Although I do not agree with the proposed budget cuts, to question cutting the position of FD Mechanic as a savings is weak. The village DPW has a paid mechanic. Obviously he already has a benefits package. That package is not likely to change because he has to fix the firetruck. He is already a paid employee...

What noone is seeing about the FD mechanic is that he does the daily maintence on the rigs checks the batteries hand tools and light and so on the DPW mechanic already as enough and he takes car of the major repairs on the rigs when needed. the FD mechanic puts more time an effort to those trucks then anybody!

If the budget passes without a firehouse mechanic I will monetarily support a fund drive to keep the mechanic as its a vital link to the safety and mechanics of a firehouse.

I am the DPW mechanic. I am only one person. Adding more work such as the daily maintenance of a fire truck is not exactly feasible. Unlike taking your car to jiffy lube, it takes me more then 1/2 hour to do an oil change/service on the larger trucks/ equipment. If there is a more advanced problem with the fire trucks, Mr, Quillan sends it my way and I make the repairs. This system works best as it isn't making my day even busier then it already is. As it is I have a heavy work load with all the other village vehicles/ machinery/ equipment. How much work can 1 person do? Bob does a lot of preventive maintenance each week that needs to be done and I have 40 hrs. a week to keep the rest of the fleets going....It may all sound so easy but its easier said than done !!! Its easy to undo whats undone... but its hard to undo what already done!!!

Shame on you Mr. Mayor, to suggest that you are under paid for the time you put in. You have no problem cutting the budget to an entitiy that is all volunteer 24/7 365 days a year. You also think it is fair to take money away from the firehouse mechanic and custodian. Everyone else is expected to give of themselves but you are above giving?

I earn approximately the same salary as Mayor Gross, and I work a part-time job which requires many less hours per day/week than Mayor Gross puts in. I would assume from observaton that he earns less than $8 per hour. Will the DPW mechanic work for $8 per hour? That could help the budget problem and leave money for another vehicle mechanic on the village payroll.

How could he support his family on $8/hour? The Mayor took this position knowing the salary and so did the mechanic. It is not fair to take from one and not the other.

Denise

Oh that makes real sense. Lets try reducing the mechanics salary to $8/hr because the mayor choose to become mayor for $18,000?? The mechanic was merely stating the facts that he can only do so much in a day. The mechanic has nothing to do with the fact that the proposed cut is taking alot from both the PD and FD. It hardly seems fair.

I believe that Ms, Paull was making a >c o m p a r i s o n<, remember those, from English class? She was not, as far as I can tell, suggesting that we cut the Mechanic's pay and neither did Mayor Gross say that he is underpaid, he said he is giving the village every penny of what he is paid. So he is actually putting in more time than he is paid for. Using the foregoing logic, maybe we should have everybody put in a little more than they are paid for...
If the department heads are not forthcoming with some ways to save money in their departments then what? Do we need to foot that bill while we are trying to find ways to save in our own households and at our own jobs? One of the ideas that Mayor Gross campaigned on was fiscal responsibility. We asked for someone to show up with the vision and fortitude to see it through. Let's sell off some of those extra police cars for a start... Even when the whole force is at lunch in the pizzeria there are still only 3 cars parked out front.

and another thing...I applaud Mr. Argenio's urging for people to create a dialogue. It is one of the most important things that we have been missing for a while now.

I did not suggest that there be a reduction in the salary of the DPW mechanic - I merely made a comparison of salaries because someone suggested that the Mayor's salary be reduced. When a salary is already so low, it is ridiculous to suggest that the salary be cut, simply because responsible cost cutting measures are being taken.

Regarding the checking of batteries, hand tools, light and so on: it would seem that these tasks could easily be handled by the capable and reliable men who are on hand daily in case catastrophe should strike. My husband handles these daily tasks on our vehicles and when a mechanic is needed, one is contracted for the work.
Perhaps a look into how other volunteer fire departments manage their tasks efficiently and inexpensively is in order?
There are almost always ways that departments can "tighten the belt".
I hope that we can find our way out of the maze or rancor and into a real cooperation for the benefit of everyone in our community.

As the DPW mechanic I can understand both sides of the coin here only because i see it from actually doing it.There are 5 depts that I service and maintain in addition to all power tools ,mowers and trimmers, if I were to spend 1 day in each dept. each weak just doing daily routine service I would not have any time to make repairs to the equipment that breaks on a daily basis.If you have to farm work out to an outsider you can expect to pay atleast $100.00 + an hr for services plus full list prices on the parts.All village owned vehicles have there own level of importance to serve the village so they all need the same care and attention.Too much for 1 person to take care of.. Please remember this the next time it becomes a topic as well as all the other concerns..

Other fire depts. in the area either have there own mechanics or the use the outsiders that charge you $ 100.00 + an hr.

Ms. Paul
Contrary to what you think the capable men and women of the fire dept. are not on hand all day to perform the maintenance on the trucks. They also have jobs and families to attend to. It is also unfair to ask this of them as they already give enough of thier time attending required meetings drills and other training classes.

I admit that I do not know much about how the Volunteer Fire Dept. works or runs in Cornwall on Hudson. But I have relatives in Volunteer Departtments in other states and know from them that they handle these routine tasks themselves and don't require a mechanic to attend to them on a daily basis. In the firehouses where my relatives serve, there are always volunteers on the premises - and often they are at a loss for productive work. Although they enjoy and take much personal satisfaction in the social interaction that they enjoy, they also welcome the opportunity to do productive work while they serve their hours on the firehouse premises. As I said, I don't know how the COH fire department has arranged their service, but from what my relatives tell me, it is not a difficult task to incorporate the daily checks and maintenance rituals into the schedule for many other fire departments. Perhaps this is worth a consideration?

Catherine - As a 21 year member of SKE2 I will offer you some insight into how our department works.
It sounds as if your relatives are required to spend time at the fire station waiting for an alarm to sound. That is not the case with SKE2. Our members answer the alarms by leaving home, work or what ever else they are involved in at the time to answer the alarm.
The volunteers are required to spend many hundreds of hours training to become a firefighter or EMT. After becoming a FF/EMT they must continue to train to remain proficient at their duties. We also have many community activities and fund raisers that they attend. This is all in addition to the 304 calls for help that we as a department responded to last year. To require them to spend additional time at the fire station would not be fair to them or their families.
For me personally it would be difficult to dedicate more time. My day starts at 5:30 am with getting up for work, start work at 7am, end work at 3:30pm, pick up the kids from school activities between 3:30pm & 4:30pm, be home at 5pm for dinner, Take care of chores around the house and help with homework 6pm - 8pm, Get the kids settled down and go to bed about 10pm. This schedule continues Monday through Friday. Saturday and Sunday are reserved for family time.
Most of our members have a schedule similar to mine. Some members have an even more restrictive schedule because they live and volunteer in our bedroom community which requires that they work out of the area or take on a second job in order to afford living here.
You make mention in an earlier post that the Mayor, by your observation, makes about $8 per hour for the work he does. I do not dispute your observation. However, the volunteers get paid $0 per hour and you would like us to add more hours of free labor. In that same post you state that you work part time and work many less hours per day/week than the Mayor. If this is the case then maybe you wouldn't mind volunteering you spare time at the fire station to complete the daily checks. Perhaps that is worth a consideration?

Get a GRIP People. Your firefighters are there for you when you need them, Now be there for them when they need you..... Tell these elected village officials what you think about what they are doing to YOUR FIREFIGHTERS....

I was at that meeting and at NO time did anyone from the fire department even mention not responding. How absurd! Our integrity, and our 141 years of volunteer service, would certainly refute that idea. Due to the fact that we are not salaried, it seems easy to cut a larger percentage than other departments since a contract regulating salaries and benefits does not apply. The public needs to understand that to outfit one firefighter in required gear costs close to $2000, head to toe. Yes,gear gets passed on to new members but it also must fit correctly and it has a life-span. At some point the gear can no longer be used and firefighters need to have new gear. Our lives literally depend on it. Training regulations are set and we must meet them. Supplies and equipment routinely must be replaced. You would be hard pressed to find another Orange County FD that operates on the small budget we even currently have. We are frugal,spend wisely, and put great thought into where the funds go each year. Everyone in the FD is aware that each village department is facing cuts. The inequity of the cuts is what we find unaccetable.

<<It sounds as if your relatives are required to spend time at the fire station waiting for an alarm to sound.>>

No - they do not. They are a volunteer department and operate pretty much as you describe. However, they do have hours they put in each month (week?) at the station, and it is during this time that the routine checks and care are performed.

I'm glad to hear that the cuts have been lessened, even though it comes with a raise in taxes. It sounds like good choices are being made - and it's especially positive to know that voices are being heard!