WATERTOWN, NY—A heated debate on Wednesday night whether to purchase a new fire department ladder truck generated the only sparks for this spring’s city budget deliberations.
Fire Chief Dale C. Herman and City Manager Rick Finn got into a disagreement over purchasing a new aerial truck for $1.3 million that would replace a 1986 ladder truck or refurbishing the 2004 Pierce truck for $220,000.
Mr. Finn argued that the city could refurbish the 2004 ladder truck, keep it on the road for another five to seven years and then replace it.
In the end, council members decided to wait on a new ladder truck.
Mayor Joseph Butler Jr. warned council members that the city will be taking on too much debt for a new $2.4 million pool at Thompson Park, about $3.1 million in a court expansion and other planned projects, so he opposed purchasing a new truck now.
“You can’t buy a pool,” he said. “You can’t buy everything else.”
However, Chief Herman said the fire department needs two ladder trucks because it cannot rely on getting enough manpower from the town of Watertown to bring in an aerial truck to respond to city fires and the Fort Drum Fire Department is having its own repair issues with its ladder truck.
With the city’s financial constraints, Mr. Finn contended the city “cannot have the luxury of having” two ladder trucks.
Council members also agreed not to appropriate $50,000 for a pickup truck that the fire chief requested that would replace a 2006 Ford Taurus that’s having major repair issues.
Mr. Finn said it wasn’t needed.
“It’s inappropriate,” he said. “All of my years’ experience, to have a back fleet of this size as they have, it’s not normal.”
In its fleet, the fire department has a 2006 Silverado, a 2008 Durango, a 2008 Tahoe, five fire pump trucks, a rescue truck and a 2014 pickup that battalion chiefs use on calls.
During Wednesday’s 90-minute rancorous discussion of the fire department, council members also had a lengthy debate about staffing as the city and the firefighters’ union begin to wind down a nearly five-year contract dispute.
Once the contract stalemate ends, the city will decide on how to staff a fire education position, whether to bring back the fire prevention bureau and whether to re-establish fire inspections.
They also discussed the $576,000 that’s budgeted in overtime and how firefighters who are out with long-term injuries and illnesses and adding eight firefighters to the department through two federal grants will impact the next fiscal year.
No changes were made in the fire department Wednesday night, however.
Council members did agree to cut $5,000 for a dog park study and transfer another $5,000 from risk retention to add summer playgrounds at Academy and Portage streets.
The Parks and Recreation Department had planned to staff three summer playgrounds this summer, at Thompson Park, Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds and North Elementary School.
Despite the contentious tone of Wednesday’s meeting, Councilwoman Lisa A. Ruggiero said she was pleased with the overall nature of this spring’s budget deliberations.
She noted that council held seven budget sessions last year that lasted as long as four hours, compared to only three meetings this year. The final session on Wednesday night ended before 8:30 p.m. and lasted less than 2½ hours.
She credited Mr. Finn for proposing a $44,198,031 spending plan that carries a 1.66 percent tax rate increase.
Council members plan to adopt the budget Wednesday night.
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