Pascoag Fire voters authorize truck purchase, reject staffing of second rescue

BURRILLVILLE – A plan to permanently staff a second rescue in the Pascoag Fire District fell short on Monday, failing to secure approval from two thirds of those casting ballots by just a few votes.

Village residents did approve a second question up for vote at the special meeting on Monday, March 23, authorizing purchase of a new rescue truck for an amount not to exceed $390,000.

Funding for the truck, a 2026 Medix Specialty F-550 from North Eastern Rescue Vehicles Inc., will come from an account budgeted for replacement vehicles, with no immediate impact expected for taxpayers. The account was set up five years ago and has been funded annually with a plan in place to avoid debt by replacing the department’s trucks on a regular schedule.

While spending on the rescue falls outside that initial schedule, proponents note that the district secured a deal on the vehicle by purchasing a demo model at significant savings. The purchase was approved in a vote of 32-12.

The voters in attendance also approved several amendments to the district bylaws, including change to the number of places physical notices of annual and special meetings must be posted, as well as where the notices must be advertised; and updates to obsolete language, replacing “men” to “members,” and “fire companies” to “fire department.”

The term of the chief position was changed from three years to one – unless otherwise approved by contract –and the position of tax assessor was removed as a separate officer of the district.

Voters Monday night also passed an change that caps the annual tax levy increase at four percent per year, a move that puts the district in line with state limits on such increases.

Only one of the ten proposed bylaw amendments failed: a proposal that would have changed the number of voters needed to constitute a quorum at annual and special meetings from 25 to 20.

But a separate major initiative also failed, resulting in an immediate change in service Tuesday morning from staffing levels put in place last September.

A small margin of residents voted against giving the district authority to staff a second rescue, a change put into action last year with the goal of decreasing the department’s response times. The vote followed a brief statement on financial implications of the change by former district chairman Chris Toti, in which he said that if approved, the added staffing would result in a tax increase of 30 cents per thousand for residents in less than two years.

Current Fire Commission Chairman Jim Richard disputed that assessment this week, noting that revenue generated from runs will cover some of the cost.

“It’s a benefit to the taxpayer,” said Richard. “It’s a benefit to the people of Pascoag. That’s the only reason we’re doing it.”

District Treasurer Dennis Anderson, who was unable to attend the special meeting this week, had laid out the numbers. But Richard said that Anderson didn’t have access at the time to the latest data, which shows that in just five months of running the second rescue, the district brought in $50,000 in billable expenses. In the analysis discussed briefly on Monday Richard said Anderson had estimated the district would only receive $30,000 for a full year.

“It will pay for some of it,” Richard said of the revenue.

Anderson later clarified with NRI NOW that his calculations were based on four months of actual revenue, using estimates from the current pace of billable expenses, while Richard’s were based on six, and counted funding still “in the pipeline.”

According to the chairman, the added staffing is needed for the benefit of village residents, and with a just single rescue, the district falls below National Fire Protection standards.

“It’s getting the truck to the people of Pascoag in a timely fashion, so that they get the care as soon as possible,” said Richard.

Richard noted that just after the department scaled back service in keeping with the vote Tuesday morning, three calls came in within 45 minutes – with just one rescue available to respond.

“There’s so much mutual aide coming in,” said Richard, pointing to the challenges of serving roughly 5,000 people over 27 square miles with a single truck. “It’s a big district.”

The initiative failed with just under the required two-thirds threshold in a vote of 27-17, and Richard said that due to the close outcome, the question will likely go before voters again in the future.

“I’m probably going to bring it up again because we were only off by two votes,” he said. “The bottom line is getting our personnel to our taxpayers when they need it in a timely fashion. It’s not a lot of money for your safety.”

Editor’s note: The above article has been edited to reflect the actual number of votes cast on the two major questions, as well as add a clarification provided by Dennis Anderson.