Committee To Decide On Towaco Fire Budget Wednesday

The Township Committee plans to make a decision regarding the recently defeated Towaco Fire Distrcit budget at a special joint meeting on Wednesday night.

After meeting in a , the committee decided to postpone its decision until after the Towaco Fire Districts reorganization meeting on Wednesday to give the fire commissioners a chance to provide some more concrete numbers as to what next year’s budget might look like.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of hard numbers,” mayor Sandham said of a presentation made by Rick Conklin, vice president of the Board of Fire Commissioners. “I think picking a number of out the air and putting it on a piece of paper would be very subjective at this point.”

Conklin said that, in response to the department’s , one position had been eliminated with a second one likely to be removed by May.

“A lot of our costs were in administration,” he said. “What we’re saying is that any hemorrhaging has stopped. I think we’re on a self-correction course.”

Conklin said that the elimination of the two positions, plus a 1 percent cut in the department’s budget, roughly $15,000, could result in a $150,000 savings on the 2012 budget but that the commissioners would have to meet to get final numbers on how much could be saved.

“I would be more willing to live with that type of scenario if I knew what was going to happen for next year,” Sandham said.

Conklin said that the district would work with the Township Committee on the budget while stressing that the budget was “very lean” and that there is “not a lot of money in our budget to go around.”

“We’re a small budget,” he said. “Take one or two percent out and that is about $15,000. We need money at the firematic end of it. We’ll work with you. You do what you need to do. If you cut us and we can’t fill our air packs, we’ll come back to you asking for it, but we’re going to be very prudent.”

Sandham said that the committee would do its best to make sure no money spent toward fighting fires would be cut.

“We need to have the Towaco Fire Department able to service the needs of the community and we need to see … [if] this budget is thorough and efficient in delivering those services to the residents,” he said.

Sandham also said that he felt the district would not be in its current situation if information regarding its budget, operations and meetings were more readily available to the public.

“I think a lot of people are out here tonight to get more information on the budget,” he said. “This committee, we admire and respect the efforts of those firemen and commissioners. That being said, the voters said they want someone to take a more detailed look at the budget.”

Conklin said the board would make an effort to be more public, citing the election of two new fire commission members, saying that more disclosure was a “lesson learned.”

“This is fires time in 80 years that a budget was knocked down,” he said. “The people spoke and they wanted a change. I think it’s our duty as a board to take care of that.”

The Township Committee’s joint meeting with the Towaco Fire District will be held at the municipal building at 8:30 on Wednesday.