HADLEY — Two Hadley Fire Department firefighter/ EMTs will be laid off as part of a necessary budget reduction following last month’s failed $2.25 million Proposition 2½ tax-cap override.
Under a plan presented by Fire Chief Michael Spanknebel, and approved by the Select Board on Wednesday, the department will be reduced from eight full-time firefighter/ EMTs to six full-time firefighter/ EMTS, with the remaining personnel to be supplemented by 11 active call force members.
Four of the department’s staff would work during shifts with one full-timer on duty, while the remaining two firefighter/ EMTs would be paired to work 12-hour shifts.
This preferred plan calls for one full-time member to be on duty during overnights, though this is contingent on successful negotiations with the fire union. The current contract with Hadley Firefighters Local 5486 requires a minimum staffing of two personnel at all times.
While Spanknebel offered the plan, he warned the Select Board about its implementation. “You all know I don’t think this is a good idea in any way, shape or form,’ Spanknebel said.
Spanknebel, though, said this is better than a second option that would also keep six firefighter/ EJMTs, but have three on during the day shifts to maintain the minimum two staffing. That would mean overnights would rely exclusively on call force.
Spanknebel was emotional in making his presentation, praising the firefighters and the time that has been spent building out the department. “It’s rough right now,” he said.
He lamented that ambulance revenue from the town-run ambulance, which has backed up the private Action Ambulance, hasn’t grown fast enough, though still brought in over $71,000 in the year it has operated.
The department will also no longer have a deputy chief, meaning Spanknebel will handle all inspections, and he said response times could suffer.
The plan is also dependent on a manageable amount of overtime and buys the town time for the possibility of another override request next spring, possibly more targeted for the department.
While the plan would get the department through the budget year that ends next June 30, another fire union is expressing concern about Hadley no longer having two firefighters on duty around the clock.
The Northampton Firefighters Local 108 issued a statement describing Hadley’s decisions as being “detrimental to our 911 response in Northampton.”
“The Fire Department in Hadley has done so much work over the years to become a progressive department, trying their best in meeting emergency response demands of the public, and adding a vital role of a transporting ambulance to better serve their community,” the statement reads.
It goes on to state that mutual aid will be affected, and suggests bringing concerns directly to Hadley officials.
“With diminished staffing in Hadley, this means a massive uptake in calls for Northampton Fire to respond to, ultimately leading to less apparatus and personnel in our own city to respond to emergencies,” the statement continues. “This will also cause a massive delay in Hadley responding to our own community for structure fires. Hadley will not have enough firefighters to respond immediately, causing a delay in a fire truck to respond to Northampton.”
The plan for Hadley’s Fire Department was presented after members of the Finance Committee raised the possibility of transferring the salaries for the vacant Council on Aging director and town administrator positions to help the Fire Department.
Chairwoman Amy Fyden said the Fire Department is already losing two positions, the deputy chief and a lieutenant, and doesn’t want them to be spread more thin.
The concept of swapping layoffs, as Interim Town Administrator Michael Mason put it, was not considered. “That wasn’t anything that anyone gave us a direction to do,” he said.
Select Board member David J. Fill II said voters approved a budget at annual Town Meeting in May with an understanding that firefighter positions would not be fully funded without a successful override.
Another suggestion from town officials included possible cuts to police staffing, but Mason, who is also the police chief, said that the department has already been streamlined, no longer having a school resource officer and reducing overtime. Three officers are also in training to join the department.
“We are holding on for dear life until we get those three officers back from training,” Mason said.