Shaping the Future of EMS and Fire Service

Reports

• Final Report

Report Summary

Summary

The Town of Marbletown is served by seven fire districts and an independent ambulance service. The Town Board, the ambulance service leadership and the leadership of six of the fire districts commissioned a study to evaluate the existing operations of the fire districts and EMS service and identify options for improved service. The project has been overseen by a steering committee from the Town, the ambulance and the six participating districts – Cottekill, High Falls, Lomontville, Marbletown, Stone Ridge and Vly-Atwood. 

Key Observations on the Marbletown First Aid Unit

• Currently, MFAU is handling BLS responses and transports effectively. The agency is properly equipped, certified and trained to meet the needs of the community. The primary response areas authorized by the state are all of Marbletown, the sections of Rosendale in the High Falls and Cottekill Fire Districts, and the Accord Fire District in Rochester.
• Long-term trend is 1.5 EMS calls per day and about 10 calls per year per 100 residents in the Town of Marbletown.  Recently there is very high coverage rates for first calls in the Town, approaching 98%, and over 90% for all calls in the Town.
• In 2019, MFAU began to pay staff because volunteers alone were not meeting the community’s needs. MFAU plans to use a mix of 25% volunteers, 75% paid to meet the demand in 2021. They have had to use an 85% mix of paid staff through the first 4 months of the year.
• Operating budget for 2020 was about $350k and had $313k in revenue. In 2020, $194k in revenue was from billing for transports, the remainder from the towns, and fundraising. Budget for 2021 did go up because of need for additional paid staff, but revenue is not likely going to keep pace.
• MFAU is budgeted to receive $2,500 from Rosendale, $5,000 from Rochester and $40,000 from Marbletown in 2021. MFAU has cash reserves that have been set aside for vehicle and other capital purchases that are being spent to provide staff. Those reserves will be drained by the end of 2022 at the current rate.
• MFAU is not likely to develop revenue except from local governments to cover the gap in funding. Without support from the local governments, MFAU is not a viable operation much beyond 2022.

Opportunities for Action and Implementation for MFAU

The study identified several options for the Town Board to consider: Status Quo, create a contract for service with MFAU, support the organization from the general fund, form an ambulance district, take over the EMS service, regionalize EMS or contract with an outside service.

The Town Board has started down the pathway of creating an ambulance district to support the MFAU. The process involves developing a plan, map and report for the creation of an ambulance district. The process, if successful, will result in the creation of an ambulance district with an appointed board of commissioners that will aid in the management of MFAU and the provision of EMS service in the Town. The district will also result in a secure funding stream that will serve to support the continued provision of EMS in the Town.

Key Observations on the Town of Marbletown Fire Service

• The active volunteer firefighters and administrative leaders in the Town are dedicated individuals that give substantial contributions of their time and energy to serve their community and provide an essential service.
• The general opinion is that most residents of Marbletown believe that they are getting good service from the volunteer fire districts. However, it is unclear if residents understand that the service is provided exclusively by volunteers or that there are multiple departments in the Town.
• Long-term trend is about 2 calls per day and about 13 calls per year per 100 residents in the Town of Marbletown. About half of these calls are for medical emergencies. About one in eight is for a report of a fire. 
• The utilization of seven fire districts may have been appropriate decades ago when it was created, but this model no longer serves the best interests of the community. This fact is recognized by most leaders in the fire service and there is a willingness to change. The fire districts in the town provide a patchwork of services with a disparate level of service. The amount of coordination and cooperation varies greatly with some relationships being very strong and others exhibiting outright animosity. 
• The departments each report challenges related to mustering adequate trained staff in a timely manner. For some districts, the challenges are only during normal business hours (Stone-Ridge and High Falls). For the other districts, it is a perpetual challenge. During the project, the Vly-Atwood Fire Department stopped operations due to lack of volunteers.
• The character of the Town is shifting with more properties being second homes or new residents to the community who have not shown an interest in volunteering. There are few employers in the Town that allow their employees to leave work to respond to an emergency. The Town and New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) allow their employees to leave (in most cases, time is made up or taken as PTO), which provides crucial manpower during daytime hours.

• With the exception of Stone Ridge, the fire districts each have fire stations that are in need of repair, modernization or replacement. Several of the stations locations are close to one another and might not be needed in a consolidated operation.

• The combined fire districts have 10 front-line fire engines; four of them are 15 years old or older. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends evaluating apparatus older than 15 years for potential replacement. Each of the fire districts has a tanker and two of them are more than 20 years old. Several of the older apparatus might not be needed in a consolidated operation

• The tax rates for fire districts in the town have a wide variability from $0.37 per thousand to $1.82 per thousand with no correlation to size of department or calls for service. The tax rates have been steady for the last five years with no substantial increase in rates or in levy.

• The fire districts, with one exception, have no substantial debt and most have a reserve for the future purchase of apparatus. Stone Ridge, the sole exception, has 10 more years of debt service on its new station.

• As a whole, in the most recent available year, the participating fire districts plan to generate $1.2 million in revenue and spend $1.1 million. By far, the largest source of revenue is $1.1 million in property tax. The largest expense category relates to fire supply related contracts followed by equipment and apparatus. Debt services is the third largest expense category in the town.

  Opportunities for Action for the Fire Service

  These initial options were shared with representatives of each of the participating fire districts and the Town Board at a workshop. While each option was discussed, there was a clear thought among the attendees that there needs to be some substantial changes in the fire service in the near future. The options presented were:

  •    Keep Status Quo, 

  •    Merge Fire Districts into One or Two,

  •     Expand Sharing and Coordination to improve service in the short term, 

  •    Develop Plan for Volunteer Recruitment and Retention, and 

  •    Consider a Trigger for Hiring Paid Staff. 

  The report provides an overview of the steps for implementation of a multiple district merger, expansion of sharing and coordination between districts, developing a plan for recruitment and retention and consideration for when it might be appropriate to hire paid staff.

  Next Steps

  The potential actions presented in this report are provided to the ambulance, fire districts and Town in an effort to enable changes to improve the EMS and fire service in the community. In every situation, there are intangible factors such as traditions and personal relationships that can serve to either facilitate or hinder changes. Clear communication, establishing common ground and using outside facilitators have all been shown to aid in bringing about change.