HARTFORD — Selectmen and officials from Canton and Turner reached agreement Monday night on a temporary extension of fire service. Buckfield Fire Chief Tim Brooks approved the agreement by telephone.
Under the agreement, the three towns will continue to furnish Hartford with fire protection services for three months. Hartford will pay the new rate charged by the fire departments. The parties will meet at 6 p.m. July 19 in the Hartford Town Hall to discuss continuing service.
At their recent annual town meeting, Hartford residents voted not to increase spending for public safety, including fire service. The contract with the three towns was to end July 1.
The three towns each increased their budget request so Hartford would pay the same per capita rate as their residents. The largest increase was Canton, which went from $7,500 to $24,265.
Canton Selectman Donald Hutchins said, “We are not trying to make a profit.” He said they had been remiss is not passing on increased costs in the past. The towns will provide data to Hartford supporting their per capita rates.
Hartford resident Leslie Boness spoke in support of the residents who voted down the increase. She said residents were not adequately informed on the reasons for the increases and should not be criticized for doing due diligence in insisting on the facts before approving the increase.
Hutchins pointed out that the increases were presented to the town in February and there had been plenty of time to consider them.
Hartford board Chairman Lee Holman said there were public hearings on the budget but very few people showed up. She pointed out that the town was legally required to maintain a municipal fire department, support a volunteer fire association, or contract with another town for fire protection service.
She said Hartford once had a small volunteer fire department that was little more than a “brush fire brigade.” The members did not have the training required to fight structure fires. When the Labor Department fined to town for having self-contained breathing apparatus that the firemen were not trained to use, they disbanded the department and contracted with the three towns for fire protection.
Turner Fire Chief Mike Arsenault said it was expensive to maintain a department.
“It takes a lot of work, time and money to keep a volunteer department in compliance,” he said.
Holman admitted that Hartford could not maintain a department for the amount requested by the three towns.
In accepting the three-month extension, Hutchins said, “We can’t let the people hang just because they made a bad decision.”
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