Essex fire department told to find $50,000 before town hires full-time chief

Essex will not start looking for its first full-time fire chief until the Fire Department shows it can move about $50,000 inside its own budget, town officials said Monday.

The Board of Selectmen met with the Board of Fire Engineers and the Finance Committee on Sept. 28. The department wants two people on duty for each weekday shift, along with the new chief. Officials estimate that plan leaves the department about $50,000 short in fiscal 2028.

Finance Committee members said the gap has to be closed by shifting money within the fire and ambulance budgets, not by adding to them. The fire budget is about $641,000, and the ambulance budget is kept separately. If the money cannot be found, they said, the two-person weekday shifts would not happen.

Town Administrator Brendhan Zubricki said the working target for fiscal 2028 is this year's budget minus $50,000, with a 2% increase on top of that. He called the figure conceptual.

The selectmen want an answer at their Oct. 5 meeting. That is also when they hope to adopt the job description, so the town can begin advertising. Zubricki said the town would not advertise until the selectmen are comfortable with how the budget works for the rest of this fiscal year and the next ones. He said the town does not expect to need more money this year for the chief's salary, since the post would be filled for only part of the year.

The Board of Fire Engineers planned to meet Wednesday and the call firefighters on Thursday to talk it over. Fire officials said they have a couple of ideas, but those will take some work.

Where the money could come from

Three ideas came up. The department will check whether its ambulance billing rates are below market. The town could charge event organizers for fire coverage instead of using tax money. And the department could look for savings in training.

The training budget rose sharply this year, to about $86,000. Fire officials said the department built its budget from a review with the Finance Committee of where it fell short last year. New members need fire academy and EMT training, gear and medical exams, and certified firefighters need yearly hazardous materials refreshers. One fire official said the department has already moved much of its training onto paid shifts.

They said they did not want to face another shortfall.

The job description

The selectmen and fire engineers went through two versions of the chief's job description: a long one Zubricki wrote from other towns' models and a shorter one from the fire engineers. Zubricki said one fire engineer and he should sit down and merge them before Oct. 5.

Among the changes discussed:

• A reference to collective bargaining agreements will come out. The department has no union contract.
• A set chain of command will likely stay out. Zubricki said the new chief should get a chance to look over the department first.
• The description should say the chief reports to the Board of Selectmen. Only the selectmen, as the appointing authority, can discipline firefighters.
• Required conference travel may be limited to the Essex County and Massachusetts fire chiefs associations, with others approved by the selectmen.
• The job should name the Cape Ann regional emergency planning committee.
• The terms "call," "on call" and "call force" will be defined. Essex has a call department, with some firefighters paid a stipend to be ready at night.

Where the chief must live drew the most debate. The draft says the chief must live in Essex, in a neighboring town or within a reasonable response time set by the selectmen. Zubricki warned that the rule has to be clear before anyone applies. A fire official said home prices in Essex are out of reach on the salary being discussed. One suggestion was a civil service style limit of 15 miles in a straight line, which would take in places such as Gloucester and Beverly. Zubricki said he would bring back optional wording.

A town vehicle for the chief will not be in the job description. Zubricki said that would be worked out in a contract, if at all.

Paying for town events

The board also took up which community events should get fire and ambulance coverage paid with public money. Everyone agreed that events covered by firefighters already on duty are fine.

A selectman proposed five events for public coverage: River Day, the car show, Happy as a Clam, Halloween and Santa's arrival. Fire Chief Christian Hassel helped the board work up a rough estimate. Fire coverage at those five would cost about $2,500 a year. Other events would pay for their own coverage through a new permit process. Zubricki said he would start drafting a permit form now, involving all departments, for next season.

The Board of Selectmen meets next on Monday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall auditorium, 30 Martin St.