Wrong Ideas, Wrong Cuts

“The items that could easily be cut out of the bloated, fat, obese 

middlebury budget are:”

How can the budget be characterized as bloated, fat, and obese when it has been cut by 2.3%.  That means it is 2.3% less than what Mr. St. John’s budget was last year.

Why is Tom Gormley taking the heat for actually cutting the Town side of the budget?  All increases come from the Region 15 side. 

"80 grand payment for fire engine.--- Fire Dept has 800 thousand 

in its treasury. Let them buy most of the engine."

The 800,000.00 only exists in Mr. DeAngelis’s mind. 

Mr. DeAngelis must not think that fire protection is very important.  NFPA recomends that fire apparatus be replaced every 20 years.  MVFD now has 4 pieces of apparatus over 20 years old, and a 5th to turn 20 in 3 years.

$80,000 is nothing compared to what this Town will have to face down the road if they do not start acting now.

Mr. St. John has delayed apparatus replacement since 2003. It can not be delayed any longer.

"Spare fuel tank. ---Use the one at public works like we always did."

Mr. DeAngelis still does not have this correct.  It is a new tank that will provide Fire Headquarters with regular heating oil.  For years the MVFD has been heated with Premium Diesel fuel, that was meant for Fire Engines.  Now it will get the cheaper, regular heating oil that you and I use.  The cost savings to the Town - approximately $4500.00 per year at current prices.  The tank will pay for itself in less than 3 years.

"Communications--- Stop paying Northwest and let the town 

dispatchers do the work."

Communications were outsourced by Mr. St. John, not by Rickey Bona nor the MVFD.  

The State requires EMD (Emergency Medical Dispatch),  when you call 911 with a medical problem.  By State law the dispatcher must stay on the line with you, and follow a set protocol.  If there is only one dispatcher at HQ, who will dispatch the MVFD?  Who will be able to coordinate and assist PD who are the First Responders? What if there is another 911 call?  Who will handle it, if the dispatcher is already on the line with another 911? No one, because it is mandated by the State that the dispatcher must stay on the phone.

So how is it handled now?  You call 911 and you get Middlebury HQ.  The call is immediately patched to Northwest C-Med who will EMD the call.  The Middlebury Dispatcher is now free to hit the quick tone which will immediately start the entire ball rolling.  The Police and MVFD will be alerted about the call immediately. 

Calls are being dispatched faster now then they used to.  Before Northwest and EMD, calls coming into Middlebury would be delayed being dispatched, because the dispatcher had to stay on the phone and collect information about the call before toning it out.  Patching calls to Northwest actually speeds up the process.

So why not bring it back and save the money being paid to Northwest C-Med.  Go ahead and bring it back, but it will have to be done correctly.  Does Middlebury want to hire new dispatchers so that there are two dispatchers at HQ at all times?  How much would that cost?  A lot more than what is being paid to Northwest.

Is there another alternative?  Maybe, but it has to be explored.  But just dropping Northwest and blindly bringing it back to Middlebury would be a big mistake.  The level of service our residents would receive would suffer.  

Bottom line, bring dispatch back to Middlebury, only if it will be done correctly and satisfy the EMD mandates of the State of Connecticut.

"Ambulance---Why are we paying 45 grand when the private 

company that runs the service makes between 50 and a hundred 

grand profit a year?"

Wild numbers from someone who does not know what he is talking about.  As stated countless times, all money collected by the Ambulance Billing system goes right back into the ambulance. It pays for all supplies, materials, maintenance, and repairs. The PD is supplied with MVFD oxygen. The MVFD pays $80,000 in annual ALS services that the Town is mandated to pay, but the MVFD picks up the tab. Almost $200,000 has already been spent to purchase a new ambulance and equipment. (Part of Mr. DeAngelis’s $800.000.)  That is money that will never have to come out of the taxpayer’s pockets.

The Town kicks in fuel and insurance and is getting the bargain of a lifetime. Anything left over at the end of the year that does not go into maintaining FD11 and FD12 goes to an Ambulance replacement fund, so when the MVFD needs to purchase a new car, once again the taxpayers will not have to pay one cent towards it.