TEMPLETON — Members of the Phillipston Selectboard met with their counterparts in Templeton Wednesday night to receive the results of a study done to determine the feasibility of merging the fire departments of the two communities. The conclusion of the report: “There is little immediate benefit of merging the two departments.”
The study did, however, provide some insights into what the residents of each community are receiving for their taxes and fees.
The report was compiled by Paul Bishop, MPA, principal with the Center for Governmental Resources of Rochester, N.Y., a nonprofit consulting firm established by Eastman Kodak founder George Eastman in 1915. The $25,000 study was paid for with a grant acquired by the town of Templeton through the state’s Community Compact.
Bishop and his team looked at a number of factors to determine whether combining the departments made financial and logistical sense.
“When we talk about where EMS (emergency medical services) revenue comes in,” said Bishop, “because as you charge for transport, the goal is that you’re going to be able to fund some of your operations. In Templeton, you bring in almost 43 percent of your budget through your ambulance service. In Phillipston, with a much lower call volume, it’s only about 13 percent.”
Bishop noted that Templeton has averaged 863 EMS calls per year over the past five years, while Phillipston’s average over the same period was around 167.
“Doing real simple math of fiscal year 20 fire department budgets relative to your population,” said Bishop, “it costs about $89 a year to have fire service in Templeton, and about $139 in Phillipston. When you do that same kind of math on a per call basis, it’s less expensive to undertake a call in Templeton than it is in Phillipston.
“When you look at the number of calls per population, you’re actually about even,” he told the boards. ‘You have about 106 calls per 1,000 in Templeton, and 107 in Phillipston. So, your call demand is about equal between the two.”
Bishop also pointed out the communities already cooperate in some important areas.
“You share your dispatching,” he said. “You have a strong mutual aid with each other. Both departments are working well with each other. The reality is we call them fire departments; they are EMS departments that occasionally respond to fires and rescues. In Templeton, about 80 percent of calls relate to emergency medical services; in Phillipston, it’s about 73 percent.”
Bishop said the average response time to calls in Phillipston is 8 minutes, 48 seconds, while that in Templeton is about 7 minutes. He pointed out that the response time in Phillipston does drop to around 7 minutes during those hours when staff is on site at the fire station.
“Fire are rare,” he said. “When we total up all of the different fire types, it really only accounts for about 5 percent of your calls.”
The reports concluded that the only benefit that might accrue from merging the two departments would be if the move allowed them “to access additional financial resources “or a dedicated funding stream such as a fire district.”
The report did say the towns might benefit from shared administrative staff, a dedicated training officer for two departments, an inter-municipal agreement for a shared chief, and “on-call per diem firefighters jointly appointed between the two departments in order to be able to fill shifts in either department, respond to calls as needed, or participate in training at either department.”