BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – A plan to hire a specialist to assist with writing grants that could offset costs associated with the fire department was voted down Jan. 23.

The plan would have paid roughly $10,000 for grant writing assistance to seek a SAFER grant which would have paid for firefighter positions.

According to the resolution, Julie Burline of MJ Burben, Inc. would have assisted with the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants.

“Julie has over 25 years of experience securing funds for our Nations’ First Responders, hospital systems, municipal infrastructure, school districts, and corporate entities,” the resolution said.

Fire Chief Ken Stull sought support for the grant from council unsuccessfully.

Councilors Nichole Kennedy and Dan Skamperle expressed support for the contract.

A clause in the contract that requires extra pay for union members who work understaffed, combined with a council decision to reduce manpower at the department has created a financial burden for the city.

Because of the clause, the city would actually see short-term savings by hiring two additional firefighters.

However, the majority of council has been resistant to doing so due to concerns of long-term costs associated with bolstering the department.

After a lengthy debate on the matter at the Jan. 26 meeting, the measure failed in 4-3 vote.

Deputy Mayor Steven Fisher and Councilor John Rishe suggested that the application be handled in house by the planning department.

Interim City Manager Andrea Smith said that two previous attempts to get the grant were unsuccessful and said hiring the specialized grant writer who has a proven track record could be key in securing the funding.

“I’m fully supportive of this,” Smith said. “This particular grant writer has been successful in the most recent round of SAFER grants,” she said.

Stull added that she would also be able to help with other grants related to the fire department.

Rishe and Fisher were joined by Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly and councilor Bill Dillabough in voting against the contract.

While it’s likely the grants will still be sought by the city using in-house resources, Rishe raised concerns about spending unbudgeted funds on hires the city likely couldn’t afford down the road.

Rishe said he believed the city and the fire department could benefit from sitting down and working together on savings, but struggled to support hiring additional firefighters given the current contract situation.

On several occasions the majority councilor members said the existing contract between the fire department and city puts a financially unsustainable burden on the taxpayers.

That debate caused a years-long legal battle in which an arbitrator eventually ruled in favor of the fire union.

Despite the extra upfront expense the mayor argued that the city must continue to reduce the number of firefighters and has suggested that the city needs to move toward a volunteer and professional hybrid fire department similar to what’s done in the neighboring Town of Massena.

Having not passed a resolution that would allow the city to exceed the 2% property tax cap, the city is working within tight financial constraints.