Brewster Board Reverses Vote, Supports Firefighter Grant

BREWSTER – The select board is making it a practice to vote as often as possible on whether the town should, on its consultants recommendation, hire eight firefighters.

After voting on Jan. 22 to do so by applying for a federal SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant that would fund four firefighters for three years and then ask for an override at the end of the grant to keep them on, the vote was rescinded Feb. 12 and the board voted not to apply for the SAFER grant. On Monday night they reversed that vote and unanimously approved applying for the grant to increase staffing.

The reversal was inspired by a memo from Chief Robert Moran to rally support for the grant application and full funding of the positions if it wasn’t successful or when the grant expired.

On Feb. 12, board member Cindy Bingham had asked for the revote of the prior approval to apply for the SAFER grant.

“All of this came about because the school budget is so huge and the fire budget is 5 percent of our total budget and then adding this – I spoke with Chief Moran on Saturday and said I could probably go for two but four is a reach,” Bingham said on Feb. 12. “We had 140 (calls) where we asked for help from other towns, we had 130 where we helped other towns. That’s a pretty good number. We’re giving help and we’re getting help and the number is about the same so at this point we’re not being hurt. That’s why I’ve asked for the revote after a lot of lost sleep.”

“I think we should move forward with the grant and if you wanted to change the motion to not support an override in the spring of ‘25, I could support that,” board member Dave Whitney said. “I would hate to leave potential federal money on the table and walk away from it.”

“I think that taking the SAFER grant and then the possibility of not bringing those firefighters on board is not the way to go,” Bingham said.

The board revoted the original motion to apply for the SAFER grant “as soon as possible” and if unsuccessful in 2025 seek an override to fund the positions in 2026. But the vote failed 3-2, with Whitney and Mary Chaffee voting in support. Board chair Ned Chatelain then said he’d invite Moran to attend the next meeting to respond.

In his memo, Moran noted Brewster was having issues recruiting and retaining firefighters and morale was suffering because of mandatory overtime due to short staffing. While the staffing report recommended seven firefighters per shift, so the station wouldn’t be empty if there were two ambulance calls, Brewster has five staff per shift. Any time off for a firefighter requires overtime and sometimes leaves only four people on duty. Overlapping calls happen almost 19 percent of the time, or 600 calls per year. Overtime was $118,000 over budget last year.

The eventual eight new firefighters would allow for seven on duty at one time; the SAFER grant would hire the first four and boost staffing to six per shift. Brewster would need about $438,604 to fully fund the four firefighters. Uniforms and such would add another $60,000 but reduced overtime, increased ambulance revenues because of less mutual aid, and other funding sources could reduce the overall cost. Funds from the tax on marijuana businesses in town could also eventually be used for firefighter salaries.

The estimated costs of four firefighters after that would be near $500,000 a year. The SAFER grant would cover about $1.3 million over three years.

On Monday, Chaffee said she would again vote in favor of the motion to apply for the grant and have an override to fully fund the positions when needed.

“We have a lot of responsibilities in government, but the most important of them is the health and safety of the people who live and work in Brewster,” Chaffee said. “The Brewster Fire Department is not adequately staffed to meet the needs of the town now and in the future. I want to know the next time I call 911 I won’t be waiting for an ambulance from Chatham.”

Moran noted the eventual goal was to add nine positions; the additional job would be for an EMT coordinator, not a firefighter.

“I’ve decided to leave it to the people to vote to apply for a SAFER grant,” Bingham said. “Then it would be up to the people to approve an override.”

That spring town meeting would vote on the SAFER grant and the override would happen in 2025 or later if the grant is successful.

Lombardi said Brewster hasn’t used an override for operating costs in five years and funding the firefighters would do that. The amount for the potential override is unknown and dependent on cost savings and what other funding sources are available. He estimated one or two positions could be funded by the town revenues but the other two would need an override eventually.

“The staffing recommendations are clear,” Lombardi said.

“I found the memo extremely compelling,” said Chatelain, who’d voted to reverse the original approval. “I’m going to support the grants because [Moran] did an excellent job putting color on the issue. I also support bringing it to town meeting and letting the voters decide.”

Kari Hoffman also reversed her recent withdrawal of support and the board voted 5-0 to support the grant and eventual override.