CHINA NEWS: Agencies agree on reimbursement plan

by Mary Grow

At a special meeting June 8, China selectmen listened to suggestions from three representatives of the town’s four emergency services, made two minor revisions to a draft memorandum of understanding between the town and the services and unanimously approved the memorandum.

The point of the memorandum is to express agreement on a reimbursement plan for fire and rescue personnel, as authorized at the March town meeting.  Or, as the lawyer-written memorandum describes its purpose:  “to identify how the town would contribute financially to the collective effort of the emergency services departments in China to increase membership numbers and also to incent participation of membership in response to incidents, participation in ‘in house’ training offerings, engaging in after incident reloading and refueling and other duties assigned.”

The memorandum goes on to the make it clear that the town does not run the emergency services.  “Each department is independent; each of the departments will be controlling how the volunteers for the respective departments do their work.”

The reimbursement program is on a one-year trial basis, beginning July 1, with a six-months’ review by selectmen in consultation with emergency services chiefs.   The $40,000 voters appropriated in March sets a ceiling for the town’s 2017-18 contribution.   If the next fiscal year does not see more recruits or higher participation at fires and rescue calls, China Village Fire Chief Timothy Theriault has said he will not support another year of stipends.

The accompanying reimbursement plan sets hourly pay at $10 per hour, with additional stipends for the four chiefs and their assistants, deputies and other officers.  (ep)

Disbursements will be twice a year, in response to reports on hours worked from each service.  Recipients will be responsible for paying income taxes.

South China Fire Chief Richard Morse, backed by Theriault, said references to officers’ discretion allows paying a flat fee for some of the work firefighters do as part of their duties, like snowblowing station entrances.  The two chiefs also want to be able to use stipends for occasional out-of-town training sessions; selectmen added that provision.

Morse and Theriault strongly supported extra pay for deputy and assistant chiefs, a clause in the reimbursement plan but not in the memorandum.  They pointed out that if the chief were absent from a fire or accident scene, the next officer in line would have the responsibility to make what could be life-or-death decisions.

Selectman approved another amendment allowing annual stipends for officers other than the four chiefs, as defined by the services.

Morse had serious reservations about the whole memorandum with “all these whereases and bureaucracy.”  Town Manager Daniel L’Heureux replied there are two reasons to supplement the reimbursement plan with a formal agreement, which, he pointed out, says pretty much the same thing as the plan:

• When the current selectmen and emergency services chiefs leave office, the memorandum will guide their successors.
• The memorandum makes clear what both sides want clear to state and federal officials: emergency services personnel are not town employees. In addition to Morse and Theriault, the June 8 special meeting was attended by David Herard, representing China Rescue and the Weeks Mills Fire Department.  The memorandum designates as “lead people” responsible for carrying it out Morse, Theriault, Herard for China Rescue and Weeks Mills Chief Webb Shaw.   An authorized official from each of the four services needs to sign it.