Village, town weigh joint fire district

[JetPhoto 626]

From the Recordonline.com

Village, town weigh joint fire district

By Simon Shifrin

Times Herald-Record

October 25, 2007

Otisville — A renewed effort to form a joint Otisville-Mount Hope fire district is gathering steam.

Otisville firefighters held an open house Tuesday night to explain to the public why they want to try one more time to operate independent of the village, despite a failed effort three years ago.

This time around, they might get the blessing of Otisville officials, who said at the meeting that they only need the right information to present to taxpayers.

"Tell me what I can tell people," said Trustee Diane Loeven. "Nobody ever gave me an answer (last time)."

Town of Mount Hope officials already back the plan for a joint fire district. Town taxpayers pay 80 percent of the fire department's budget, but have no say in how the village manages the spending.

That led to a dispute last year in which the town refused to pay a bill in full to the village, and the village, in turn, threatened to cut fire protection to the town.

"We were used as a political pawn," said Keith Hedberg, first lieutenant in the Otisville Fire Department. "For anybody to put my family's life in jeopardy or someone else's family's life in jeopardy is just wrong."

But firefighters said politics is not the only issue. The new district would have five commissioners elected by the public. Any spending that would incur debt would have to be approved by voters.

Lou Dodd, the former Otisville fire chief who spearheaded the effort three years ago, said the firefighters mainly want the district so they can leave day-to-day operations in the hands of the commissioners.

"Right now, the people that are on the Village Board, they have to run the village, which is no easy task," Dodd said. "It all drops on the chief. I can speak from experience. That's where it falls."

The firefighters also tried to dispel rumors that the district would cause taxes to skyrocket and that they would just "go out and buy a bunch of toys.

"If we need a firetruck, it goes to a vote," Dodd said. "That's more of an option than you get now."

Creating a joint fire district

Advantages

• All voters would have greater influence over fire company spending by electing fire commissioners and voting on all debt incurred.

• The state has greater oversight over fire districts, unlike village-controlled fire departments. That includes annual audits and a host of new regulations.

• Village and town politics would be removed from the fire company.

Disadvantages

• Every fire district requires a secretary and treasurer as well as the costs of annual independent audits and possible legal fees.

• While removed from municipal politics, the elected fire commissioners are not immune from internal fire department politics