April 06, 2001

By Marc Van Der Pol
mvanderpol@bcnnew.com

The budgets for the Fire Department and Department of Public Works operations sustained a combined $2,198,985 cut Wednesday.

The Fire Department budget was reduced $827,185 and the Department of Public Works' operations budget was cut by $1,371,800.

At Fairfield Public Library, the Board of Finance voted to recommend a total municipal budget of $58,960,302, which represents a 2.2 percent increase from 2000-01. The board was expected to vote last night on the proposed education budget of $85,842,574, which represents an 8.5 percent increase over 2000-01. Debt service is proposed at $10,811,086, a 9.25 percent increase over last year.
The Representative Town Meeting will discuss and vote on the town and education budgets May 7 at Osborn Hill School.

Much to the dismay of the fire chief and personnel, the Fire Department will not be receiving the four additional firefighters that it requested. However, the Board of Finance did approve the recommendation made by First Selectman John Metsopoulos to add three firefighters and one fire inspector.

The Board of Finance is recommending an $8,527,802 fire budget to the RTM. The department's original request was for $9,354,987.

Fire Chief Richard Felner said, "I can't fill four holes with three pegs." Felner said he needs four firefighters to bring staffing to an appropriate level at Station 4 in Southport. Station 4 now only has two firefighters working per shift while every other station in town has three assigned to

each engine.
Felner said he would be more than willing to give up the fire inspector in order to properly staff the Southport station, and that adding a firefighter instead of an inspector would save the town some money because the salary of an inspector is slightly higher than that of a fighter.

But First Selectman John Metsopoulos said the Fire Department is in need of a new inspector and that fire prevention is just as important, if not more important, than fire suppression. "I believe this budget addresses the needs of the community," he said.

Deputy Fire Chief William Fitzgerald said, "between the chief and I, we have 70 years of experience with the Fire Department. We're telling you what we need based on our experience."
Felner said the department has not increased the number of fire personnel since 1967 and it is time to make a change especially since the department was designated first medical responder to medical emergencies in the early 1990s. "Fire calls are down, but medical calls are way, way up," he said.

Board of Finance Chairman Samuel Lazinger said he was concerned that adding four firefighters would in turn increase the overtime budget as well. But Felner said that he would "sharpen his pencil" and make cuts in other places to make up for the rise in paid overtime.
"My job is to give the citizens the fire and medical safety that they deserve," said Felner. "We're playing Russian roulette a bit here."

Further aggravating fire personnel, the Board of Finance also voted to cut funding for a new $350,000 fire pumper by 50 percent. According to the budget request, the current 1983 Seagrave pumper, or engine 7, has more than 100,000 miles in addition to structural rust problems and a leaking water tank. On Monday, the Board of Selectmen approved this $175,000 cut, which was originally proposed by Metsopoulos.
Additional cuts to the fire budget included: $9,000 for electric utilities, $12,000 for five treadmills, $3,000 for a radiation survey meter and $10,000 from the supplemental budget for a training simulator. The board added $2,811 to reclassify a fire marshal's secretary because of additional duties performed and $10,500 for three defibrillators to the supplemental budget.

The capital replacement budget approved by the Board of Selectmen was $426,500. After the Board of Finance vote, the budget stands at $227,500. The supplemental budget approved by the Board of Selectmen was $336,876 and is now $340,187 after the Board of Finance vote.
After the fire budget passed, a slew of fire personnel present at the meeting walked out noticeably angered by the board's decision.

In other cuts, the Department of Public Works' operations budget was reduced to $10,209,156 from its original request of $11,580,956.

The Board of Finance unanimously voted to eliminate a small dump truck for $42,500; a box van, $50,000; a fork lift tractor, $15,000; half of the funds for sidewalk repair and overlay, $30,000; half the funds for curb replacement and extensions, $40,000; and half the funds for the Pequot Library supplemental request for sidewalk and curb repair, $30,000.
The capital replacement budget approved by the Board of Selectmen was $627,500. After the vote by the Board of Finance, the budget stands at $495,000. The supplementary budget approved by the selectmen was $305,000; the Board of Finance approved $275,000.

In regards to the small dump truck, Superintendent of Public Works Ronald Manning said the truck is in poor shape and needs to be replaced. He said that if it is not replaced, it is likely that the entire body will need to be replaced at a cost of $2,000 to $3,000. "This is not an economical way to approach this," he said.
According to the budget request, the box van is also an old vehicle with structural problems that is not expected run on a satisfactory level for another year.

The Board of Finance was originally considering eliminating a replacement for a hydraulic catch basin cleaner that was approved by the Board of Selectmen for $110,000. But Director of Public Works Richard White said the department is under pressure from the Department of Environmental Protection to keep the basins clean and that replacing the equipment would be much less costly to maintain than the current cleaner and would have the additional capacity for cleaning roadside ditches.
The board was also considering taking out a loader and backhoe approved by the selectmen for $73,000. But Manning said the cost to fix the current equipment would be much greater than the effects of depreciation of a new machine. "This is the number one thing we ought to have," he said. "It would be a costly mistake not to replace it."

Board of Finance Chairman Samuel Lazinger said, "We're not eager to have to make these cuts, but it is the responsibility of the Board of Finance to make the best decisions possible. We're not picking out any department or person, but we're trying to find a way to make a minimal impact on the tax payer."
The Board of Finance made the following recommendations: Police Department, $9,876,523, a 2.1 percent decrease over the 2000-01 budget; Animal Control, $302,198, a 12.5 percent increase; street lighting, $590,000, a 3.5 percent increase; hydrant and water service, $1,375,000, no change; Emergency Management, $26,555, a 9.3 percent increase; Flood and Erosion Control, $11,645, no change; and Emergency Communications Center, $1,223,939, a 0.9 percent decrease. The total recommendation for Public Safety was $21,933,682, a .5 percent decrease.
The following recommendations were made for each department under Public Works: public works administration, $540,802, an 8 percent increase; Building Department, $442,945, a 16.1 percent increase; engineering, $442,294, an 8.9 percent increase; and Park Operations, $116,676, a 74.5 percent decrease. The total recommendation made for Public Works was $11,751,873, a 1 percent increase.

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