14 hours a day, 2-man staff pushed for Fire, Rescue

Fire/Rescue Chief Dan Meehan explains the proposed staffing levels for the town's first responders during Saturday's informational meeting at Lebanon Elementary School. (Lebanon Voice/Harrison Thorp photo)

LEBANON - If selectmen and Fire/Rescue Chief Dan Meehan have their way, Lebanon for the first time ever will have paid Fire and Rescue personnel staffing their respective headquarters 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

The part-time staffing, along with other improvements to both departments, are expected to spike both budgets substantially, with Rescue increasing by $113,000 and Fire going up by $94,000.

Meehan and selectmen outlined the plans and budgetary increases on Saturday at a sparsely attended informational meeting at Lebanon Elementary School.

The salary for paid Rescue staff would be based on $10 an hour with a sliding scale so that those more highly certified would be paid more. It would include two-person staffing for the 14 hours.

There would also be on-call hourly wages of $4.50 for two staff for an additional six hours every day.

The total cost of those staffed and on-call hours is about $120,000, roughly the same amount as the Rescue budget increase.

Meehan said the staffing is necessary to enable more calls to be speedily responded to, and also to avoid $2,000 surcharges from area towns that are currently applied when Lebanon is unable to field a response.

The proposed Rescue budget also adds more money for training.

The total asked for Rescue in the proposed June referendum is about $236,000, with ambulance revenues expected to defray some of the increase in the future.

Meanwhile, the Fire budget also includes daily 14 hour staffing, at $8.50 an hour for two firefighters, with an additional four hours staffed by two on-call firefighters at $4.50 an hour.

Meehan reasoned that the firefighters' staffed wage is slightly lower than Rescue's because continued training costs for Rescue personnel is substantially higher.

The Fire budget also includes money for a sinking floor in the meeting room at the Lebanon Fire Station on Upper Cross Road. Meehan said he's noticed an increased dip in the flooring since he took over the chief's reins a couple of months ago.

The total proposed Fire budget is put at $216,000, about a $95,000 increase, again close to the total cost of new staffing.

Selectmen furnished budgetary line items for all town accounts, which show a proposed increase of about $284,000 over last year's budget of some $7,957,000.

The proposed increases are expected to increase the mil rate by a little more than 50 cents.