FARMINGTON – Kingfield selectmen told Franklin County commissioners Tuesday that they will no longer provide primary fire protection for parts of Freeman Township.
“We don’t like to do that, but we feel we were treated unfairly,” Kingfield Selectmen Chairman John Dill said Tuesday.
Dill said the town was giving commissioners two months’ notice to find another primary responder for the sections of Freeman Township that include Freeman Ridge.
Freeman Township does not have a fire department and sections of it are isolated because of its geographic location, requiring service by different towns. Freeman Ridge is 1 miles from Kingfield.
Kingfield officials were initially told that they would get $5,500 from the county to provide the service, as they had in the past, and factored that amount into their budget.
Commissioners had reduced the contract amount from $5,500 to $1,500 in late March for the 2005-2006 contract that begins July 1.
Commission Chairman Meldon Gilmore of Freeman Township asked Dill on Tuesday if Kingfield would not respond if “my house is burning down.”
“Basically, that’s it,” Dill said.
The contract with Kingfield for primary fire protection is good through June 30.
Kingfield selectmen told commissioners in April that they had been unaware that they would receive a reduced amount until after the contract arrived.
Dill and Selectman Neal McCurdy had asked commissioners to reconsider restoring the amount, which helps pay for fire equipment and the new fire station.
Commissioners rejected that request in April.
Commissioner Gary McGrane of Jay said previously that Kingfield should have expected a reduction in the contract amount since the Salem Township Fire Co. was organized and is expected to provide coverage in Salem, which includes Mt. Abram High School.
He also said that if Kingfield selectmen could show commissioners why more money is justified, the amount could be reconsidered.
Several people noted Tuesday that most Salem firefighters work out of town during the day and there have been times when there has been limited coverage. On one occasion, there was no coverage.
Commissioner Fred Hardy said Tuesday that he didn’t see why the $1,500 could not be renegotiated in a compromise in the future. But the amount should be lower than $5,500, he said.
Kingfield officials are willing to sit down and talk about it, Dill said. But as it stands, the town is going to hold a special town meeting to consider adding $5,500 to the Fire Department budget to cover the amount it was expecting from the county.
Dill said that the issue is in the commissioners’ hands, but the town is not interested in providing primary coverage for $1,500.
The decision was not made lightly, Dill said.
McCurdy said the selectmen don’t believe that Kingfield residents should have to pay higher taxes to subsidize the people of Freeman.
McGrane said that mutual aid providers would respond to cover Freeman Ridge.
In other business, commissioners tabled a request by Sheriff Dennis Pike to promote a 31-year sheriff’s deputy to corporal. The deputy is presently a transport officer. Pike said that he has the authority to promote an employee.
Pike’s proposal is to give Deputy Albert Smith, whose name was not mentioned during the meeting Tuesday, a 55-cent an hour raise, which would amount to $1,100 a year.
Pike said his intent is not to create a permanent position, only to recognize the deputy’s service to the county. Commissioners requested that Pike run the proposal by the union to see if it was something it would support.
Comments are no longer available on this story