Supporter says $370k contract for District 4 ‘the best deal in town’
The Town of Glenville voted Wednesday, Dec. 16, to continue using the Village of Scotia Fire Department to cover Fire District 4 through 2010.
Before the contract was put to vote, residents discussed the ability of both Beukendaal Volunteer Fire Department and Scotia Fire Department to address the needs of District 4 in relation to speed and efficiency.
In the end, the town voted to go with the Scotia Fire Department to the tune of $370,000.
Scotia’s service is more costly, but Scotia provides professional firefighters on call 24 hours a day, said Michael Schermerhorn, a Glenville resident in favor of the contract
Schermerhorn said that while the price for the service might be higher than the volunteer fire departments in the area, the residents of the fire district are more than willing to pay for that service. `For $2.05 per day, to me, that’s the best deal in town,` he said
Local resident Virginia Graney also spoke at the hearing, stating that while she saw no response time difference between the two departments, she did feel as if she was being `ripped off` by the town since the only people who come out to the public hearings are in support of the Scotia Fire Department.
While supporters for both departments came out in force Wednesday, Fire Commissioner Dave Gallup spoke out about stopping animosity between the two entities.
`Every time this comes up, it stirs up the bad blood between Beukendaal and the Scotia Fire Department,` said Gallup.
The Scotia Fire Department is a mixture of both professional and volunteer fire fighters, while the Bukendaal Fire Department is a volunteer based program.
Town Supervisor Frank Quinn asked to amend the contract first to put up to vote for the Bukendaal Fire Department, stating that with six volunteer fire departments in the area, there is no significant statistical difference between the Scotia Fire Department and the Beukendaal Fire Department.
`We have six volunteer fire departments that cover the area,` said Quinn. `There’s not a statistically significant difference between the programs. I cannot in good conscience make a decision that would increase taxes by 75 percent.`
Quinn’s amendment failed to pass, bringing back the original resolution to award the contract to the Scotia Fire Department, which passed 3-to-1.
Both Republican town board members Mark Quinn and supervisor-elect Chris Koetzle agreed that while Supervisor Quinn may not agree with the tax increase for the services provided by the Scotia Fire Department, the people of Scotia are in favor of the decision.
`The people of District 4 are well aware of the cost difference and see it as an insurance,` said Mark Quinn.
In other action, the Glenville Town Board approved a resolution to appoint Luke Benoit to the part-time seasonal position of recreation attendant for Indian Meadows. Benoit will be in charge of ski trails, ice rinks and the sledding hill from Dec. 17 to March 28.
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