Consultant’s report raises controversy Some call it ‘a waste of $3,500’

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UNION – A consultant’s report on the town’s fire and emergency medical services departments has sparked questions and concerns by some residents.

One of the primary concerns is why taxpayers were not consulted on spending $3,500 for the 23-page evaluation.

The consultant’s report – which recommends fire and ambulance services come together under one department led by one chief – was conducted by FES Consulting of Freeport.

In 1993, the joint fire and ambulance service split into two departments.

Now, a consultant is suggesting they reunite.

Currently, the town of some 2,400 people has 29 paid on-call fire department members and 35 emergency medical services personnel.

The findings were presented to selectmen and fire and ambulance personnel Jan. 19. At a selectmen’s meeting last week, the public asked “seven pages'” worth of questions regarding the study that Town Manager Andrew Hart plans to address at an upcoming selectmen’s meeting Tuesday.

Some people want to know why the public was not involved in approving the study and funding for a consultant. Others have concerns about the accuracy of the report.

In an interview Friday, Hart said he viewed the hiring of a consultant as an interdepartmental action for which the money was available in the legal account and was approved by selectmen.

The report makes recommendations that some former and current fire department members say are already in place or at least had been.

For example, the report indicates that record-keeping is not up to par.

“Record-keeping needs to happen,” the report concludes. “It is an essential part of planning for the future and important for accountability. Personnel files should be established, as well as training files, and health records for Hep B/ Medical Exams/Respirator Fit Testing.”

“The consultant – they never asked me one question,” former Fire Chief Paul Doughty said Sunday. “The evaluation doesn’t say if it’s good or bad or what we did in the past.” Doughty, a life member who retired in June, had been chief for 12 years and on the department since 1979.

“I think it’s a waste of $3,500,” Doughty said. “I think we’re already doing what it says.”

Interim Fire Chief Barry Norris and Hart think people are misinterpreting the report.

The consultant is not saying “that there’s no training records,” Norris said, rather that there are better ways of keeping the records. What Norris sees the consultant saying is “here’s what’s good. Here’s how you can make it better.”

“I don’t think it’s factual,” Bill Packard, a 27-year fire department member and former assistant chief, said Sunday of the report. He left the department in 2004 because he didn’t like “the direction the department was going.”

According to Packard, the records, which were kept by his daughter, Tera Corson, were up-to-date.

On Sunday, Corson said she, too, was never interviewed by the consulting firm. After 13 years of service, she left the department in September for “personal reasons.” She was a lieutenant and secretary who kept all the records mentioned in the report and headed the public education program.

“Everything was up-to-date when [FES Consulting] started interviewing people in September,” she said.

Corson referred to the report as “a negative to the department.”

Packard questions how the town can implement any of the consultant’s recommendations if the report is inaccurate.

Besides merging fire and EMS departments, the report recommends hiring a fire chief, through an interview process, who would command the unified department.

And personnel would have to meet established criteria to join the department. Past practice had been for the department members to elect a fire chief and its members.

Packard says the whole process raises questions. He asked what prompted the review and why taxpayers were not involved.

According to Hart, the town has never had such a review since he began his job in 1994. He thought it prudent to enlist an independent consultant given today’s climate regarding mandates and liabilities. He also indicated there was conflict within the department.

The study was done to review current operations and the structure of the department, improve efficiency, eliminate duplication and increase community support, Hart said.

Packard says the town has a wealth of experienced citizens who could have reviewed the department without having to spend money.

Although the report recommends one chief to lead both fire and ambulance, it does not suggest the position be full-time, Hart said.

The fire chief’s pay would increase from $2,000 per year to $6,000 annually. The assistant fire chief’s stipend would climb from $2,000 to $4,000 and the ambulance director’s pay would remain at $4,000.

Any of the recommendations, including equipment purchases, would be assessed for need and would go before voters for funding approval, Hart said.

Sixteen people representing a cross section of fire and ambulance personnel were interviewed by the consultant, according to Norris.

“The troubling thing is both departments were interviewed,” Hart said. “The recommendations in that report came out of the interviews.”