A study has recommended sweeping changes for the Gorham Fire Department, including new fire stations, pay hikes, and sprinkler systems for new homes. And it revealed some dissention in the ranks.
Mike Phinney, chairman of the town council, said the study made recommendations to upgrade the fire department, but the council would look at the report with eyes on the budget. “We’ll go through it line by line,” Phinney said.
The Gorham Town Council received a final report of the study last week. PolicyOne Research and Maine Fire Training and Education jointly studied various facets of Gorham’s fire and rescue departments.
“It didn’t come back recommending a full-time fire department,” Phinney said.
The town council will review the report in a workshop in May. Town Councilor Burleigh Loveitt said they would go through the report with a “fine-tooth” comb.
“It’s an opinion paper. I was looking for a scientific analysis,” said Loveitt, who opposes the mandatory sprinkler system recommendation.
New stations recommended
The study has recommended options that include Gorham joining neighboring communities to build two new fire stations, which could cost about $3 million. Fire stations in White Rock and North Gorham besides Windham would be replaced.
Under the recommendations, the report said Gorham should consider joining Standish in building a new fire station to replace outdated stations at White Rock and North Gorham, which are 3.5 miles apart.
Standish now shares the North Gorham Fire Station with Gorham. A new station could cost $1.2 million, the study reported, relying on figures provided by Gorham Fire Chief Robert Lefebvre.
The report also recommended that Gorham, Windham and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham either build a new fire station in South Windham, which could cost up to $2 million, or rehab the former Little Falls School in Gorham for a fire station. With those alternatives, it recommended a plan for the “shut down” of the Little Falls/South Windham station.
Lefebvre doesn’t want to shut down the West Gorham Fire Station. He thought Gorham could increase its cooperative efforts with Standish and Buxton in West Gorham.
Sprinkler mandate recommended
A proposal advocated in the report requiring sprinkler systems for new homes in Gorham drew fire from Loveitt. The report recommended that an ordinance mandate sprinkling systems be included in all new residential units beginning in January.
The report said residential sprinkling systems attack fires more quickly and would spray water directly onto fires, reducing water damage. Also, sprinklers would also reduce on-scene operating time and add to safety of firefighters, in addition to reducing future needs of facilities, apparatus and staffing.
Loveitt said, although the recomendation was well intentioned, he disagreed with the philosophy behind it. He said deciding whether sprinklers should be in a home should be up to the homeowner, not the town.
With the number of new homes being built each year in Gorham, Loveitt said an ordinance requiring sprinkling systems would “serve” as a $1 million tax to new homeowners in town. “I’m disappointed that the study is preoccupied with sprinklers in residences,” Loveitt said.
Town Councilor Calvin Hamblen also opposed an ordinance making sprinkling systems mandatory in all new homes. Hamblen said it would add about $10,000 to the construction cost of a home.
“We could have had the chief write the report and saved $15,000,” Hamblen said.
Pay and staff morale
Staff numbers were also analyzed and compared to surrounding communities. Gorham has eight full-time firefighters, compared to 26 in Westbrook. Gorham has 135 paid call firefighters, compared to 80 in Westbrook.
Phinney said maintaining fire department personnel is a major concern outlined in the study. In a survey of Gorham fire department members, 79 percent thought more staff was necessary for both the fire and rescue departments. The hourly pay rate for a paid call firefighter with six years experience is $8 in Gorham, $1.50 per hour lower than in Westbrook. Loveitt said the report pointed out that Gorham is growing and the fire department needed to evolve with the growth.
The report indicated that a $1 increase in the hourly pay for a paid call for emergency personnel would cost the town $11,387 annually. It said the figure would be low compared to other options, including a full-time staff.
In a survey of fire department personnel, 37 percent were “dissatisfied or very dissatisfied” and 35.6 percent were “satisfied or very satisfied” with department leadership. Some members wanted improved communications and more input into department decision making.
“My job as an administrator is not to win a popularity contest; it is to ensure that we run this department efficiently and meet the expectations of the taxpayers, manager and council. That often means making decisions that are not popular with the troops,” the report quoted Lefebvre as saying.
The study included the timeframe in which the town’s dispatch was consolidated last year. Lefebvre said in the report that an overwhelming majority of the members were opposed to the consolidation of dispatch and felt he should have opposed it.
Town voters in a referendum failed to overturn the council’s decision to regionalize dispatch with Cumberland County. “So does that make me a bad manager because I didn’t side with what the members wanted,” Lefebvre said in the report.
Phinney said the town council would face “tough decisions” in the future and would need help from professionals. “It’s a very thorough study, which is what we wanted,” Phinney said.
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