The writer is a member of the Rockingham Selectboard but submits this letter as a citizen.
SAXTONS RIVER-Voters attending Rockingham's 2025 Annual Town Meeting at the Bellows Falls Middle School on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. will decide the future of our fire and rescue services.
Article 9 will ask the voters to approve the creation of a single municipal Fire and Rescue Department managed by the town. The plan includes three stations in Rockingham, Saxtons River, and Bellows Falls.
Voters are asked to attend an informational meeting at the Rockingham Free Public Library on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m. This meeting will outline the plan and provide accurate information.
Currently, responders' use of resources is limited by their department membership and its response zone. This plan is to improve the emergency service response to the entire town by utilizing trained personnel who work and reside within the town, eliminating the need for responders to drive past fire stations with town-owned equipment.
Working together we can eliminate response zones, reduce response times, and provide services more quickly. Taxes will be reduced by our working together as one and by eliminating redundant apparatus and equipment. Taxpayers will fund firefighter safety, training, and up-to-date equipment instead of equipment that is unused and costs money to maintain.
This plan will also create a safer and more positive atmosphere for responders, and it will help with recruitment and retention.
Rockingham's current emergency service model is outdated, costly, and lacks any town oversight. We ask you to attend town-hosted meetings to get accurate information. Fearmongering and the spreading of misinformation are no way to improve the quality of our emergency services.
Get informed, and get out and vote!
Peter Golec
Saxtons River
The writer is a member of the Rockingham Selectboard but submits this letter as a citizen.
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