MedCare Building, Rumford Fire Station and a lack of action

The MedCare crews are living in trailers due to a mold problem. The Rumford Fire Department needs to add a second egress to the basement per order of the State Fire Marshall. Meanwhile, I see no discussion from our selectmen on the topic of bringing our fire departments together. Len says he is working on it, but Gary doesn't seem to be aware of it. My suggestion would have been to have a proposal for the voters ready by the november election, but that isn't happening. If we buy or build a building for any of these entities, we need to do it as a unified community and a joint effort. That isn't going to happen by magic. Our towns need to be sitting down and hammering out a plan, now. The longer we wait, the more it costs us. Let's get busy people!

I think the old puiia buildings near the info booth would be a perfect spot for all 3 to locate.

I'm sad to say it but we don't typically sit down and hammer things out proactively here...the current board doesn't work that way - they seem to prefer the crisis/response approach. If there is no crisis, then they will create one. Big gestures, loud talk, no action...who wants to go to a meeting and get shouted down by Chairman-my-way-or-the-highway-Boivin?

Timeout,
Would it be possible for you to discuss the issue without the personal attack?? Thanks.

Sorry Kevin, but I truly don't think I can. I have sat through every meeting with Arthur and the regionalization issue. I have watched while Mark and Arthur have their sidebar discussions. I have heard Frank say one thing and then do completely another. I have heard the resentments, personal agendas, etc. I have rarely heard any respect coming from these men for our town employees. I completely lost respect for Mr. Boivin during exec. session regarding the tree cutting. I asked people, is it me? No, turns out he's been that way his whole life. I don't think it's personal, I think everyone knows. Its frustrating and idealistic to think we will get anywhere on this issue. Mr. Boivin wants a brand new Rumford Fire Department building...(probably dedicated to himself). If you want to act as if we have a say, go ahead. Sorry, don't take it personally...

Mark,

Will you please elaborate on "re-active approach"? Thanks.

Timeout wrote:Sorry Kevin, but I truly don't think I can. I have sat through every meeting with Arthur and the regionalization issue. I have watched while Mark and Arthur have their sidebar discussions. I have heard Frank say one thing and then do completely another. I have heard the resentments, personal agendas, etc. I have rarely heard any respect coming from these men for our town employees. I completely lost respect for Mr. Boivin during exec. session regarding the tree cutting. I asked people, is it me? No, turns out he's been that way his whole life. I don't think it's personal, I think everyone knows. Its frustrating and idealistic to think we will get anywhere on this issue. Mr. Boivin wants a brand new Rumford Fire Department building...(probably dedicated to himself). If you want to act as if we have a say, go ahead. Sorry, don't take it personally...

I am not asking you to agree with me, I am asking for you to not attack people in your posts.

marktripp wrote:I like the idea of regionalization if done for the right reasons. I do not support it in a re-active approach.

Mark,
It is a little late for a pro-active approach. I say, let's just get it done.

and kevin, "attack" , much like "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder. some of it is just good old honesty and self-defense (even if it's pre-emptive).I for one feel that any anti-trr post is not so much an attack as much as throwing the dog crap back over the fence from which it came.

My discouragement comes after listening to the board verbally support regionalizing town managers and then shooting it down, claiming to want regionalization and trying to kill Med-care, saying they were bringing in Wentzell to further the cause of regionalization and then to have you say Gary seems to know nothing about it...you know what? Yes, I'm frustrated...there's only so much talking that can be done. Take another poll? Why? So the selectmen can decide the townspeople didn't really mean it and then do what they want anyway?

We've identified the need, it's been brought to the voters, none of the taxpayers want to foot the bill for it locally, certainly it won't be that much cheaper to do it regionally. The majority of our voters wouldn't vote to paint the fire hydrants if it was going to increase their taxes. What did the last proposal work out to costing per person per year? Per day? I think the per person cost was small compared to the benefit. Our community seems separated those willing to invest in our community and those who just want to live here with minimal investment.

Timeout,
Allow me to elaborate...

What needs to happen begins with area towns getting together to discuss regional consolidation. They need to look at all budgets and evaluate how to best formulate an organization that will meet the needs of all communities while staying within a reasonable budget for each community. Part of the consolidation plan needs to be consideration of the buildings & equipment, including needs for replacement. Another consideration is the staffing model. It would be irresponsible to think that a regional service would be a volunteer service. However, it is fiscally irresponsible to think that our towns could afford a staffing increase.

C wrote:We've identified the need, it's been brought to the voters, none of the taxpayers want to foot the bill for it locally, certainly it won't be that much cheaper to do it regionally. The majority of our voters wouldn't vote to paint the fire hydrants if it was going to increase their taxes. What did the last proposal work out to costing per person per year? Per day? I think the per person cost was small compared to the benefit. Our community seems separated those willing to invest in our community and those who just want to live here with minimal investment.

C,
The people didn't turn down the proposal because of the dollar amount, they did it because it was thrust doen their throat. If a regional effort were put in front of them, I believe it would be approved.

I think it totally needs to be agreed upon by ALL parties and then meticulously planned and budgeted. Then it needs to be presented to the voters in a way that they ALL can understand. If everyone, including the fixed income portion of the community can understand how this project will benefit the community, increase their property values and be a wise long term investment perhaps they will be willing to go for it. If they don't understand it completely or if any gray area are left they will shoot it down.

Kevin, I'll try to be more civil so I've amended some of my posts (but not all). I do have to disagree that people flatly voted down a new fire station a while back because it was "shoved down their throats" - it was strictly because of the costs. When Med-care presented their new building plans, it was voted down because the selectmen were uninformed and unprepared for something Med-care had been working on for quite a while...old news. The board then complained continuously about the cost, citizens on fixed incomes, etc., etc. Then of course there's the issue that most people really don't want to regionalize...sounds good on paper but it is definitely not the cultural wish, no matter how well it's presented or how much money it might save.

xmashen wrote:and kevin, "attack" , much like "beauty" is in the eye of the beholder. some of it is just good old honesty and self-defense (even if it's pre-emptive).I for one feel that any anti-trr post is not so much an attack as much as throwing the dog crap back over the fence from which it came.

Justify your negative behavior anyway you want. I don't have to accept it.

Timeout wrote:...Then of course there's the issue that most people really don't want to regionalize...sounds good on paper but it is definitely not the cultural wish, no matter how well it's presented or how much money it might save.

I am not convinced of that.

Okay what's the topic here? I haven't seen any evidence of personal attacks. Does anyone who disagrees with another's view need be labeled
negative? Regarding regionalization, we need to identify the hurdles so that that we can work around them and find solutions. Perhaps we could start on a municipal level, the FD needs a new building, the EMS needs a new building why can't we build one to house the FD and the PD and rent space to the EMS? If the other towns don't want to be a part of it- we could do it without them.

C wrote:Okay what's the topic here? I haven't seen any evidence of personal
attacks. Does anyone who disagrees with another's view need be labeled
negative? Regarding regionalization, we need to identify the hurdles so that that we can work around them and find solutions. Perhaps we could start on a municipal level, the FD needs a new building, the EMS needs a new building why can't we build one to house the FD and the PD and rent space to the EMS? If the other towns don't want to be a part of it- we could do it without them.

C,
Some posts have been edited or deleted.
As for regional collaboration, your plan would be right on track if we had a regioanl PD and Fd already. Unfortunately, we don't, so we need to establish a foundation (organization) before we start building. MedCare needs a building yesterday. They had been trying to hold off waiting for the fire & police to combine, but as we all can see it hasn't happened. MedCare could use other options in the short run, but it will still need a new building soon. If we were coordinated (which we are not), we could have two groups. One to look at forming the organization, and one to look at the building. If you eliminate all sacred cows and use logic, it can be done easily. The problem is that while Rumford would likely see a decrease in costs, the other towns would see an increase. Of course, they would be getting a staffed fire department rather than a volunteer (or staffed by one person) department, but would that justify the increase. Consider, for instance, a per capita cost of $80.00 for the fire department. That would mean a cost of about $480.000 for Rumford, but a cost of $240,000 for Mexico and $200,000 for Dixfield. I believe their current budgets are less than that. If we look at smaller towns such as Peru and Roxbury, the costs are about $121,200 and $30,720 respectively. The question becomes, are they willing to pay more for a higher level of service?