Mayor names three to panel overseeing fire protection issues Written By Leon Thompson Monday, October 19, 2009 Committee part of City/Town agreement ST. ALBANS CITY –– The mayor here has appointed three people to a committee that will oversee new firefighting efforts between the city and the town.     Ward 4 Alderman Scott Corrigan, former alderman Peter Chevalier, and Jeff Morrill will serve on the Fire Agreement Committee, whose mission and start date are still unclear.     That, in part, is because the town selectboard has not appointed its representatives to the panel, which will monitor the progress of a joint fire protection agreement ratified in late September, during a historic signing ceremony at the town fire department.     Word out of St. Albans Town this morning was that there was little interest from the public regarding the oversight committee. Selectmen planned to discuss the matter during their regular meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m., at town hall.     St. Albans City Mayor Marty Manahan appointed Corrigan, Chevalier and Morrill because they had already sat on the study committee that formulated the agreement and its details during a string of meetings held at the Northwestern Medical Center.     “They are all willing to serve,” Manahan said at aldermen’s regular meeting last week. The council unanimously backed the mayor’s appointments.     Under the agreement, the town call force – a volunteer force paid a small annual stipend – will serve as a call force for the city, while the city is recruiting and training its own force.     Also, the city will make a contribution to the replacement fund for the town’s quint, or multi-purpose truck, of $27,500 per year, half of the town’s $52,000 per year contribution.     In addition, the city will reimburse the town for turnout gear, administrative costs and any insurance costs. However, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, which insures both communities, has said the agreement would not cause an increase in the town’s insurance rates.     The 17 town firefighters that have agreed to work with the city will receive an annual stipend from the city of twice the amount of their town stipend.     The total amount paid by the city to the town will depend on the number of town firefighters that serve on the city call force.     In the first year of the agreement, the town will receive a minimum of $100,000. In no year will the city pay the town more than $125,000.     In subsequent years, an advisory committee will review the agreement and recommend any changes and the rate of reimbursement to the town, during each fall. The agreement will expire when the city call force has 24 members.     Either community may terminate the agreement with 90 days notice to the other.     “It’s much easier to work together than to work apart and against each other,” the mayor said at the September ratification session.     Early the next morning, the city slashed three full-time firefighters from its department while eliminating all non-officer positions from the force.     Dominic Cloud, city manager, said the long-term cost savings to the fire department in the next fiscal year – including salary, benefits and other associated costs, such as gear – hovers around $300,000, with the three layoffs.

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