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Select Board Recommends Against $225,703 Petition to Add 24‑Hour Firefighter/EMT Position
Summary
A citizen petition to raise $225,703 for a 24-hour per diem firefighter/EMT drew lengthy debate over mutual aid statistics, budget impact and lack of conclusive marginal public-safety data; the Select Board recommended against the appropriation by a 3–2 vote.
The Brentwood Select Board voted 3–2 to recommend against a citizen petition seeking $225,703 to fund a 24-hour per diem firefighter/EMT position beginning April 1, 2026. The petition sponsor asked the town to fund a staffing change the petition describes as supporting a three-person engine company “in accordance with the NFPA ... and OSHA.”
Speaker 4, who presented the petition, argued the position would improve emergency response capabilities. Board members asked for supporting data about the marginal public-safety benefits of the additional staffing. Several members said the submission relied in part on anecdotal evidence from the fire chief, who described an incident where three personnel enabled the department to “roll a truck immediately” and recover belongings. Other members asked for empirical measures (reduction in response time, fewer structure losses, or clinical outcomes) and mutual-aid breakdowns.
Discussion included mutual-aid statistics: the board discussed totals of in-town calls, mutual-aid calls received and mutual-aid calls sent. Board members disagreed on how to present the figures and whether ambulance/revolving-account calls should be separated from fire calls for a like-for-like comparison. Some members expressed concern about a recurring $225,703 annual cost on top of recent budget increases and said a smaller alternative proposal (for example, 12‑hour coverage) might have been appropriate.
After extended debate, the Select Board recorded a recommendation against the appropriation by voice/roll call and documented the vote as 3 against, 2 in favor. The board discussed that petition warrants requiring appropriation trigger different Select Board duties (a recommendation for or against), and that petitioners and the public will have the final decision at town meeting.
