While the highlight of the Plainville Fire District’s annual election last week was the approval of Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) benefits for volunteer firefighters, the vote has sparked a discussion among fire district officials about improving communication with the public.
Residents of the Plainville Fire District voted Dec. 9 to approve LOSAP for the 20 volunteer firefighters in the Plainville Fire Department. The referendum passed 46-30. There was one blank ballot and one void ballot.
Also in the Dec. 9 election, Jim Slenker was elected to a five-year term as fire commissioner. Slenker, who ran unopposed, replaces outgoing Fire Commissioner Ed Brown.
Kathy Thomas, secretary-treasurer for the district’s Board of Fire Commissioners, said, prior to this year, the highest number of voters at a Plainville Fire District election was 16. This year, 78 residents participated, presumably due to the controversial LOSAP proposition.
LOSAP provides retirement, disability and death benefits for eligible volunteer firefighters who earn 50 “points” through fire department activities. The program will cost $21,500 in 2015, $28,875 in 2016, and $7,875 each year after that. For 2015, LOSAP’s startup costs will raise the fire district tax rate from $1.23 per $1,000 of assessed value to $1.31 per thousand. That’s an additional $8 for a taxpayer with a $100,000 house.
“There was a lot of information that was out there in social media that wasn’t exactly correct,” Thomas said of the LOSAP vote. “I think that might have gotten people inflamed.”
The Plainville Fire District held a public meeting to explain LOSAP on Nov. 13. About 20 residents and fire department personnel attended. Thomas said the district placed public notices in The Baldwinsville Messenger and The Post-Standard, as they are legally required to do prior to the yearly election. Information about the election was also available on the town of Lysander’s website and the Plainville Fire Department’s Facebook page.
“There were people who came to vote who said, ‘No one knew about this,’” Thomas said. “I said, ‘Well, you’re here.’”
Thomas said the Nov. 13 public meeting was eye-opening for the district.
“We knew we needed to inform the public, but it really came out at the meeting how to do that,” Thomas said.
She said residents suggested the district have a large digital sign outside the fire stations with important dates and information.
“We’ve already put the money in the budget for next year to buy some signs,” Thomas said, adding that the Plainville Fire Department is putting up money for the effort as well.
She said door-to-door campaigns and direct mailings are too impractical and expensive for the district to consider those methods of spreading information.
In addition to the planned signs, Thomas said the district plans to use the department’s Facebook page even more to get the word out about district news.
“I have become an administrator on the fire department’s page. We’ll be able to put things out there,” she said.
The district commissioners decided it wasn’t worth it to create their own page.
“The department touches the community far more than the district,” Thomas said. “Why recreate the wheel? The fire department already has a following.”
Thomas said it’s not just up to the district to ensure the flow of information.
“The fact that people don’t read the newspapers the way they used to — it’s not our fault,” she said. “There’s a certain degree of personal responsibility. You have to be an informed citizen. If you don’t do that, shame on you, but don’t blame other people.”
For updates about the Plainville Fire District and the Plainville Fire Department, search for “Plainville (NY) Fire Department” on Facebook.
