Fire chief outlines $749,165 department total; board debates two fire capital‑reserve warrant articles

Chair (speaker 1) reopened the recessed public hearing and turned to the fire department budget, where Fire Chief Rick (speaker 8) walked the board through a detailed line‑by‑line presentation of salary and operations costs. The chief said top payroll drivers include call pay — projected at $72,000 — training pay (estimated at $35,000) and supplemental training ($12,100), and explained that a townwide compensation policy taking effect Jan. 1, 2026, increased salary costs to recognize tenure and certification.

Why it matters: The department’s proposed appropriation and a set of related warrant articles would affect both the operating budget and the town’s capital‑reserve strategy for long‑lead equipment such as self‑contained breathing apparatus and fire trucks. That matters for taxpayers and for the department’s ability to replace obsolete apparatus without large single‑year tax spikes.

Chief Rick told the board that his call‑volume projection for 2026 is 250 calls, with an average call time of about 1.5 hours and an average hourly rate of $31.26 — numbers the chief used to justify the $72,000 call‑pay line. During board questions, members probed math and averaging assumptions for training and call pay; one member pointed out apparent double‑counting concerns during a training‑hours calculation and asked staff to reconcile the method with past practice.

The chief also discussed several non‑pay lines: a $500 revolving sprinkler‑inspection line that is paid back by building owners, equipment maintenance and fire‑pump maintenance (the chief reported a recent $15,000 repair need), and an overtime request the chief proposed raising to $15,000. The board suggested recording the sprinkler work as both expense and offsetting revenue or having the contractor pay the inspector directly to reduce town accounting workload.

Warrant‑article debate: The hearing included three related warrant articles. The first would add $50,000 to the existing Fire Truck Capital Reserve Fund and authorize sale proceeds from retired apparatus to be deposited into that fund. Board members and public commenters debated whether $50,000 is the right annual deposit given the depreciated resale value of used apparatus — the chief said some vehicles are blue‑booked near $100,000 but market value can be much lower — and noted the department’s CIP anticipates a replacement delivery in 2030–2031.

A second article would rename and broaden the truck reserve into a Fire Equipment Capital Reserve Fund (proposed appropriation $25,000) to allow purchases of SCBAs, radios and other life‑safety gear sooner than truck replacement. Board members discussed sequencing (rename before funding) and whether the articles’ agent‑to‑expend language needs adjustment because expenditures from town accounts ultimately require select‑board signatures and sometimes trustees of trust funds or DRA signoff.

Public comment: Resident Brendan (speaker 5) said he would not support the $50,000 appropriation this year given other budget pressures. Chief Rick acknowledged prize uncertainty on auction proceeds and urged building a reserve to avoid larger tax asks later for life‑safety equipment (he singled out SCBAs as a near‑term need).

Outcome and next step: After amendments on some line items and discussion, Chair (speaker 1) reported a revised fire‑department total of $749,165 and closed the fire‑department portion of the hearing. The board did not vote on the warrant articles that night and instead recessed the overall public hearing to allow further review and follow‑up before final votes at a later meeting.