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[Kenneth Fowler]

Council hears plea for county fire equipment, radio upgrade




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Council hears plea for county fire equipment, radio upgrade

Katie Tabeling ktabeling at cecilwhig.com

ELKTON — Roughly a dozen volunteer fire company engines and ambulances parked in front of the County Administrat...
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ELKTON — Roughly a dozen volunteer fire company engines and ambulances parked in front of the County Administration Building and scores of volunteers packed the council chambers Tuesday night as the Cecil County Firemen’s Association leadership made their case to fully fund its equipment request in the near future.

County Executive Alan McCarthy’s budget includes $4.43 million, which shows a 5.8 percent increase in the volunteer fire company’s operating funds and a commitment to turn the Volunteer Length of Service Award Program (VLOSAP) into a trust program.

Although much of the conversation focused on the continuing firestorm over keeping the volunteer fire company’s request at its current year’s allocation, Tuesday night’s budget hearing also discussed the county emergency services department budget, which included a 3.6 increase in its operating funds and $3.7 million in capital funding to upgrade its aging emergency radio system.

Hoping to ‘shift money around’

While Robyn Sheldon Hahn, the president of Cecil County Firemen’s Association (CCFA), appreciated McCarthy’s initial allocation, she maintained that the county needed to release the additional $588,025 to help the association buy two replacement fire engines and two ambulances. All four vehicles were requested at $900,000.

The nine volunteer fire companies traditionally raise money to foot a portion of the bill for such requests, which could include grant funding. One of the fire engines up for replacement, Hahn told the council during the budget hearing, is 23 years old.

“They have not been able to raise the money until now to replace it,” she said. “The replacement cost of a fire engine or ambulance has grown substantially over the years since this program began, some as much as 110 percent.”

County officials and then-Delegate David Rudolph created the equipment program back in 2006, so that smaller fire companies would be able to buy new equipment instead of relying on secondhand vehicles, CCFA Vice President Wayne Tome said.

Under that agreement, the volunteer fire association would keep their request under $1 million so that eventually all the outdated equipment would be replaced. That agreement was temporarily discontinued during the recession, as fire companies lost funding based on their assessable tax base, they were not able to afford their half of the payment.

“This program did a twofold thing: it enabled to buy new equipment but it also provided a warranty to cut down on some of the maintenance costs that they were throwing money at,” Tome told the council.

The county relies on the over a thousand unpaid volunteers to protect its residents, although career firefighters and paramedics do help drive equipment at a few stations to ensure timely responses. A four-person crew for a fire engine would cost $1 million in salaries and benefits alone, according to Tome, who has long worked as a paid officer in the Baltimore County Fire Department.

“We are committed to the county and saving that money. We don’t want to see it get to that point,” he added. “The county could not afford it … if a budget amendment comes to use surplus [funds] or shifting money around, we’d like to see that approved.”

Working on communication

Tome also supplied county Director of Administration Al Wein with a report of the Water Witch Volunteer Fire Company’s damaged fire engine at the budget hearing, per McCarthy’s request. That same engine was one of the four vehicles in the association’s request.

Previously, Tome told the Whig that the Water Witch fire engine was bought in 2002 and was recently inspected and found to have a rusted frame. It would cost another $200,000 to repair, he said.

Last Monday, McCarthy wrote a letter to Tome formally requesting all inspection and maintenance records for that vehicle. He also agreed with Tome’s published comments that the county and the association need to work on communication.

Before the council, Tome said that the reduction in equipment funding was “a change in the program that was never a consideration” as traditionally the association stayed under the $1 million threshold.

“We’re happy to answer questions and we have nothing to hide,” he said. “We’re asking this [request] be made whole and dialogue is open so we can exchange information so we know where the county is fiscally … and we can be open and honest with each other.”

Hahn added that the volunteers were proud of what they do, and hoped the additional funding could be allocated to support them.

“This has been a tumultuous budget process, and as you see, the companies take a very parochial approach to their effort,” she said.

Funding possibilities

A council majority seemed to support the volunteer company’s request, as Council Vice President Dan Schneckenburger, who serves as the ex-officio member to county fire companies, said that they had his “full commitment” and that the council was “looking at every possible avenue that we can fund this.”

Council President Joyce Bowlsbey added that she would support any amendment to increase their budget at this point. Councilman Bob Meffley said the council is “going to do everything it can.”

“I really appreciate what you guys do,” Meffley added. “I know that you come home [from work] and you’re tired, an the bell rings, and there you go. It means a lot.”

Under the county charter, the council’s abilities to increase funding for the fire companies is limited. It may only decrease funds or strike items from the budget, and after July 1, the council may only pass budget amendments requested by the county executive.

Stabilizing VLOSAP

McCarthy has contended that his budget focuses on funding the VLOSAP, which is an annual monetary award, to the point it becomes a stable trust.

VLOSAP works on a point system, where volunteers must earn 50 points a year to receive a credited year. Volunteers who are at least 55 years old and have completed a minimum of 25 years of service receive $300 monthly from that fund. That amount increases $6 for every credited year until it caps out at $450 annually.

The award program is not subject to cost-of-living adjustments and it is taxable income. Volunteers can leave the program and return, resuming their credited years.

Per 2008 legislation, elected officials were mandated to fund VLOSAP by ab amount would make the program actuarially sound by fiscal year 2014. Finance reports show that the county had increased funding for the award program at various amounts, but customarily it was pay-as-you-go.

McCarthy’s budget allocates $996,000 for the program, which is almost 32 percent increase from the current fiscal year. That change in funding, county Finance Director Lisa Saxton said, came because the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) changed its requirements.

“We now had to book the liability associated with VLOSAP. If we set up this trust, the liability is projected at $12 million. If we don’t and we keep pay-as-you-go, it’s about $18 million in liability,” Saxton said.

Councilman George Patchell noted that county had “a considerable amount of time” to catch up on the liability, but Saxton countered that it will continue to grow as more volunteers are eligible.

If the county continued pay-as-you-go funding for VLOSAP, Saxton said it would also have ramifications on the county’s bond rating.

Radio upgrade

Several councilmembers had questions for Richard Brooks, county emergency services director, regarding the top spending item in the budget: $3.7 million in capital funds to forge on with upgrading the 150-megahertz radio network for first responders.

Brooks hopes that a $2 million grant, signed off by the Water Witch Volunteer Fire Company, would bring that amount down if granted.

The county’s communication system is at least a decade old, and is rapidly reaching the end of its useful life. The council previously earmarked money for the project, although Brooks reported there were snags in the request for proposal process last year.

“We had three vendors, and one was eliminated from the beginning because they took a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude about radio coverage in Port Deposit. Another was awarded a conditional contract based on the use of a radio tower in Harford County,” he said. “Unfortunately, they didn’t go to Harford and ask to use it, and that tower may be moved.”

At that point, Brooks and McCarthy decided to exit the RFP process and proceed with the Maryland First Responders Interoperable Radio System Team, nicknamed “Maryland FiRST,” a 700-megahertz statewide radio network that will allow public safety personnel from state agencies and local jurisdictions to communicate.

Gov. Martin O’Malley introduced the first phase of the multi-million-dollar program in 2012, although his Republican successor, Gov. Larry Hogan, is fully committed to see the project done. Last August, Hogan announced that Maryland FiRST completed coverage for Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Carroll and Frederick counties.

“As governor, I am committed to making sure that our law enforcement, firefighters, and first responders are equipped with the newest technology, and the full support of our entire administration,” Hogan said in a press statement. “Maryland FiRST is an exciting, innovative achievement for Maryland. It increases safety for our heroes, and allows for more effective coordination at incidents and a greater level of public safety services for our citizens.”

However, Brooks told the council this week, the process of connecting to Maryland FiRST would still cost a significant amount of money for infrastructure and would need additional radio frequencies.

Part of the problem is that there is not sufficient coverage for the state’s system in the southern end of the county. The county has nine towers, and Maryland FiRST is not using the two towers in Chesapeake City and Cecilton to fill in the gaps.

“We already have two in Chesapeake City and Cecilton, so at least we don’t have to go into other structures to update it to current standards,” Brooks said. “At the end of the day, I think our biggest issue is building penetration. I need assurances that it’s effective elsewhere, because the state is not at the same level we built the RFP.”

Schneckenburger noted that the county had already spent significant dollars on the RFP process last year, including hiring a consultant and purchasing equipment. He added that “we didn’t get anything out of that” because no vendor was chosen. He wanted a breakdown of expenses in radio towers and equipment versus consultant fees.

“Why wasn’t Maryland FiRST involved in the first RFP process?” he asked Brooks.

Brooks’ response was that Motorola Solutions, the telecommunications equipment provider for Maryland FiRST, did not present that as an option during its presentation to the county last June. Counties had to request to be part of that system, he added, and Cecil County did not ask at the time.

He also countered that Schneckenburger’s comments about the RFP process was not true.

“You still benefit from the work they’ve done, the studies, the consumer input, [the meetings] with fire departments, police agencies [and EMS, school buses, the Health Department and Department of Public Works] to determine usage,” Brooks said. “We didn’t make a purchase off their work, but it’s still beneficiary because we don’t have to do it again.”

Cecil County’s communications system is comprised of 1,500 user units. There is no future allocation planned in the county’s capital improvement budget beyond fiscal year 2019.

The budget also makes an allocation to CCDES to hire two paramedics and two dispatchers, as an effort to restore staffing to its former levels. Brooks said that typically takes 10 to 12 people to fill an entire shift to cover vacation, sick leave and training.

It would also build momentum to keeping the dispatch supervisor position in that role, rather than taking on day-to-day duties of dispatchers to fill in the gaps.

In the end, Meffley hoped that solutions on the radio system would come sooner rather than deferring this project any longer.

“The most concerns I’ve heard are from the North East Fire Company. You could be in the station and have someone a block away, and they couldn’t talk on the radio,” the councilman said. “That’s pretty scary.”

While disappointing, Brooks said those concerns are not new.

“It’s been that way my entire tenure here. But as I said before, I’ll say it a hundred times: 150 megahertz has never been a success story. That’s why we’re going to 700 megahertz,” he said.