HomeMy WebLinkAboutnewspaper articles odd and ends efvc 2_0011Thursday, Nov. 10, 1983 • ITHACA JOURNAL 3
More local news
Pages 4 — 6
Time winding down for Enfield firefighters, town
By LEE SCOTT
Journal Staff
Enfield Elementary School and some 2,300 Town of
Enfield residents might be left high and very dry if the
town and fire company can't agree on a contract by
Dec. 31.
Negotiations between the Enfield Fire Company and
the Enfield Town Board stalled on Nov. 2 when the fire
company refused to accept what the town board called
its final budget offer of $36,000.
According to fire company member George May,
contacted Wednesday, there's been no further move-
ment on negotiations since then.
At the November town board meeting, Fire Chief
Denny Hubbell explained that the fire company had
proposed a figure of $46,000, then after two months of
negotiations, had cut the request to $41,000. He said the
company will not cut its request further. Hubbell issued
an ultimatum, saying that if no agreement is reached
by Dec. 31, the fire company will close the Enfield
station.
Hubbell said that while the company has traditionally
supplemented its operating budget with fundraisers,
the cost of equipment and maintenance has risen too
much to continue the practice. Hubbell said the
company winds up paying for things that should be
footed by the taxpayers.
Enfield Town Supervisor Roger Hubbell, a distant
cousin of the fire chief, said Wednesday that the town's
last offer had been adopted as part of the budget and
"by state law, we can't go no higher." He said he 1 -
doesn't foresee the town board coming up witha new
offer, and that the issue now lies with the firefighters.
"I expect we'll be hearing from them before our next
town board meeting on Dec. 7," said Hubbell.
Supervisor Hubbell said that while formal talks are
ended, he's been talking informally with firefighters.
He can't help it, he said, because he bumps into them
wherever he goes in town and at the fire house. Hubbell
is a lifetime member of the fire company himself.
Town board member David Bock said Wednesday ;
that the board's offer of $36,000 is "clearly a case of
them not supplying service because they're not being
given what they want; not because they couldn't
operate." He said the board's offer "more than on
the company's basic operating needs" because it is the
amount the company itself estimated would cover its
needs.
The company's last contract with the town included a
$24,000 operating budget plus an extra $5,000 for truck
replacements, Bock said.
Fire Chief Hubbell said, "there is no allowance for
trucic replacement in the $36,000 figure. We can run the
company without it, but we can't go anywhere if we
have to replace a truck. It's a choice of paying a little
over the years, or a lot at once in case of emergency."
Meanwhile, Ithaca school district administrators are
scrannbling to determine the legal implications for
Enfie-ld Elementary School if the school is left without
fire porotection.
Ace ording to business manager Gary Lindenbaum,
the di --strict's insurance carrier — Maryland Casualty —
has said it won':' cancel the school's fire insurance if
there' s no local fire company on call. But that's not the
point, Lindenbaum said, "The safety of the kids is the
forem ost issue."
Mutual assist- �e from nearby towns will not be
possible, May explained. Mutual assistance calls must
be made to a primary fire company under insurance
protection of that company. Without a primary com-
pany in Enfield, fire companies from surrounding,
towns wouldn't dare respond for mutual assistanc
calls, he said.
The fire company, composed of 50 volunteers, serves
the Enfield Fire Protection District — a six -square -
mile region centered on the Village of Enfield. Approx-
imately 2,300 residents are served. May said the
company has responded to several calls at the Enfield
school this year, primarily to provide emergency
rescue. A heavier user of the company services is upper
Treman Park, part of the state park system, said May.
Other requests are about evenly divided between fire
alerts and calls for emergency rescue from private
residents, he said.
May said state park authorities have backed the
firefighters' request for more money.
If the Enfield fire company stops operation, said
May, "I'm worried that residents might have their fire
insurance canceled or their insurance premiums raised
sky high." _ .-