Dissolution of NY Fire District Sparks Outcry

Sept. 21, 2018
Town of Oneonta Fire District commissioners have voted for dissolution, turning negotiations on a fire protection contract over to the town board.

Sept. 21 -- Town of Oneonta Fire District commissioners voted Thursday night 3 to 2 for dissolution, turning the job of negotiating a fire protection contract over to the Oneonta Town Board, which objects to the step.

Supervisor Robert Wood said the Town Board plans to take legal action to block the dissolution. Town board member Patricia Riddell Kent said all of the town board members are concerned about the dissolution.

“This is not in the best interests of the residents in the town,” she said.

Chairwoman Johna Peachin and commissioners Ron Peters and Fernando “Fred” Volpe voted for dissolution, and commissioners Alan Rubin and Michelle Catan voted against the proposal.

About 30 people, including town board members, residents and others attended the fire commissioners' meeting at the Elm Park United Methodist Church at 6 p.m. Thursday, and many lingered outside after the meeting's quick adjournment. Without an opportunity to comment during the meeting, they talked openly afterward.

The fire district for decades has contracted for fire protection services with the city of Oneonta, which has a paid fire department. The district includes most of the town, and West Oneonta is covered by a volunteer department.

Talks stalled months ago, although Oneonta Mayor Gary Herzig repeatedly has welcomed opportunities to continue negotiations.

The current three-year contract was hammered out in state Supreme Court after the city took the district to court in 2015 when negotiations stalled. Under the contract, the fire district's cost for this year was $1.1 million, up from $1.05 million last year and $1.03 million in 2016.

Also Thursday, commissioners also adopted a 2019 proposed budget on Thursday that includes $395,186 for the fire contract.

Catan asked how a budget could be considered with less than the city requested for coverage.

Peachin explained later that under the budget proposal, if the contract price is $1.1 million, then 75 percent of cost would be for ambulance expenses and 25 percent for fire protection. Peachin has objected to the contract with the city based on a position she described as unfair imposition of ambulance costs on district residents.

Commissioners will have a hearing on the proposed budget Oct. 16 and vote on the plan, Peachin said. The district commissioners are mandated to approve a budget, she said, and after Nov. 2, the Town Board “will take over everything” and be responsible for fire protection coverage, including making up for amounts not covered. The Town Board can decide on how to contract for fire protection and ambulance services, she said.

The proposal to dissolve was adopted Aug. 14, and on Tuesday night, commissioners held a public hearing on the plan during a regular business meeting.

Peachin said with a dissolution, the “fire district” becomes a “fire protection district.” Fire districts can form fire departments, she said, but fire protection districts must contract for coverage.

Peachin said dissolution and “getting rid of improper billing” by the city for ambulance services was the only way to create fairness. “It solved all the problems,” she said.

Residents have voiced preference for maintaining fire protection provided by the Oneonta Fire Department. Commissioners previously introduced but didn't pursue an idea of establishing a fire department in the district.

Town Board members voiced objections to the commissioners who voted for dissolution.

“This basically is a temper tantrum on their part because they didn't get their way,” said Wood.

Last week, the Town Board authorized taking legal action against the district if the dissolution proposal was passed, he said, and on Friday, the town will continue discussions with its attorney, Robert Panasci of Albany, about a lawsuit, citing a lack of time for the change and to include fiscal matters in the town's budget for next year.

Peachin said commissioners spoke to the town board members earlier this year about the possibility of dissolution. When asked about the possibility of legal action, Peachin said that the town's attorney had inappropriately contacted commissioners, not the district's attorney, about the dissolution proposal. She described Panasci's message as a threat, to which she had “no response.”

While the fire district has a contract with the city of Oneonta for fire protection services, the Oneonta Town Board has a contract with the city for ambulance services for $24,000.

The city bills patients for ambulance use.

The contract with the district is for only fire protection services, according to Herzig. He said he wouldn't miss the three commissioners who voted for dissolution.

“Not getting everything they wanted, three commissioners decided to destroy the system instead of resigning honorably,” Herzig said. “I stopped being surprised by these commissioners a long time ago.”

Commissioners Rubin and Catan voted against the dissolution. They had been meeting in recent days with the city's contract negotiating team and had a reached a general five-year agreement.

The Oneonta Fire Department budget is about $3 million.

Rubin said the “threat of dissolution” has increased public awareness about questions of fairness regarding ambulance costs, and the next step should be a campaign to inform constituents about that and other factors in the contract with the city.

“There wasn't enough time for the public to be engaged,” Rubin said. “Dissolution wasn't the way to achieve the goals.”

Rubin said he and Catan, who were elected late last year, wanted to fulfill their duties and continue talks with the city toward establishing a contract.

At the meeting Thursday, Rubin told the three opposing commissioners that he was disappointed that they weren't allowing him to have a chance to work on the general agreement and exact a positive result that could include more oversight of contract factors by the district.

During the meeting Thursday, Peachin refused to allow comments from the public or from the town supervisor, even though Volpe was asking another commissioner about town board members' positions.

Board member Patricia Jacob said immediately after the meeting was adjourned that the three commissioners supporting the dissolution were being unfair to their constituents and showing “blatant disregard for this community.”

___ (c)2018 The Daily Star (Oneonta, N.Y.) Visit The Daily Star (Oneonta, N.Y.) at www.thedailystar.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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