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SPENCER – Both Fire Chief Robert Parsons and Spencer Rescue Emergency Squad President Patrick George have budgetary items in their department that will be included on a Proposition 2 ½ override question.
They were among presenters at a joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen on March 4.
If the Board of Selectmen opts to break out the request over three years, the question seeks $180,575 to pay for four firefighters whose grant funding is coming to an end, starting in year two.
In the third year, the override seeks the other half of funding at $187,815 for the four firefighters.
Parsons said the department has nine career firefighters with two on duty at a time 24 hours per day, seven days a week. There is another firefighter who works 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. doing community inspections and filling in where needed.
According to Parsons, Spencer only has about half of the 50 volunteer firefighters of the past. He said it is a nationwide problem and the difference in response time could be dangerous.
The fire chief outlined a series of recent fires where only a handful of call volunteer firefighters showed up.
He also spoke about the importance of response time, using an example of the center of town where it would take three minutes for career firefighters to get to versus 17 minutes for on-call volunteers.
“If there is a fire and there is anyone in that house, they will be dead,” Parsons said. “We just do not have the people anymore showing up to help out.”
In answer to questions, Parsons talked about various recruitment efforts to get volunteer firefighters that were made but did not spark enough interest such as an afterschool club at Bay Path Regional Voc-Tech.
He also spoke of losing personnel to other communities that pay higher salaries as well as a higher percentage of health insurance.
Parsons said he pursues every competitive grant opportunity he can find and has brought in $3.7 million in grants in recent years, including a FEMA regional one split with Paxton amounting to $718,000.
“I’m always searching for a deal to better the department,” Parsons added, referring to obtaining used vehicles from other communities and passing them down the ranks in the department.
Parsons also described the escalating costs of required gear that each firefighter is mandated by law to have–totaling $7,000 up from $2,500. Repairs on fire trucks typically cost $5,000 to $6,000 and take weeks to accomplish while an oil change costs $1,400 for 30 quarts.
“It’s not a Jiffy Lube thing you can do,” Parsons said.
Regarding a capital request for a replacement fire engine, he said departments must start developing specs, sign a contract and then wait three years to get a truck.
If funding for the firefighters runs out when the grant expires, Parsons said he did not know if the department would have anyone on duty to provide coverage.
“I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said.
But Selectman Ralph Hicks noted that the firefighters would be “one of the last things we will cut,” if the override fails.
Patrick George, volunteer president of the Spencer Rescue Squad, described the nonprofit organization which is guided by a nine-member Board of Directors, all unpaid. It has provided medical services to the town since 1959.
The Proposition 2 ½ override request the Board of Selectmen is preparing includes funding for the Rescue Squad contract.
The first year it would ask for $100,000 to increase the current contract of $225,000. In the two years following, the override question asks for $25,000 in both years.
Driving the need for increases is the high cost of ambulances, going from $170,000 during the contract before this one to $265,000, then $310,000. Those figures do not include the price to outfit the vehicles with things like stretchers, George said.
“Those are cheap ambulances…” Parsons interjected. “Some are close to $600,000.”
Other factors, George said, are inflation, which has increased by 30% and insurance costs of $112,000, double the amount since 2020.
George said Spencer’s age and economic demographics means that 80% of the people they transport have Medicare or Medicaid for insurance. Because of low reimbursement rates, Spencer Rescue Squad has had to write off $2.4 million of the $3.6 million billed transports.
He said the nonprofit has eight full-time paramedics/EMTs and 20 or so per diem staff. George explained they put out shifts for bid each month and individuals who may work in other towns are happy to pick up extra hours in Spencer that are convenient for them.
FinCom member Nancy Tame asked about memberships, which George explained is an offering whereby a member does not have to pay co-payments for ambulance rides not covered by their insurer.
He said the membership program is not “a big money maker but a little safety value for people in town who may not have good insurance for an ambulance ride.”
This year, George added, they wrote off $40,000 of the $60,000 collected from memberships. Fees will be raised, he said.
Parsons noted the town had considered getting other ambulance companies to do the work of the Rescue Squad.
“They want no part of us,” Parsons said. “Private ambulance companies come and go. They are in the business to make money. They don’t want to come here and lose money. And where are we going to put them?”
The fire chief added that Spencer Rescue Squad provides a service for the community. “What they are doing is good money.”
