TOWN OF SOMERS

FIRE COMMISSION

Regular Meeting Minutes

February 16, 2006

The Meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Mr. Lawlor

Members Present: Mrs. Van Tassel, Father Bruno, Mr. Rohrbach, and Frank Lawlor

Others: First Selectman David Pinney Fire Marshal Walter Somers, Lt. Glen Reynolds.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

A motion was made by Mrs. Van Tassel, seconded by Fr. Bruno and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the Fire Commission meetings of November 17^th, January 5^th and

January 26th.

FIRE CHIEF

Chief Meier was out of town

FIRE MARSHAL:

An extensive discussion took place involving the Commission, Mr. Pinney, Mr. Somers, Mr. Reynolds and representative of the Firefighters Union.

Mr. Somers has accepted a full time fire marshal position in the town of So. Windsor. He has not yet resigned his position in Somers. He agreed to resign when/if his successor came on board.

The discussion centered on what possible strategies existed to fill the Fire Marshal position in the future. Mr. Somers expressed a willingness and hope of continuing involvement with Somers. Mr. Reynolds has expressed a desire and willingness to step into the position. The concerns expressed centered on the distribution of hours for a Fire Marshal who was also a full time Firefighter; about who would be responsible for scheduling and the “chain of command going forward.

If. a member of the paid staff were to assume a new position and responsibility it was felt by the Commission that in some way the over-all fire protection of the community would be compromised. Instead of 5 full time firefighters we would have 4 ½. This would be a step backward.

Two possibilities were discussed but because the chief was not present the board felt that no final decisions/recommendations could be adopted.

OPTION A: Replace our current Fire Marshal with another qualified individual who would serve under the same terms as Mr. Somers. (16 hours/week)

OPTION B: Offer the open position to a current member of the department AND combine various current budget line items and additional contributions from the town to hire a new full time firefighter.

The Commission agreed to table further discussion on the matter until the Fire Chief and his advisors were available.

2006-2007 BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS:

In reviewing the proposed Fire Department budget Mr. Pinney expressed “concern” about the fact the “energy” line items (heat, electricity, fuel) reflected no increase over 2005-6 proposals and therefore may not accurately reflect the expected cost increases.

The decision before the Commission was whether to add anticipated increases to the energy lines and make adjustments in various line items to offset these increase. (To keep the proposed increase to the requested 3.5%) or to add amounts to the energy lines and increase the percentage increase of the entire budget.

The Commission tabled any formal action until it had the opportunity to discuss the situation with the department officers.

Father Bruno made a motion which was seconded by Mr. Rohrbach and passed unanimously to adjourn at 8:45.