Date: Fri 04-Oct-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Cascella-volunteers-fees

Full Text:

Cascella Seeks Fee Waivers For Emergency Volunteers

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

To show the town's appreciation for all that Newtown's volunteer emergency

workers do, First Selectman Bob Cascella has proposed waiving their fees for

the town dump and swimming pool permits.

"It's a small price to pay for the service we get," Mr Cascella said.

The first selectman knows how much money the town saves by having volunteer

fire and ambulance companies rather than a paid system and wants to make sure

the incentive to become a volunteer remains. He wants to avoid having to ever

create a paid fire department system.

These days, being a volunteer firefighter or EMT has become increasingly more

demanding, especially in Newtown, where the town continues to experience rapid

growth.

As Hook & Ladder Fire Company Chief Steve Murphy points out, towns with a

police department and paid fire department usually dole out about the same

amount of money for both in the budget. With Newtown's police budget this year

in the neighborhood of $1.5 million dollars and the fire budget at

$300,000-plus, he estimates the town is saving about a million dollars for

having a volunteer service.

Those volunteers responding to a certain percentage of emergency calls and

work details each year would be eligible for both the transfer station and

park permits, according to Board of Fire Commissioners chairman Kevin Cragin.

In the past, the town has considered a pension plan for volunteer firefighters

who have served for a significant number of years, but that plan never gained

much momentum with the Board of Education and the Legislative Council.

Mr Cragin points out, however, other area towns have started the pension plan

for volunteer emergency personnel so "it's not like it's a wild idea."

In Brookfield, the Board of Selectmen is considering the adoption of a service

awards program, which would offer firefighters a pension plan for the first

time. According to Brookfield First Selectman Bonnie Smith, the pension plan

would cost the town $28,000 for the first year and $33,000 for each year after

that.

Many of Newtown's volunteer firefighters joined Mr Cascella and State Rep

Julia Wasserman a year ago in Hartford where they spoke on behalf of a

proposed bill that would have allowed towns to defer a portion of a volunteer

emergency worker's property tax, but the idea never made it out of committee

in Hartford.