PUTNEY-As public safety officials around Windham County continue to assess their ability to respond to police, fire, and medical-emergency calls with limited staff and tight budgets, some towns are questioning whether the status quo is working.
In a bumpy journey this summer, the Putney Selectboard warned and approved, but then rescinded, an ordinance. After considerable discussion over a number of board meetings, the board has established a working group to address the issue anew and involve the emergency responders who are directly involved in the issue.
The process has also shined a light on the policies of other municipalities, the strain on their paid and/or volunteer services, and the question of who pays the costs of the emergency response to accidents that occur on the web of highways, including Interstate 91, that connect the region.
"While we have never thought to bill a local family for services rendered regarding fire or medical response, we have been frustrated by the amount of time and resources we spend on Route 9," said Carol Ann Johnson, president of the Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company.
Holding back and reworking Putney ordinance
In May, the Putney Selectboard adopted an ordinance authorizing the town to bill for calls on Interstate 91 that require the fire department's response ["Putney board will reconsider ordinance for billing EMS calls," News, July 15].
Without it, the board concluded, the town would be solely responsible for the expenses incurred from responding to numerous calls for automobile accidents on the highway.
Or, at least that was the reason board members cited for the ordinance, which authorized the town to bill for any fire or emergency-services call.
For a variety of reasons, including the clarity of the language of the ordinance and a lack of public input, the Selectboard received enough pushback from residents - including a former state senator - to convince them to rescind the ordinance and try again.
During discussions at the various meetings throughout the spring and summer, the Selectboard, other town officials, and residents frequently cited other Windham County town ordinances that address when and why a town might bill for a fire or emergency call.
Some towns in Windham County do have laws allowing for emergency-services billing. Others do not. Others do not have municipal fire departments; they are private entities.
On July 23, the Putney Selectboard unanimously approved a motion by Fletcher Proctor, the board clerk, to rescind the ordinance he drafted and presented for adoption two months prior.
"I think it probably does make the most sense to hold back on this and then rework it," he said, recommending the creation of a working group to do so.
Vice Chair Peg Alden agreed with Proctor. She also supported the suggestion of resident Howard Fairman - a vocal critic of the ordinance - to include representatives from the town's Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services Department in the working group, and to get their approval on any updated ordinances.
This would ensure the working group's information would accurately reflect the two departments' needs, said Fairman, who at a later meeting said that "the working group should be majority Fire Department members."
Resident Jeanette White, also a vocal critic of the adopted and rescinded ordinance, offered to join the working group. White, who represented Windham County in the Vermont Senate for 20 years, told the Selectboard, "I'd be happy to work on this policy. It's what I love, and I'm pretty good at it."
The Selectboard revisited the discussion of forming a working group at its Aug. 6 meeting. Alden volunteered to serve in this group, as did White and Town Manager Karen Astley.
A murky ordinance
At the July 9 board meeting, White pointed out that Putney already has an ordinance allowing the Selectboard to set rates and invoice for emergency services.
Its fee schedule had not been updated for quite some time, she said, and the Selectboard could simply draft a new one.
"But you didn't," she said. "You chose to completely ignore the old ordinance and establish a new one that isn't an ordinance."
White noted the adopted ordinance had no definitions, enforcement, or clear language indicating which calls are billable.
At the July 23 meeting, Proctor, who had previously argued that a policy was needed, admitted the existence of the Putney Fire Department Service Reimbursement Ordinance, adopted in 2003. He noted its reimbursement rates had not been updated in 22 years.
He said the title of that ordinance is better than the one that the town adopted and quickly rescinded ("An Ordinance Establishing and Implementing a Program to Charge Mitigation Rates for the Deployment of Emergency and Non-Emergency Services by the Fire Department for Services Provided/Rendered by/for the Putney, Vermont, Fire Department").
Proctor said he directly copied the title from Dummerston's ordinance.
However, according to Dummerston Town Clerk Laurie Frechette, "Dummerston does not have such an ordinance."
Larger towns bill for fire, safety calls
Putney joins three towns - Brattleboro, Rockingham, and Wilmington - which have very similar ordinances clearly indicating when and why someone receiving emergency services will also receive a bill.
Although Putney's population is smaller than that of these towns and there is a nonprofit organization supporting its efforts, Putney Fire and Rescue is "a municipal Fire and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Department run by the town of Putney," according to the town's website.
All four towns are authorized to issue invoices for the reimbursement of costs incurred by the town for fire and EMS calls for incidents that are malicious, a nuisance, or involve hazardous materials. These motor vehicle accidents earn the perpetrator a law-enforcement citation or arrest.
In the case of fires, they are nonpermitted burns, or permitted burns that, due to negligence, rage out of control; they are also wild land fires caused by negligence.
The ordinances also cover special events, like a sports tournament or inspecting a tent for a party.
As is the case in many of the less-populated towns in Windham County, Dummerston has no ordinance. Its nonprofit fire company, the West Dummerston Volunteer Fire Department, is a separate, all-volunteer entity, but one that voters support in the municipal budget at Annual Town Meeting.
In Vernon, Town Administrator Shelly Banford said the town "doesn't have an ordinance, and we don't bill anyone for services."
Likewise, "Newfane does not have a policy for billing for emergency calls," said Town Clerk Wannetta Powling. However, Newfane and Brookline are served by an all-volunteer company, the NewBrook Fire Department. (The Commons was unable to reach Fire Chief Todd Lawley as of press time.)
Beth Bristol of the Guilford Volunteer Fire Department told The Commons that the town's fire company "does have a policy for billing for certain calls. It is ultimately at the discretion of the chiefs, based on severity of negligence. However, typically if the police issue a ticket, we will issue a bill."
Marlboro Town Clerk Forrest Holzapfel confirmed his town's fire company is also an independent organization. Allison Turner, Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company first responder, told The Commons that "Marlboro Fire has never, as far as I'm aware, billed for any of our services."
The fire company's board has, in the past, discussed billing for services, according to Johnson, its president.
"We certainly have talked about it as a way to recoup our overhead, though the conversation has not come up with our current board," she said.
Who picks up the tab?
Overhead is a pressing issue for a small, all-volunteer fire company in a small, rural town.
Johnson detailed the challenges her fire company faces in trying to keep residents and visitors safe on a tight budget.
Vermont Route 9 is the primary east-west highway connecting the Troy and Albany, New York, area to southern Vermont and Keene, New Hampshire.
This highway, said Johnson, "bisects our town, and we've been told by the state [Agency] of Transportation that over two million cars and trucks go through our town every year." Travelers along this route contend with "steep hills, curves, snow, and ice," said Johnson, "which leads to numerous incidents."
When the Vermont State Police Barracks in West Brattleboro moved to Westminster in 2016, the Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company was forced to step in.
"We saw a huge drop in the amount of help we received from state troopers whenever there was an emergency/accident on Route 9, which resulted in our responders spending a lot of long hours on Route 9," said Johnson.
"This is when we talked about, 'How can we get reimbursed for this time and the resources expended?'" she said.
"After discussing the logistics of how [a fully volunteer company] could go about collecting any fees from motorists involved in incidents on Route 9, we realized it was just not feasible," said Johnson, who noted, "We all already have way too much to do without tracking down motorists' insurance policies, etc."
Although the fire company's board has, for now, ruled out billing those who have received emergency services, they did decide on another way to reduce the pressure on their small fire company.
"We recently established a policy and have advised state troopers that we will provide assistance for 90 minutes on Route 9. No more," said Johnson.
"The safety of everyone on Route 9 cannot fall on the shoulders of our all-volunteer crew, especially when one considers that state troopers are paid for the time they would be on the scene," she added.
Johnson noted the Marlboro Volunteer Fire Company's work does not go unappreciated - nor without financial support. Far from it, in fact.
"We almost always get a donation from a grateful family when we have responded to a fire or medical emergency," she said, and added, "or helped find a loved one in the forest, [or] pumped out a basement."
This News item by Wendy M. Levy was written for The Commons.