MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Fire Department was out in force on Tuesday as City Council voted 5-2 to pass a first reading of the city’s $39.3 million 2021 spending plan, which begins the process of eliminating 12 grant-funded firefighter positions.
Ultimately, the issue could very well end with increases to the city’s fire fees beyond the 10% already proposed in the 2021 budget.
Councilors Ron Dulaney and Zack Cruze voted in the minority, both cited the fire personnel issue as the cause of their discomfort.
The $1.7 million federal SAFER grant was awarded in 2017 and has funded the positions on a diminishing scale the past three years. It runs out in November.
The grant allowed the department to add firefighters for the first time since 1968.
Even so, the department barely reaches National Fire Protection Association manpower standards for single family homes. It falls well short of standards for apartments, strip malls and high-rise buildings.
The budget presented Tuesday assumes only six of the positions will be fully funded in 2021, while the others are not funded at all.
City Manager Paul Brake said those six positions are being kept on through allocations from the city’s 1% sales tax — which comes online in July — and a 10% increase in fire fees.
Eventually, all the positions will be eliminated through attrition, meaning as firefighters retire, they will not be replaced.
Comments offered by both Dulaney and Cruze centered around why — since the city knew exactly when the grant would run out — more wasn’t done to ensure funds were available to fund the positions.
“I’m confused why we’re in this situation tonight, where it’s going to take some time to figure this out when we’ve had two and a half years to figure it out,” Dulaney said to Brake. “I think it needs to be explained.”
Brake recalled that he came to council with a proposal last year that would have increased the weekly user fee from $3 to $4 for the purpose of keeping the grant-funded personnel.
Brake went on to say that there are other considerations when it comes to funding the fire department in 2021, including an increased contribution to the fire pension fund and — following the filing of an ongoing lawsuit by the city’s firefighters — doubling paid leave for each firefighter for each of the 14 civil service holidays.
Brake also noted that the budget can change between now and the second reading on March 17. Specifically, council has a budget workshop on March 10.
“It’s not a perfect system. We need to really focus on the fire fees and roll up our shirt sleeves and find a sustainable funding source,” Brake said, explaining that the city could potentially offset the lost grant money through fire fees alone.
He pointed out that if city council enacted a 50% increase in fire fees, a homeowner with a 2,000 square foot home would pay an additional $77 annually.
Brake went on to say that he’s also been in discussions with Fire Chief Mark Caravasos regarding possible changes to how the city calculates fire fees for commercial and industrial properties, like gas stations.
During public comment, council heard from MFD Lieutenant Jayson Nicewarner, president of Morgantown Firefighters Local 313, as well as MFD Captain Gary Freshour.
Nicewarner said losing the 12 positions would drop the department from 18-man crews to 14-man crews and put its staffing back where it was in the late 1960s.
Both urged council to find a way to fund the positions.
“In my house I have wants and I have needs,” Freshour said. “The city is no different. It has wants and it has needs … The needs are public safety. If you approve the proposed budget tonight, cutting the staffing back down to 49 individuals — back down to levels from 1968 — shame on you.”
