On Nov. 4, it seemed that the Brookfield trustees – two of them, anyway – and Fire Chief David Masirovits were on different paths as to providing for the short- and long-term needs of the department.
Nine days later, it appeared they were again walking the same path.
On Nov. 4, the chief proposed using the proceeds of the sale of two ambulances, about $81,000, to buy new rescue tools, ventilation fans and lights for about $77,000. Trustees Mark Ferrara and Dan Suttles did not support the purchase, instead favoring the establishment of a fire capital account, a savings account that sets aside money for the purchase of trucks.
The backstory to that action is the department has sidelined two trucks, a pumper-tanker and a rescue truck, because of mechanical and body rust issues. Masirovits has proposed replacing all seven of the department’s property tax levies to bring them up to today’s valuation to give the department the money to address truck and other equipment needs and staffing.
Before the trustees agree to place a levy, they should try other methods to address the department’s needs and show taxpayers that they are doing all they can to live within the current budget, Ferrara and Suttles said. That’s why Ferrara proposed the fire capital account.
“As a trustee, I think I owe it to all 8,300 residents of Brookfield to sock away as much money as we can that isn’t a negative impact on our day-to-day needs of our fire and emergency department budgets,” Ferrara said on Nov. 4. “We’ve talked about this for some time and I think now is the time to do it.”
Township officials are permitted to move money into the account from three other funds: the general fund and the fire department’s two funds: the fire fund, which is fed by property taxes, and the emergency medical services fund, which is funded by fees collected from ambulance runs.
The fire capital fund can have no more than $1 million in it, and cannot exist for more than 10 years. If the fund is dissolved, the money would go back into the funds from which it came. The fund will not generate interest on its own, but will be pooled with other township funds in a money market account that generates interest for the township’s general fund.
“I think, in good faith, (if) we can show our constituents we have X number of dollars in that account if and when we go for a levy or additional funding, I would feel much more at ease we made an honest attempt to start saving money so the levy will be as minimal as possible,” Ferrara said.
The idea led to a lengthy discussion. Suttles noted the trustees have talked about creating some sort of truck fund since before Ferrara and Shannon Devitz were trustees, and he has had reservations because he doesn’t want to “handcuff” the fire chief by taking out of his control money that he might need due to unforeseen circumstances, a concern shared by township Fiscal Officer Dena McMullin.
Masirovits said he had concerns with the creation of the capital fund, starting with his inability to predict the future. He said he would hate to be in a situation where he would have to lay off an employee because of a lack of funds when there is money he can’t touch sitting in the truck fund.
Ferrara countered that the capital fund could be dissolved at any time.
Masirovits argued that the truck fund is a long-term planning tool. “We need a truck now,” he said. “We’re beating the wheels off of our 3,000-gallon fire truck because we don’t want to beat the wheels off of our ladder truck. We need a fire truck now to replace the two we lost.”
He added that a mechanic predicted the ladder truck has a useful life of about five years due to body rust.
Masirovits also said that he has shorter-term needs that have to be addressed, regardless of the status of a truck purchase. He proposed buying the battery-operated rescue tools, including a cutter, spreader and a ram, to replace the hydraulic tools the department now uses to compensate for the fact that he can no longer regularly fully staff a shift.
With the battery-operated tools, a firefighter can grab the tool, take it to the vehicle that needs worked on, start it up and start working, With hydraulic tools, you take the tool to the vehicle, run back to the truck to get the hydraulic hoses and attach them to the generator and tool, run back to the truck to power up the gas-powered generator, do a quick inspection to make sure the hoses are properly attached and not spewing hydraulic fluid, then run to the vehicle and get to work. The gas generator also creates heavy gas fumes, he said.
Suttles said he considered the tools to be wants rather than needs because the hydraulic tools are only eight years old and are functioning properly.
Devitz supported the creation of the capital fund and the purchase of the tools.
“Just how fiscally responsible he is, he’s gonna be able to do both,” she said. “I still think he needs to operate as a department, so it’s not fair to stop moving forward with things.”
Resident Tim Radachy argued that officials should prioritize staffing over trucks and equipment. He and his wife, Judy, have long questioned the frequent closing of Station 51 at Route 82, Addison Road and Broadway Avenue due to lack of staffing.
A full shift is five people on duty, and Masirovits closes Station 51 if there are less than four working. In November, Station 51 was closed 40 out of 60 shifts. It was closed 50 out of 62 shifts in October and 44 out of 60 shifts in September.
“We need to get more personnel, at least, get (Station) 51 up 50 percent of the month for everybody’s sake,” Radachy said.
The trustees finished the meeting by asking Masirovits and McMullin to meet, examine the department’s budget and general early-year needs and come up with a reasonable amount of money that could be moved into the capital fund. That meeting was fruitful, Masirovits said.
“I think we came up with possible solutions for a lot of things in our meeting,” he said.
Masirovits agreed with moving $81,000 from the ambulance sale proceeds into the truck fund, and to review moving more money in during the 2025 budget process.
The proceeds of the ambulance sales were “unanticipated” – the township had set a minimum of $10,000 for each – and the fire budgets are “healthy, very healthy, for this time of year,” he said, with more than $900,000 unspent.
With that financial picture, the trustees OK’d the purchase of the battery-powdered rescue tools from Genesis Rescue Systems for $64,995, and a battery-operated ventilation fan and two rocket lights, also from Genesis, for $6,053.
Suttles said he knows he and Ferrara probably ticked off some of the firefighters who attended the Nov. 4 meeting, but the subsequent review of the issues produced a favorable result for everyone.
“I think this is the way the process is supposed to work,” he said.
Be merry! Subscribe to NEWS On the Green!
