Mass. Selectmen Seek to Shift Fire Board Power
Source Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
Feb. 20--TRURO -- The board of selectmen will propose a change in management of the town's fire department at the spring annual town meeting on April 24, town officials said last week.
Currently the selectmen appoint seven people each year to the volunteer board of fire engineers, which governs the department. The fire engineers, in turn, appoint a part-time fire chief.
The selectmen will propose in an article on the town meeting warrant that the selectmen appoint the fire chief and that day-to-day responsibility for management of the fire chief will rest with the town administrator, Truro Town Administrator Rex Peterson said. The selectmen may also propose that the board of fire engineers be reduced from seven members to three, Peterson said.
The selectmen's proposal comes after a tumultuous few years of oversight in the department, following the resignation in early 2008 of former part-time Fire Chief E. Thomas Prada, a firefighter for 49 years.
The selectmen have said in recent months that their expectations for ensuring the long-term viability of the department, such as development of a five-year plan, have not been met.
"I can't really have a role to direct or start sorting out any of the problems over there," Peterson said of the current arrangement.
Truro Fire Chief Brian Davis said last week that he is still learning about the selectmen's proposal and would have more to say in the coming days.
The department has 26 paid, on-call firefighters and medical rescuers, but could use at least 40, fire Capt. Leo Childs said. Emergency medical services in Truro and ambulance transportation to a hospital in Hyannis are augmented by the nonprofit Lower Cape Ambulance Association.
The proposed change in fire department management would not take effect until after the annual town election in 2013, Peterson said.
The proposal requires a change in the town charter, and the selectmen plan to propose that change via a town meeting vote and then a town election vote, he said.
Copyright 2012 - Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
