanimous vote at a special meeting on April 9th, the board passed a resolution granting the fire department permission \u201cto investigate and perform a comprehensive financial analysis of (a proposed) Length of Service Award Program to be conducted by a third-party provided named PENFLEX\u201d that will also manage the LOSAP if it becomes a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resolution also states that the Town of Batavia would incur no cost at this time, with the fire department picking up the $2,000 fee to conduct such an analysis and study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directors Jim Ward and Paul Barrett said that a LOSAP for firefighters in the town \u2013 and throughout Genesee County \u2013 is long overdue. Only one volunteer fire company, Pavilion, currently offers a program where their firefighters are monetarily rewarded upon retirement after many years of service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward said the program was discussed years ago but wasn\u2019t pursued. It\u2019s even more difficult now, he added, to recruit volunteers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAcross New York State and across the county, volunteer fire service is having an extremely tough time,\u201d Ward said. \u201cNumber one, because the kids that are coming up just don\u2019t want to put their time in anymore; they have different priorities. Number two, the training for volunteer firemen now has significantly increased \u2026 from 25 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople come into the fire department (and) they think they’re going to be running lights and sirens and doing all this really fun stuff right away. But that\u2019s not the case because by time you get all your training done, you’re about a year into it, and you really haven’t done anything other than train.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward said the fire department is looking to \u201cget creative,\u201d mirroring what fire departments in Erie County have done for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duo said they’re taking this step-by-step, starting with selecting PENFLEX as the third-party administrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe chose PENFLEX because they do all the New York State retirements for everybody throughout New York State, for state employees,\u201d they reported. \u201cOur first step was to present it to the town supervisor and the board to see if we can at least look at the financials and present the financials to the town to let them see the different options that PENFLEX is going to put together for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire department board members made a presentation to the board in late March, introducing lawmakers to LOSAP, a retirement-style benefits initiative specifically designed for volunteer firefighters. Goals are to encourage recruitment, improve retention and recognize service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key aspects of the program are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Participation and eligibility: Volunteers earn service credit (points) through active participation in department activities, including emergency responses, drills, training sessions and community outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Service credits accumulation: For each year of qualifying service, volunteers accumulate service credits toward future financial benefits upon reaching to be determined eligibility milestones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Financial benefits: After reaching milestones, volunteers become eligible for awards structured similarly to retirement benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Program administration: PENFLEX would manage the program, ensuring transparency, compliance and efficient oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pending approval by the Town Board, the fire department then would pay a one-time implementation fee of $2,000 to formally initiate the program setup. Then the matter would go up for a vote by town residents via a public referendum in November of this year. The referendum will only involve residents in the Town of Batavia fire district, not the entire shared service area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ward and Barrett, a firefighter for 40 years, said the program would be launched in 2026 and the first financial contributions from the town would commence in 2027, beginning the commitment to recognizing volunteer service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike PettinellaFor Video News Service The Batavia Town Board is supporting the Town of Batavia Fire Department in its effort to provide financial incentives in the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters. In a unanimous vote at a special meeting on April 9th, the board passed a resolution granting \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1102],"tags":[5061,786],"class_list":["post-63749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-town-of-batavia","tag-losap-proposal","tag-town-of-batavia-fire-department"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8eTP4-gAd","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12833,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2019\/12\/19\/batavia-town-of-batavia-fire-gives-board-update-on-new-firehouse-after-fire-protection-agreement-renewal\/","url_meta":{"origin":63749,"position":0},"title":"BATAVIA\/Town of Batavia Fire gives Board update on new firehouse after fire protection agreement renewal","author":"aka","date":"December 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A public hearing in regards to fire protection services was held before the regular Batavia Town Board meeting on Wednesday night. A group of volunteers with the Town of Batavia Fire Department attended the public hearing and also updated the Town Board on the progress of a new Station 2\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/town-fire-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/town-fire-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/town-fire-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/town-fire-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/town-fire-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29130,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2021\/11\/17\/genesee-county-town-of-batavia-regular-town-board-meeting-november-17-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":63749,"position":1},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Town of Batavia Regular Town Board meeting\/November 17, 2021","author":"aka","date":"November 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1gspXF7UBs8 Video\/Town of Batavia Regular Town Board meeting\/November 17, 2021 TOWN OF BATAVIAREGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETINGWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2021TOWN HALL7:00 P.M. A. Calling the Meeting to Order: Pledge to the FlagRoll Call B. SEQR Review \u2013 Local Law 5 of 2021-Zoning Map Amendment C. Call Public Hearings: 7:00 P.M. Local\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/gennesse-county\/batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/still-town.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/still-town.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/still-town.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59204,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/20\/genesee-county-batavia-town-board-meeting-november-20-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":63749,"position":2},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Town Board Meeting\/November 20, 2024","author":"aka","date":"November 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1Rda4B4x5p0 Video of meeting-November 20, 2024 TOWN OF BATAVIAREGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETINGWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2024 7:00PM Town Hall A. Calling the Meeting to Order: Pledge to the Flag Roll CallB. Minutes: October 16, 2024 Regular Town Board MeetingTown Hall October 16, 2024 Public Hearing \u2013 Local Law No. 3 2024\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Town of Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Town of Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/town-of-batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/snapshot_001-7.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/snapshot_001-7.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/snapshot_001-7.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/snapshot_001-7.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/snapshot_001-7.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70998,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/17\/genesee-county-batavia-town-board-meeting-december-17-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":63749,"position":3},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Batavia Town Board meeting\/December 17, 2025","author":"aka","date":"December 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/7NDhYxtaZZA Video of Meeting-December 17, 2025 AGENDATOWN OF BATAVIAREGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETINGWEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2025AGENDA7:00 P.M. Town HallA. Calling the Meeting to Order: Pledge to the Flag Roll CallB. 7:00 P.M. \u2013 Call Public Hearing to Order- 2026 Town of Batavia Agreement for FireProtection ServicesC. Minutes: November 5, 2025, Special\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Town of Batavia"","block_context":{"text":"Town of Batavia","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/town-of-batavia\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snapshot_001-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snapshot_001-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snapshot_001-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snapshot_001-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snapshot_001-4.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66121,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/genesee-county-town-of-batavia-large-scale-solar-project-involving-three-towns-revealed-a-project-open-house-is-planned-for-august-13th-at-the-oakfield-fire-hall\/","url_meta":{"origin":63749,"position":4},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Town of Batavia\/Large scale solar project involving three towns revealed, a project Open House is planned for August 13th at the Oakfield Fire Hall","author":"aka","date":"July 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sf1zGj66kUU Video of meeting-Rachel Smith, Project Manager for EDP Renewables, talks to the Town Board about a large 130-megawatt solar project that will involve the towns of Batavia, Oakfield and Alabama. An Open House on the project will be held August 13th from 4-7PM at the Oakfield Fire Dept. TOWN\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1000183436-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1148&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1000183436-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1148&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1000183436-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1148&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1000183436-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1148&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1000183436-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1148&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37642,"url":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/2022\/11\/16\/genesee-county-town-of-batavia-regular-town-board-meeting-november-16-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":63749,"position":5},"title":"GENESEE COUNTY\/Town of Batavia\/Regular Town Board meeting\/November 16, 2022","author":"aka","date":"November 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9Uoh776cGaE Video of Regular Town Board meeting-November 16, 2022 TOWN OF BATAVIAREGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETINGWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2022 7:00 P.M. Town Hall A. Calling the Meeting to Order: Pledge to the Flag Roll Call B. Minutes: October 19, 2022 Regular Town Board Meeting October 19, 2022 Public Hearing \u2013 CDBG-HP\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Genesee County"","block_context":{"text":"Genesee County","link":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/category\/genesee-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/still-town.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/still-town.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/still-town.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/videonewsservice.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/340750673_5980528582001507_5404777380604987893_n-1.jpg?fit=1260%2C1260&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63768,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63749\/revisions\/63768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/videonewsservice.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}