Post by cfd446 on Dec 23, 2008 15:28:12 GMT -5
Islip fire districts cooperate to lower costs
BY STACEY ALTHERR | stacey.altherr@newsday.com
8:02 PM EST, December 22, 2008
In an unusual arrangement for Long Island, four fire districts in the Town of Islip are working together to lower costs by obtaining better purchasing power and sharing resources.
The arrangement among Bayport, Bohemia, Sayville and West Sayville-Oakdale has expanded since the districts began cooperating seven years ago.
The agreement among the four districts allows them to buy supplies in bulk. They are currently in talks to purchase a new "air van," which allows firemen to fill up pressurized air bottles at the scene of a fire. The cost of the van, about $262,000, would be split four ways, said Sayville Fire Commissioner Don Corkery.
Among the more unique aspects of the agreement is mutual aid between the districts during day hours, when it is hard to muster a large crew to respond to fire calls. Each district automatically reaches out to at least one other district through the dispatcher, instead of having to request mutual aid..
The second crew is used as backup, which is required by national regulations if firefighters from the first crew get trapped in a building, said Sayville Commissioner Donald Hodgkinson.
"Sometimes the other firehouse is closer," said Hodgkinson, one of the architects of the mutual aid plan. "We've taken out the decision-making. If it's a structure fire, it's automatic."
The four districts already share an educational fire prevention trailer. Each district gets it for about a month, said Corkery. The trailer was originally owned by Sayville, but the other districts bought "shares" in the vehicle. The Blue Point Fire District, another district not in the cooperative, pays a service fee to use it.
The districts also share Sayville's mechanic, who performs small repairs on some of their vehicles, allowing the districts to get a better price -- about $45 per hour instead of $125. That helps defray salary costs for Sayville.
"It's a good thing coming together like that," said Edward Tully Jr., first vice president of Islip Town Fire Districts and a board member of the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York. "You'll see more and more of districts working together like this."
The cooperation between the four districts came well before the state Commission on Property Tax Relief, headed by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, was established to look into consolidation and other cost-saving measures for special districts. Corkery and other officials interviewed said consolidation of fire districts is not beneficial to the public. The smarter thing, he said, are arrangements where costs and some personnel can be shared. Town- or county-run fire departments would also be problematic, said Corkery, adding that large municipalities aren't necessarily better managers.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently proposed legislation that would reform laws that now make it difficult to consolidate special districts.
BY STACEY ALTHERR | stacey.altherr@newsday.com
8:02 PM EST, December 22, 2008
In an unusual arrangement for Long Island, four fire districts in the Town of Islip are working together to lower costs by obtaining better purchasing power and sharing resources.
The arrangement among Bayport, Bohemia, Sayville and West Sayville-Oakdale has expanded since the districts began cooperating seven years ago.
The agreement among the four districts allows them to buy supplies in bulk. They are currently in talks to purchase a new "air van," which allows firemen to fill up pressurized air bottles at the scene of a fire. The cost of the van, about $262,000, would be split four ways, said Sayville Fire Commissioner Don Corkery.
Among the more unique aspects of the agreement is mutual aid between the districts during day hours, when it is hard to muster a large crew to respond to fire calls. Each district automatically reaches out to at least one other district through the dispatcher, instead of having to request mutual aid..
The second crew is used as backup, which is required by national regulations if firefighters from the first crew get trapped in a building, said Sayville Commissioner Donald Hodgkinson.
"Sometimes the other firehouse is closer," said Hodgkinson, one of the architects of the mutual aid plan. "We've taken out the decision-making. If it's a structure fire, it's automatic."
The four districts already share an educational fire prevention trailer. Each district gets it for about a month, said Corkery. The trailer was originally owned by Sayville, but the other districts bought "shares" in the vehicle. The Blue Point Fire District, another district not in the cooperative, pays a service fee to use it.
The districts also share Sayville's mechanic, who performs small repairs on some of their vehicles, allowing the districts to get a better price -- about $45 per hour instead of $125. That helps defray salary costs for Sayville.
"It's a good thing coming together like that," said Edward Tully Jr., first vice president of Islip Town Fire Districts and a board member of the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York. "You'll see more and more of districts working together like this."
The cooperation between the four districts came well before the state Commission on Property Tax Relief, headed by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, was established to look into consolidation and other cost-saving measures for special districts. Corkery and other officials interviewed said consolidation of fire districts is not beneficial to the public. The smarter thing, he said, are arrangements where costs and some personnel can be shared. Town- or county-run fire departments would also be problematic, said Corkery, adding that large municipalities aren't necessarily better managers.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently proposed legislation that would reform laws that now make it difficult to consolidate special districts.
