BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro needs a modern fire department, not an old-fashioned one. The fire department is better at planning than our town government. Modernization of the fire department is protecting the public with preventive education and fire codes.
Some documents - not available on the town website -discovered in the town archives relate to the earliest government decisions about the Police/Fire Project, and they show determined disregard for the voters.
In 1997, at the very first Police-Fire Project committee meeting, there had already been a decision to build, before any official vote or even discussion with the voters. This decision overlooked and bypassed cheaper solutions to the individual problems such as:
• mold remediation (washing with bleach) for the Municipal Center basement,
• supplemental prisoner restraints instead of a new elevator,
• exhaust scrubbers on fire trucks instead of a new fire station.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) records show that fire calls declined 40 percent from 1989 to 2012 nationally, while the number of career firefighters rose by 40 percent nationwide.
Brattleboro's records show the actual numbers of fire calls declined from 470 to 270, consistent with the national trend at 42 percent.
NFPA indicates a rise of non-fire-related (i.e., medical) calls to fire departments, instead of using better qualified and less expensive EMT services.
A town manager's memorandum in 2000 indicates the cost of the PFP has nearly doubled since the first Representative Town Meeting vote defeated the measure by 4 to 1! PFP supporters continue to claim the cost has been reduced.
Contrary to the Selectboard's stance, documents indicate that the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank's director confirms that funds previously borrowed can be redirected for other capital projects with an official vote by voters. Let's do that.
We have discovered more documents that reveal the town government as unreasonably determined to disregard a public vote and to use expensive high-powered marketing techniques to manipulate the public into affirming this hard-sell construction idea.
Possible solutions that were ignored at the initial meeting in 1997 - and others - should be reviewed before expensive construction projects are considered.
A Washington Post article outlines the reduced need for old-fashioned firefighting in the modern age of fire prevention. Let's be modern and be smart with careful thorough planning and creative consideration before spending any more money.