Questions Still About The End Of The Berlin- Taborton Fire District Contract

by David Flint
The Board of Fire Commissioners of the Taborton Fire District has taken issue with comments made by Berlin Fire District representatives reported in The Eastwick Press on February 4 regarding the end of a long time contract between the Berlin and Taborton fire districts. According to Fredric DeMay, Chairman of the Taborton Board, there were several issues that they disagree with.
Regarding the money matter, the Taborton Board apparently agrees essentially with the facts as stated, that there had been a verbal agreement reached in 2009 by which Berlin would gradually over 12 years increase their payments to 80% of the fire district taxes collected in the contract coverage area. But Berlin later reconsidered, offered $6,600 for the year 2011 based on an estimated $700 per call in the area and then subsequently decided to terminate the contract altogether.
In DeMay’s words, “Any contract for coverage is based on the capability to provide services because of infrastructure, not solely on the frequency of that coverage. The per diem concept was not acceptable by any accounting or budget planning standard.  The bottom line is that Berlin expected it would be able to pay Taborton significantly less than the 30% of taxes collected (in 2011) as originally agreed while keeping over 70%.”
Regarding mutual aid and how Taborton would respond to a fire in the area, DeMay affirmed that Taborton will continue to honor the County agreement on mutual aid. This agreement, he said, addresses how fire districts respond to a County emergency, and not how districts and companies assist one another. He pointed out that Taborton’s resolution restricting out of district aid to Berlin is authorized by NYS General Municipal Law (Article 10, Section 209) which states that a fire district “may restrict such outside service and training to such extent as it shall deem advisable.” The resolution, he said, “States in essence that the Taborton Fire Company is authorized to respond to requests for mutual aid from Berlin when requested by a Berlin Commanding Officer who is on the scene of a call with appropriate apparatus and has made a determination that aid is required. The resolution also clarifies that Taborton is in a subordinate role to Berlin and limits support to functions such as water supply, external structural suppression, EMT services, communication support and traffic control.” The Taborton BFC, DeMay said, feels that this resolution compels Berlin to provide actual physical services to the former contract area while maintaining adequate mutual aid coverage from Taborton if needed.
DeMay disagreed with Berlin Fire Chief William Osterhout’s contention that the insurance ratings for residents in the area would not change. He pointed out that the current rating of 9 in the ISO Public Protection Classification system is based on residences being within five miles of a firehouse. Google Maps indicates that the distance from the Berlin Fire House to the intersection of Bower Road and Taborton Road is 10.3 miles. Information on the ISO website (isomitigation.com) indicates that ISO generally assigns Class 10 to properties beyond five road miles of a fire station, which means that the area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria. “The simple fact is,” DeMay said, “that the Berlin fire house is well over five miles away from the coverage area and the residents of that area may well be in an unprotected zone.  We repeat our advice that the insurance experts we consulted recommended that residents consult their agents.”
DeMay also disagreed with the opinion of Bruce Hake Jr., Vice Chairman of the Berlin Board of Fire Commissioners, that a petition to redistrict would have to be voted on by all the residents of Berlin. He cited Article 11, Section 171 of NYS Town Law which says that a petition signed by residents of a proposed new or extended district would be presented to the Town Boards which would then schedule a public hearing and make a decision by resolution, without any vote involved. DeMay said that his Board has received numerous inquiries about the petition process and they intend to hold informational meetings in the early summer when seasonal residents are back in the area.
Attorney Bradley Pinsky of the law firm Sciccitano & Pinsky, a firm that specializes in EMS and fire protection law and has been advising the Berlin Fire Commissioners, said that the law cited does not apply here because the area in question is located in an existing fire district. The section of law cited has to do with establishing a new district or extending one, neither of which actions applies in this instance. He said there is no mechanism in law to cut out a part of an existing fire district. It is possible though questionable, he said, that it could be done under other Articles of the same law which provide for alteration or diminishing of a fire district’s boundaries, but in any case the action would have to be initiated or at least agreed to by the Berlin Fire Commissioners. Berlin would have to alter the district by its own volition, he said, it cannot be forced on them by a fire district in another town. Pinsky concluded that the idea of organizing a petition process to extend the boundaries of the Taborton Fire District into Berlin’s territory is without basis in law.
DeMay acknowledged that Berlin now has modern equipment that can make it up the mountain at 45 mph, but said, “The issue of response time still looms large. There is simply no way of getting around the fact that the Berlin Fire House is about ten miles away from the coverage area with a mountain in between. Any call requires members first getting to the fire house and gearing up, getting apparatus out the door, then up the mountain to the scene of the incident. Under absolutely ideal conditions this still takes a considerable amount of time and effort.”
Bruce Hake declined to comment on the Taborton Commissioners’ objections to what was reported earlier, beyond saying that these were their views and the Berlin Commissioners had already expressed theirs. The question about redistricting he referred to Attorney Pinsky.