Mass. fire chief seeks stimulus money for ladder truck staffing

By Brian Messenger
The Eagle-Tribune

ANDOVER, Mass. — When the selectmen turned down a $1.5 million federal grant to boost Fire Department staffing just over a year ago, fire Chief Michael Mansfield was already thinking ahead.

"I may be down but I'm not out and I'll be back," Mansfield told board members after their June 2008 vote to reject the grant, which would have paid a portion of five firefighter salaries over a five-year period.

Now 14 months later, Mansfield is after more federal money to boost his staff of 51 firefighters, 13 lieutenants and four deputy chiefs.

He is applying for a grant administered by the state's Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, with the hope of winning stimulus money to hire new firefighters and fill the vacancies left by two recently retired lieutenants and a deputy chief.

Mansfield said the new hires would be used to restore the two-man team of firefighters that, until last month, had been assigned to Andover's only ladder truck.

In July, Mansfield reassigned the ladder aide position to fill vacancies when other firefighters call out sick or are on vacation, injury or bereavement leave.

The change is expected to reduce the Fire Department's overtime budget by $120,000 this year. But firefighters union President Thomas Agnew, a ladder truck operator, has filed a grievance over the reassignment, claiming it puts firefighters in danger and violates their contract.

Agnew will meet with Town Manager Reginald "Buzz" Stapczynski on Aug. 20 to discuss the grievance. If they fail to come to an agreement, Agnew said he will call for an independent arbitration hearing.

The deadline to apply for the Massachusetts Fire Services Staffing grant is Aug. 21.

Designed to help fire departments prevent layoffs and replace retiring firefighters, $20 million in stimulus money will be available to cities and towns across the state.

Mansfield said the grant is similar in several aspects to the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant he successfully applied for last year through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Agnew said Mansfield's work to secure preliminary approval for the $1.5 million SAFER grant was a "phenomenal achievement."

"That was like a slap in the face for the selectmen to turn that down," said Agnew. "If they don't support this stimulus money to maintain the Fire Department, then they don't (care) about public safety."

Under the SAFER grant, FEMA would have paid all but $69,000 of the salary and benefits for five new firefighters this fiscal year. Andover's liability would have gradually increased over the course of the five-year grant to $290,000 in the fourth year and $390,000 during the final year.

After five years, the town would have been responsible for funding the full expense of the new positions.

Selectmen voted 2-1 to reject the grant, with only Mary Lyman voting in favor. Ted Teichert and Jerry Stabile were recused from the vote because they have relatives who work for the Fire Department. Selectmen Brian Major and Alex Vispoli voted to decline the grant.

"It helps you in the short-term, but it increases your problem in the long-term, which is why we opted not to go for it," said Vispoli. "For us, given the (economic) situation, everything's got to be sustainable."

Under the Massachusetts Fire Services Staffing grant, cities and towns must pay upfront to hire the new firefighters before being reimbursed on a quarterly basis with stimulus money.

The funding lasts for one year.

"Short-term, it will assist us greatly," said Mansfield. "But we still haven't come up with the answers for the long-term."

Copyright 2009