Click photo to enlarge/readSo sultry Cinda Jones sent this to my Club six weeks ago and it sat on my desk unopened until very recently as I simply assumed it was a flyer for last week’s Winterfest, and I knew with my (ultra sultry) wife in South Korea that I would not be able to attend.
Of course I’m not sure her Grandmother kept it (note the Bully used to come out on Wednesday’s) because she thought I was a complete idiot, or completely agreed with me.
But…here we are 21 years later: still talking about a Fire Station in South Amherst, still subsidizing the expensive game of golf; although, finally, considering cutbacks in the Leisure Services Empire.
And so it goes…
"it sat on my desk unopened until very recently as I simply assumed it was a flyer "
ReplyDeleteNever assume.
Or judge a book...
ReplyDeleteAnd Shaffer said he wants to ignore the 4th study since 1965 saying South Amherst needs a fire station. Why did we pay to have another study done?
ReplyDeleteI hope he will correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Crusty Gazette recently did an article saying he wanted to move forward with it?
ReplyDeleteAMHERST, January 21, 2009
'Shaffer to urge movement on fire station proposal'
Building a new fire station in Amherst to better serve South Amherst residents and then closing the Fire Department's downtown headquarters is an idea that suits the times, according to the town manager.
"then closing the Fire Department's downtown headquarters is an idea that suits the times"
ReplyDeleteYeah, until one of these 1890s building catches fire and by the time they get there from N. Amherst or S. Amherst the whole downtown is leveled. Move the fire department further from the oldest, most densely packed and populated buildings, some with wiring from the 1920s. Smart. Very smart.
The point is that we should have a THIRD station, in South Amherst, and more staffing to cover the amount of calls they go on. At the very least Central station should also remain open and have ambulances in them.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy that Shaffer wants to cut $75,000 of overtime for AFD. If there were more on duty they wouldn't be wasting money calling for station coverage constantly. Listen to a scanner on a normal day. It's rediculous.
good ole slash and burn cinder rubbing your nose in it!
ReplyDelete20+ years and still ineffectual, ehh larry?
happy 250th shamherst!
"Shamherst"
ReplyDeletePerfect.
This will never happen because everyone is penny wise and dollar foolish even when they aren't fighting turf fights:
ReplyDeleteLet UMass set up its own volunteer ambulance corps and then have AFD be a secondary backup with primary response for any advanced live support run. Let UMass keep the full revenue of any run that the UM ambulance earns.
Offer the UMass FD (eager undergrads who want to become full time firefighters upon graduation) the opportunity to have *paid* time for the holidays and such that the AFD guys (with families) don't want to work. Like Christmas. And somehow without messing up the AFD union's concerns, have the UM kids available for AFD overtime needs.
And have the UM kids be the primary responders to all fires on campus. With the assistance of the university's own EH&S (UMPD callsign "F-1"). All of this with the very clear protocol that AFD is going to be the primary responder to anything serious.
What this does is simple: Over half the stuff that AFD responds to, probably closer to 80%, they really don't need to use sirens for. They haul a lot of drunken druggies across the river for stomach pumping, they do a lot of athletic injuries that a Boy Scout could deal with. There are a lot of fire alarms on campus where you do need to send someone, but not really need to.
There are a lot of funding fights, lots of turf fights, but you have an eager and cheap pool of UM volunteers and a labor shortage in the AFD and if you could shift a lot of the less-serious stuff to the UM kids, the AFD guys can concentrate on the more important stuff.
And has anyone calculated how much property owners would save in fire insurance rates with a So Amherst Fire Station? Or if a regional mutual aid agreement with Hadley could be worked out for a South Amherst/South-East Hadley station with primary response for the malls where you can get a quicker response from here than the Hadley FD building. Again, turf issues...
so, do a special assessment district for all properties (including amherst and hampshire college) that are south of route 9
ReplyDeletesay $0.25/$1000, with an exemption on the first $100K for each house, each year
do this for 30 years to help pay off the bond on a new south fire station
and, as ed said, the savings on fire insurance will offset the extra $50-100 per year a typical house would pay
UCONN has there own fire Dept.
ReplyDeletehttp://fire.uconn.edu/index.php
Cinda Jones wasn't trying to rub your nose in anything. She may be loopy but she doesn't think that way.
ReplyDeleteI think you are correct about not rubbing my nose; not so sure about "loopy"
ReplyDeletePretty sure the UCONN FD isn't volunteer "kids" like Ed is proposing. That web site isn't very informative. Kids aren't paramedics either. You can't run an ambulance and say its only going to transport people who aren't seriously hurt. Do you really think the parents of Umass students want that?
ReplyDelete