By Joe Cox
Staff Writer

The proposed transformation of the police and fire departments into an integrated department of public safety has proven difficult, and selectmen say voters won't be part of the decision.

At its meeting Monday, Dec. 5, the board of selectmen voted to continue a 90-day experimental program using part-time EMS staff at the Pinardville station around the clock. The program began on Sept. 19 and has cost $34,000 to date, according to Goffstown Fire Captain Steve Tower.

The budget proposal for 2006 includes $130,000 for the continuation of the experimental EMS program.

Gossett McRae, board of selectment chairman, said the board did not plan to offer voters an opportunity to decide.

"We're going to figure out what the scenario should be, talk to the folks involved, and we don't expect the average citizen to be professional emergency management personnel," said McRae.

He presented a spreadsheet to board members to demonstrate the range of fire department staffing scenarios to provide 24/7 service to the community.

Voters in March directed the board to pursue a plan. The extremes and everything in between.

Each of the four scenarios included the cost per Goffstown taxpayer.

"We have to be very sensitive to how we spend their dollars and we have to look for management systems that will spend them the most wisely and give absolutely the best results for the dollars expended," McRae said.

At one end of the spectrum of scenarios, considering the annual payroll of $805,018 for 15 fulltime fire department staff only – at one fire station for one shift – the cost is $45 per taxpayer, according to the analysis.

At the other extreme, McRae tallied all the necessary staff required to man all the existing fire equipment around the clock – at three stations for four shifts – and came up with a cost of $497 per taxpayer.

"We have to look at some other solution to the fire coverage problem because we clearly can't afford that," McRae said.

Firefighters said that McRae's assumptions about how the fire department works are flawed in the extreme scenario he created.

They said that only a major disaster would require demand for all of the equipment to be used at once.

But McRae insists that even the proposal put forth by Fire Chief Frank Carpentino would not provide practical response capability.

That proposed solution for 24/7 fire coverage would provide three shifts of five full-time active fire department staff at one station for an estimated cost of $220,000.

Although McRae said he did not consciously include the fire chief's proposal in two intermediate cases on his "Impact of 24/7 Scenarios" spreadsheet, one appeared to be similar.

According to McRae's analysis, five full time staff – at Station No. 19 for four shifts – would man one fire engine and one ambulance at a cost of $139 per taxpayer, assuming the elimination of stations No. 17 and No. 18.

Adding three more firefighters would allow another fire engine to go out the door at a cost of $187 per taxpayer.

"FEMA actually recommends sending out an attack truck with four people on it, not three," McRae said. But he added, many communities use three firefighters per fire engine.

McRae said the dwindling availability of call firefighters is driving the need for change.

"You either have to actively recruit, actively pursue call people and the pieces will go out of the barn, or you're going to have to pay people to be there to get the pieces out of the barn or have them available in the community," McRae said. "Somehow the people have to be there, they just don't magically appear."

Selectmen also directed Police Chief Michael French to collaborate with his staff, the fire department and the town administration to gather input and offer advice to the board on how to best develop the new public safety management system. The board requested a report from Chief French by Jan. 3.

The first phase of the change involves support services – human resources, employee development programming, admininstration and code enforcement, said French; the second affects direct services, which French has yet to discuss with the fire department.

"The training issues have to certainly be considered on both sides," French said.

The creation of a chief of operations on the direct service side of an integrated public safety agency would be necessary, French said.

Selectman Bob Wheeler said it was important to obtain direction from the board in the 2006 budget process for public safety services. He also said the board needed to find ways to reduce the "perpetual thrust" to increase the budget each year.

McRae pointed out some geographic disadvantages to providing public safety when compared to other communities, such as Bedford, that have integrated public safety complexes.

Goffstown has two population centers on opposite ends of town and the Piscataquog River, with only two bridges.

Another important aspect of public safety service is response time, McRae said. People who live in areas of town that are difficult to access should not have to settle for "second-class service," he said.

Goffstown has three fire stations that house 10 fire apparatus and two ambulances. Stations are staffed weekdays from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on weekends and holidays from 7:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The department relies on call firefighters to respond to incidents outside those hours.