FinCom Balks At Funding Request For Public Safety Study

SANDWICH- When a plan to spend up to $150,000 on a study of the town’s public safety needs heads to Town Meeting later this month, it will do so without the finance committee’s blessing.
The committee voted Tuesday not to back the selectmen’s plan.
Two weeks ago, the board of selectmen rejected a motion to hire eight firefighters/paramedics to reopen the East Sandwich Fire Station and instead approved putting an article on the warrant for the Special Town Meeting seeking voters’ approval to fund a study that would provide information on the town’s overall safety needs.
Tuesday night, finance committee members discussed this article and, in the end, voted against recommending it.
Finance committee member Ellen Scott began discussions by asking if such a study had ever been done. 
Town Manager George H. Dunham said that, in 1986 or 1987, a study was completed on the needs of the fire department only. That study recommended increasing staff and opening as many as five substations.  He said given the rise in the population since that time, the study should be updated and should include the police department needs, as well. He went on to say that there are several computer software programs available that the town could use to determine the best location for a central fire and police department, as well as locations for the fire department’s substations. He said that information, along with the previous study, could be given to the consultant hired to complete this study, possibly reducing the $150,000 estimate.
“I don’t understand the burning need to do this now. We’ll give all the information to the consultants; they’ll pretty it up and give it back to us, for $150,000. I don’t think this is the right time to do this,” committee member Ellen R. Yaffe stated.
Calling attention to the state’s current economic turmoil, chairman of the finance committee Paul C. Kilty cautioned against any kind of unnecessary spending right now.
“There are storm clouds on the horizon. I don’t think it would be prudent to recommend any one-time spending or spending that is going to increase the structural deficit. There are going to be difficult times ahead,” Mr. Kilty said.
Ms. Scott expressed concern that paying for a study now might be a waste of money. “I’m afraid $150,000 is going to be used to put another study on the shelf,” she said.
“I would rather see more action-oriented items. It seems that this study would get in the way of anything happening in Sandwich,” committee member John D. Vibberts said.
Ms. Yaffe questioned why department heads such as Fire Chief George P. Russell Jr. and Chief of Police Michael J. Miller are not serving as the consultants on the town’s safety needs. “I would rather have the town’s own professionals telling us what we need and not spend this $150,000,” she said.
Committee member William Diedering III pointed out that even after the study is completed there are no guarantees that the recommendations made will be implemented. “We don’t have the money to do this stuff. We have a long history of paying for consultant reports and then ignoring them. We are going to have a report we can’t afford to implement. We are not in a position to drastically increase the staff of any department in this town. I feel like we are putting good money after bad,” he said. 
With all members in agreement that paying for a study now is not the financially prudent thing to do, the finance committee voted not to recommend Article 4.