Voters to Decide if PA Fire Department Stays Full Time
By Eric Mark
Source The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Larksville voters will decide whether they want to pay higher taxes to keep the borough’s full-time paid fire department.
With firefighters and dozens of their supporters gathered outside the Larksvillle municipal building Tuesday night, borough council unanimously approved placing a referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot, asking borough residents to vote yes or no on a property tax increase to pay for the full-time department.
Council did not specify the amount of the proposed tax increase. That will be decided before the end of this month, council solicitor Lawrence Moran said.
The future of the fire department blew up into a major controversy in the past week.
Larksville has around-the-clock coverage from three full-time firefighters and about 11 part-timers, as well as volunteers.
The borough’s contract with its unionized firefighters expires at the end of this year. After reaching an impasse in negotiations for a new contract, the borough notified the union two weeks ago it will consider options that include disbanding the full-time department and transitioning to a mixture of part-timers, volunteers and sub-contractors.
That sparked an outcry from firefighters and Larksville residents who said the borough was placing money above safety.
Larksville officials said the cash-strapped borough cannot afford to meet the union’s demands, especially in times of economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Both sides repeated those arguments Tuesday.
“We have to be fiscally responsible,” council Vice Chairman John Pekarovsky said, after the meeting.
“It’s just a function of what we can afford,” Moran said.
Before the meeting, a group strongly opposed to disbanding the full-time department assembled in the parking lot of the borough complex, which includes the fire station.
“Saving money over lives is never a good idea,” said Justin Davis, a volunteer firefighter and former part-time paid driver.
Volunteer firefighter Joseph Miller said relying solely on part-timers and volunteers would lead to delays in response times that could cost lives.
Davis and Miller rejected the argument Pekarovsky made Monday, that nearby towns of roughly the same size as Larksville employ few or no full-time firefighters.
Larksville includes a large elementary school and senior living centers, is near heavily traveled highways and fire trucks must climb steep hills to respond to calls on Larksville Mountain, they said.
John Fronzoni, a full-time firefighter and union steward for the department, said borough officials mischaracterized the union’s demands regarding wages and health insurance.
He said it is true the union initially asked for raises of 5% each year, but added that was just “starting a little bit high” for the negotiating process.
“We are not being unreasonable,” Fronzoni said, adding the union was “blindsided” by the letter from the borough stating the department might be disbanded.
One thing both sides agree on: Arbitration is scheduled for Oct. 23 and negotiations, while stalled for now, could resume before then.
Borough council will notify the county board of elections of the referendum, so it may be placed on the ballot for the November election, Moran said.
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