On face book there is a letter from the Templeton fire department union ( I think 4 members) the letter talks about union declining a bonus from arpa money, but then suggests the department could use some arpa money for ems things. So, to members of the union, there is a thing called ambulance receipts, which is money collected to cover costs of ems service. Town meeting was told the ambulance service would pay for itself. The department chose a new tanker over replacing the 2014 ambulance. July monthly expenditure report shows a balance of $7,000.00 in fire/ems donation fund and $961,000.00 balance in ambulance receipts. Fy2024 Ambulance/EMS budget voted at town meeting is $534.500.00 while the FY2023 ambulance/EMS budget was $290,250.00 - almost 100% increase in ambulance funding from fy23 to fy24. EMS does not require any arpa money.
What we really need is a Fire Chief who realizes Templeton needs a Full time EMS staff and on call fire.
ReplyDeleteLook at the number from the report coming out on September 13, 2023.
254 EMS calls
23 Motor vehicle accidents
3 Building Fires
7 brush fires
Yet our Fire/EMS is growing the fire side of the department by buying multiple new vehicles with Covid Money, but none are for EMS.
We've had a plan to replace Ambulances every 10 years as the "Chief" had requested as a safety issue, but He then decides against it after pretending a truck was down 9 months of the year..............yes, I said pretending, as it was only listed as " out of service" during the Capital Improvements request period...........
Not only did Dickie not complete his required training, but He lied to the entire town for 3/4 of a year to get a new truck.
Dave Dickie, Needs to go. He is not competent.
I wish there was an option to block everything you post. Bob M, always outraged but never has any good ideas.
ReplyDeleteDave Smart, you could just read elsewhere!
ReplyDeleteI've given so many and many have actually been implemented. You are so afraid you wont even post under your name.
Go be afraid somewhere else. I'm not here to cheerlead like you Mr. Smart
Just to be clear for the fuzzy minded.
ReplyDeleteI've been consistant in my condemnation of leadership in the Fire Department, my support for a central location for a new Fire/EMS structure, my support expanding EMS and limiting Fire as demand illustrates, not as old school fireman believes.............Even reports promote the idea, but not our "chiefs" actions
Yes I do not support spending Hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote Templeton Fire being called on more Mutual Aid calls so employees got more hours, which made it easier to hire staff.
Our Fire/EMS budget went from $500k including ambulance receipts just short of $1.5 million in a few years.
Today we have $250k in leases for Fire department on top of overblown expense.
You think I only show problems, well, doesn't seem like anyone else knows. or is awful quiet about it Mr Smart?
I’d like to respond to Mr. May regarding the remarks made about the Templeton Fire Department. It has been stated that Chief Dickie lied about a truck being out of service for 9 months. Here is some information on the Forestry truck. It has been out of service for a total of 9 months because it simply does not run.
ReplyDeleteThe actual truck Chief Dickie is looking to replace is the Tanker truck as it is nothing short of 25 plus years old. The town of Templeton is in desperate need of an updated Tanker truck in order to reach areas outside of the hydrant district. The next misconception I would like to speak about is the opinion that Chief Dickie should be hiring more EMS personnel. It would be more beneficial and much more lucrative to hire full time firefighter/paramedics. This is standard protocol that is used by many of the towns that surround Templeton. I hope this provides some clarity on some of the topics that were addressed at town meeting. I respect an open forum to address hot button topics, however, speaking without having all the facts can be dangerous at best.
Respectfully Submitted,
David and Kelly LaPrade
.
DeleteMr Laprade,
Your opinion is just that. A biased opinion from an employee who works under Dave Dickie.
Due to Dave failure we have multiple trucks, but no people to ocover ALL of Templeton with ALS service.
It's 13 minutes to house from Baldwinsville station. Most likely my first responder will be a lone cop for about 6 minutes(not really fair to cops) while Ambulance gears up from Baldwinville fire cause Dave sees it benefiting his response times, not actual people!
By the time a Tanker gets anywhere in town and set up the house is lost.
Ambulance saves lives daily, Fire tanker does not! It's really that simple.
Just an FYI. The tanker truck will cost (leased) the town of Templeton $488,949.90 based on Town Meeting Article.
DeleteNext year we'll be asked to Lease an Ambulance (maybe they'll use ambulance receipts to fund the lease)
Wonder what happened to thousands of feet of that old fire hose?
Just something to think about when speaking of age of a vehicle. I just put together a truck, 1998 and that truck will be used to clear snow from MA state roads. Hours and miles are low considering the age of the truck, which previously served airport. This truck like a fire truck only rolls when it snows, does not travel far and does not work in summer. So, back to tanker, I do not have record of the truck as to if it began life as a new truck in Templeton or not, I do not have the records of maintenance or any of that. What I do know is the record of ambulance calls, which just like many surrounding towns are on the increase, which would support that the 2014 ambulance be replaced before any tanker truck gets replaced. How often does that tanker roll? Now to the ambulance service, when going to the upgrade of care provided by town ambulance service, it is my understanding the department is supposed to have X number of personnel to man the ambulances 24/7 - 365. I have to ask what happens when the chief is riding in ambulance and there is a major fire while chief is at hospital with a patient? How does a fire chief do chief duties while riding in ambulance? "Much more lucrative to hire firefighter/paramedics" That sounds like a sales pitch rather than actual analysis. Templeton needs one station housing fire, ambulance and emd in my humble opinion. Templeton needs to reduce the number of fire trucks it has, as the fire chief himself has stated on more than one occasion, he has more trucks than people to drive them and if one takes time to count, from records available to public, Templeton appears to have more fire trucks than city of Gardner and town of WInchendon combined! Now as to blocking Mr. May, that will never happen on this platform as he posts under his actual name, so far, I have chosen not to block anything, even those who post under anonymous, which are people who seem to have much to say but no moxy to stand up under their name. No one is forced to read material on this platform.
ReplyDeleteA fact; employment agreement between town of Templeton and dave dickie states each fiscal year his pay increases by X, then there are requirements of mr. dickie to do training, courses, etc., so one of those fiscal years mr. dickie did not get the increase in the agreement, why would that be? Mr. dickie must not have fulfilled some requirements of the agreement and perhaps even does not meet the requirements of the job description for fire chief in Templeton. You can find this information on town website.
ReplyDelete