Fairfax Rescue Building

[lena6]

Thank you for the info.  Keep up the good work.

[al brodeur]

here where I live the local rescue squads membership fees last year for a wrinkled ranger couple (seniors) $40.00  what the others fees were I do not remember but
they are brokren down to single person, family,  and more that I do not remember because they did not apply to me.
the memberships cover the insurance co-pay

[nhibbard]

I didn't see mention of the other contributions from the town that made some of this possible, such as waivers and other items from the Selectboard meetings. I agree with this building being necessary to Rescue and the Town, but I also believe some items should be made more clear.

[ohhman]

I just am reading this, not sure why I missed it, but I wanted to clarify something that was written by resqmas:  the 2nd ambulance was stored in rental space in a remote location that was small??  Well at one  time it was in a BIG garage right on Main street with a nice parking area!!  I didn't think that was remote OR small!  Just saying.  I just worry about all these new costs we are adding/"not adding"  to our budget.  I am very thankful for BOTH rescue & fire & all they do for our town, but there has to be a limit on the spending. Not sure about others, but know I have not had a raise in many years that would help support the cost of livivng let alone the costs of all the extras our town is incurring. Yes, I know we have to grow, but, there is a limit.  I remember when the issue of the new ambulance came up, that the 1 we had wasn't worthy & had outlived it's use.   Agreed, BUT why did we then keep it & now we have double to maintain/insure/run/find volunteers for?  As for fire, I heard a "rumor" the other night the ladder truck St. Albans gave to us has been given back after we put $$$$ into it??  And now fire wants to purchase a new ladder truck??   Again, I appreciate all both squads do for our town but many of our townspeople live on very fixed incomes & all these "pennies to the dollar"  really add up.  It just makes no sense to me ~ especially when we also have always had an awesome town road crew that were very clever in fixing,maintaining, rigging up something to work to work to SAVE our town $$$$ yet their budget was scaled back.  Just saying.

[ohhman]

I want to say a neighbor/ friend fireman stopped by to explain about the "new" ladder truck & I so appreciate his time!  So, yes they are getting a "new" but "used" truck & for LOTS less $$$$ than I was told the other night.  Also, the new truck has same tires/wheels they purchased from 1 given so these can stay for " new used"  truck; it also has other things the truck given does not.    All was explained very well & so I said it's too bad things like this just can't come out 1st hand so that the "rumors" can be put to end with the truth.  This forum is an excellent way to get the RIGHT news to people, though NOT the ONLY wat as many do not have access, but at least some can look, read & set the record straight! THANKYOU again HENRY!!!

[7F24]

Historically the fire department has always had to pay sticker price for replacement vehicles because of the process involved through town meeting approval.  When we had to replace our old engine and tanker we brought brand new.  We had to be able to show the voters what we needed and get approval for the purchase.  We could have bought used for much less money, but to buy used you have to have cash on hand. We have been working with the selectboard to fix this. There is now an equipment replacement line in the fire budget that is being saved each year, which allows us to purchase a used vehicle when a good deal shows up.  The fire department will be buying a ladder truck from Essex Junction for about 10% of the cost of a new one.  We hope this vehicle will serve us well for the next 10+ years.  If we waited and tried to replace the existing ladder in the next few years with a new one we would expect to have to pay $800K+.  In my opinion buying used is the way to go for a town like Fairfax.  I thank Dean and Justin for the work they did over the years to get this process in place, and I also thank the selectboard for agreeing and making it work.

[logical]

Not sure that when it comes to my loved ones I would want to rely on something that was "rigged up" to transport them to the hospital in time of an emergency.  I also believe that having 2 ambulances allows for our rescue crew to respond to multiple scenes at the same time.  Having a scanner in my home I know that this does happen on occasion.  I also do not believe that if my loved one was the 2nd call and there was no 2nd ambulance in town that I would want to wait for an out of town squad to respond.

[rod anode]

i would like to use that ladder truck for 1 deer season for a tree stand ,mobil deer stand

[resqmas701]

I certainly will not reply on behalf of th fire department but will respond on behalf of rescue. Regarding the temporary location we rented, it was remote in that it was a mile from the fire station. Not a huge distance but certainly not right next door. Small is a relative term. We were barely able to get our small ambulance in without taking the mirrors off and the larger ambulance would not fit insode at all. It was a workable situation, but really not ideal.

The fact that the fire department building is too small for current operations can not be disputed. Both the fire department and the rescue squad are storing one vehicle each outside. The fact is that we are growing as a community. I am not sure how we limit growth. If we can not limit growth we still must supply services.

The reason we decided to keep the old ambulance was that the trade in we were offered for it was $4000.00. After some discussion the rescue squad decided tha it as worth more than that to keep it and we did. The first month we had it as a backup unit, we generated more than double that amount in revenue. Since we have had the second truck in operation we have used it to respond to 30+ calls per year on "unit 2 calls" when the primary truck is on another call. This results in a much shorter response time than if a truck was responding from St Albans, Milton or Cambridge. If you are one of those 30 people a year, I sure you would appreciate the time difference.

Insurance did not double but did go up by about 50% because of the multi vehicle discount. Maintenance cost actually went down, not up because we rotate vehicles to save some on the newer vehicle. Also we still have a vehicle in service when one is being worked on which is something that did not happen in the past. When the ambulance used to be worked on we were out of service, sometimes for days at a time.

The building that we are having built is being provided to us at about half its' appraised value. This is not something that we would likely be able to duplicate, nor would we ever find a better deal. Much of the work done and materials used have been donated by the contractors involved and members of then community.

As to the cost for rescue to the community, just as a comparison Fairfax, Fletcher and Westford are paying $12.00 per person fo EMS services. The Town and City of St Albans, the Town of Bakersfield, the Town of Fairfield, and the Town of Georgia are paying about $19.00 per person. The City of Swanton is paying $28.00 per person, and the Town of Swanton and the Town of Enosburg are paying $29.00 per person. The reason for this is that Fairfax Rescue is primarily staffed by volunteers.

The bottom line is that Fairfax Rescue is not asking the town to pay for the building, just support the service as they have in the past. Rescue is totally responsible for the building, mortgage and maintenance. You will not see a new article at town meeting for the building.

There is not enough time or space to adequately discuss all of this here. Anyone with questions is invited to call rescue at 849-2773. We would be more than happy to discuss this in greater detail.

[ohhman]

And knowing that we do not "pay for" but we do "support" the rescue, again I am very thankful for all rescue & fire do for our town, but we do need to remember that rescue is NOT a part of our town, something I really do not understand why they aren't,  rescue is a separate entity,BUT  we still do need to let all know there is a limit to what people can afford.  Thanks for info as I feel it's good to keep all as informed as possible.