By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
While Mayor Gary Butterfield wants North Syracuse village and fire officials to “move forward,” there still seems to be some bad blood on both sides.
During department head reports at the Sept. 8 meeting, North Syracuse Fire Department Chief Tim Ellis said he found Trustee Diane Browning’s comments on the lack of representation from the fire department and the North Syracuse Volunteer Fireman’s association at recent village meetings “disrespectful.”
“In this entire room, there’s one person that isn’t compensated, and that is your volunteer fire chief,” Ellis said. “Every time you hear a whistle blow, we represent … your village and the volunteer fire department very well.”
Ellis said he and Browning discussed the comments over the phone.
“You suggested that if I don’t have the time, then maybe I shouldn’t do it. I can’t believe that somebody would actually say that in a time where volunteerism is down … I’m not going to do that. I’m going to stick it out,” Ellis said. “However, nowhere does it say I need to be at this meeting or any other meeting. I need to be at my job, I need to be at my home, I need to be with my family. Those come first.”
Browning said she did not intend for her comments to be a slight against Ellis or his fellow firefighters. She said she understood that emergency calls, jobs and families might prevent someone from the fire department missing an occasional meeting, but the board was concerned about the absence of fire officials from six consecutive meetings.
“We never insisted that the chief be here. Somebody from the fire department [attending] makes us more comfortable,” Browning said. “It’s our job to be able to ask questions. All the other departments are here — granted, they’re paid. I did not mean to insult you, but … we need you guys.”
Ellis cited the recent fire at the North Syracuse Junior High School as one of many emergencies the fire department has handled in protecting the village.
“I didn’t mean it against you guys,” Browning said. “I’m a homeowner — my house could be on fire when that whistle just blew — I certainly appreciate it. But we need to have you part of the village.”
During trustees’ comments, Browning thanked the handful of North Syracuse firefighters in the audience for attending the meeting. Trustee Pat Gustafson said Browning wasn’t the only trustee troubled by the firefighters’ absence from recent meetings.
“In support of Diane, she is not the only one who missed the fire department being here — we all missed you,” Gustafson said.
Despite Browning’s apology for offending the chief, another village official took a jab at the fire department. Village attorney Scott Chatfield responded to DPW Superintendent Gary Wilmer’s report that one of his employees volunteered to water the village flowers on the weekends.
“You mean there’s somebody else that volunteers in this village?” Chatfield said.
After the meeting ended, Ellis and Chatfield were seen arguing.
“You don’t talk to me like that,” Ellis said.
“I’ll talk however I want, you son of a [expletive],” Chatfield said.
Preliminary fire budget down 3.2 percent
Despite the heated exchanges later in the meeting, the village and the fire department still had business to take care of. Ellis presented the preliminary estimated fire budget for 2017-18, as the towns of Cicero and Clay soon will begin their budget processes.
Right now, the NSFD estimates its 2017-18 budget will total $687,603, a 3.2 percent decrease from the 2016-17 operating budget. Currently, the towns each contribute 35 percent and the village contributes 30 percent of the budget. All three municipalities split the cost of the Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) equally at $25,333.33 each.
If the municipalities continue with the 35-35-30 split for 2017-18, Clay and Cicero would contribute $265,994, including the cost of LOSAP. The village would contribute $231,614.
Ellis also presented an option in which the towns and village would split the budget equally. Each municipality would pay $229,201 before LOSAP.
Ellis said the NSFD is the third busiest fire department in northern Onondaga County behind the Moyers Corners and Cicero departments. The village of North Syracuse accounted for 37.8 percent of alarms in 2015. Cicero accounted for 30.6 percent of calls and Clay accounted for 26.7 percent.
“I think it should be a decrease to everyone. It’s a good year to do it,” Ellis said.
Chatfield said the towns could re-negotiate the budget split with the village. Butterfield said the towns “have been OK” with the current 35-35-30 split.
Among the fire department’s budgeted projects for 2017 are:
• Hiring an outside instructor for training
• Improvement of communication infrastructure at Station 1 and adding internet drops (network connection points) in the emergency operations center
• Station 1 improvements: repainting, boiler replacement, HVAC update, asbestos removal and/or floor replacement
• Station 2 improvements: apron repair, repainting
Ellis said the department also wants to revisit the possibility of a shared emergency services. Ellis’s vision of consolidation would include selling Station 2, which is located at the former Hancock Air Force Base, and constructing a new building. He said several municipalities and public safety agencies could form a partnership, including area fire departments, the Cicero Police Department and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office. So far, only the town of Cicero has expressed interest in the idea.
