LMTS has talked a lot
about the Lebanon Fire and EMS department over the past year. In fact, it was in learning the struggles and
accomplishments of the Fire and Rescue Departments and then following their
growth, achievement and success that LMTS found our backbone and started
searching for the truth. We have remained as informative to the accomplishments
and achievements of our Lebanon Fiire and Recue Departments and the successful combination of the two, for our entire 9 months of operation.
After the January 20th Lebanon Budget Committee
Meeting questions regarding the Fire Department Incorporation, it’s become
pretty obvious that there is a misunderstanding of this group throughout the
town, and that they are frequently used in name, to divert responsibilities off
of the town’s Boards and Committees onto an “unknown” or “ghost” organization.
The truth of the “Fire Department Incorporated” is that they
are actually anything BUT a “ghost” organization and the group is actually
comprised of some pretty responsible people who live and work and protect the
residents of Lebanon, Maine.
Chairman of the “Incorporation”, Joe Perron, reached out to
LMTS on Tuesday evening, January 26th,
to speak to me regarding the shape of today’s “Incorporation” membership, their
goals and dreams of the future for their group, and in their role of support
for the newly combined Lebanon Fire and EMS Department. I met with Joe, and Incorporation Treasurer,
Jessica Kelley, at Station 1 on Depot Road and sat down to ask, and get answers
to, some pretty important questions.
First you must know about the group that they are completely
separate from the Town of Lebanon, although they all work for the town’s Fire
and EMS Department, and that is, in fact, required as part of membership in the
non-profit group, they are not under the control of the Board of Selectmen or
even under the Chief. They are a complete and separate non-profit organization. If you leave the Fire and EMS Department
employment, you are no longer eligible for a voting share in the incorporation.
From what I understand, you can still remain as an observer or aid of the
group, however, you can no longer be included as an officer, and you have no
vote on the incorporation’s decisions.
The East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. began its distinction
as a corporation with the mission of raising funds to support the East Lebanon
Fire Department in 1955. During this time, the Fire Department was strictly a
volunteer fire company, and the members wanted a way to raise funds for
necessary equipment and support that was not under the town government budget
control, but a way for residents to participate and support the purchase of
various things needed by the Fire Department.
According to Perron, a donation of land was secured, financial
donations, and many suppers and events were held by the Incorporation Members,
(who at the time were all male) and their subsidiary, the Ladies’ Auxiliary, in
order to raise the money to build the Fire Station (now called Station 1) on
the property located on the corner of Depot Road and Upper Cross Road. The site
had originally housed an old school house, along with a 2 bay garage, which had
been used to house the town’s fire apparatus prior to the time the new fire
house was built. The new fire station was erected by the Incorporation in the
late 70s, and the Lebanon Fire Department took over residence of the building.
Soon after the building of the Depot Road Station, during
the early 1980s, the Town of Lebanon voters appropriated funding for a second
and smaller fire station on Route 202 near the corner of Hubbard Road,
in a small area of town known as Blaisdell Corner. A second Fire Department
began housing their apparatus in that building, allowing them to respond more
quickly and efficiently to emergencies on the NH border end of town. Two Departments, one town.
As laws and needs changed, and the Town of Lebanon grew and
changed, the Blaisdell Corner Station (aka Station 2) was used to house the
Lebanon Rescue Department, a group of EMTs and Paramedics, and the
town’s ambulance. The Blaisdell Corner station remains completely in Town of
Lebanon ownership.
The Fire Department on Depot Road has seen many fundraisers
and celebrations. The Ladies’ Auxiliary would hold ham and bean suppers, a
staple fundraiser for many churches and fire departments of the time, and
Perron says when he started with the Department, the meeting room and equipment
bays would easily be filled with residents and visitors from the extended
community, all visiting, eating, enjoying one another's company, and supporting the fundraising efforts of the
ladies, or of the incorporation members. However, as volunteerism and the
economy have eroded over time, not only in Lebanon, or in Maine, but across the
country, fewer and fewer people would attend the fundraisers and they became
further and further apart. The group still sponsors their annual yard sale and
golf tournament, and 2 years ago participated in the fundraising efforts for
another town department by sponsoring a softball tournament. Perron says the softball
tournament may make a comeback in 2016 as it was an event they all enjoyed and
public participation was high.
But, in answer to Budget Committee questions, and the
resulting questions of local residents, the East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc.
is alive and well and after the struggles of membership turnover and public
scrutiny, they are hoping to come back stronger than ever in 2016.
Perron serves as Incorporation Chairman, with Jt. Harmon as
their President, TJ Gagnon as Vice President, Jessica Kelley as Treasurer, Cindy
Harmon as Secretary, and Tyler Thurber as
the “At Large” member of the officer’s group. What exactly is “At
Large”? Well Thurber is charged to stand in and act on behalf of any one
officer, in the event of that officer’s absence during Incorporation meetings.
In addition, the incorporation enjoys the support and membership of 7 other
firefighters, and are moving to change the incorporation charter to allow the
members of the EMS side of the newly formed (June 2015)combined department.
The pair of officers also took the time to mention the
hiring of Chief Meehan to lead the combined Lebanon Fire and EMS Department,
stating that his work and dedication had created a combined department where
there had once been two hopelessly separated departments only a year ago, making
friends and family and side by side cross trained workers from two separate
department’s members. The cross training
also makes it easier for EMS service responders to join the Fire Department
Inc. as they become trained in fire fighting and added to the Department in
that additional role.
Perron, Kelley and I had a long discussion of the financial
position of the Incorporation, and the truth is that they’re working on it. The
departing members of the Incorporation have not easily relinquished control
over such things as legal documents, bank accounts, or checkbooks, but Perron
is on top of that, actively working with the group’s bank and attorney to
regain that control for the group. This
is a fairly young membership, but speaking with Perron and Kelley, it’s clear
that the reins of the incorporation are in capable and responsible hands.
The Budget Committee questioned the ownership of Station 1
and how the process was moving along on the desires of the Incorporation to
turn the building over to the town. According to Perron and Kelley, that
transfer of ownership is still in the works, but it has been very hard to
backpedal and secure paperwork and
records from the previous incorporation officers. Here are the problems the group is facing,
and why the transfer has not been as easy as residents might think it should
be:
The land on the corner of Depot Road and Upper Cross Road
was donated for the use of the East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. to build the
Fire Station by a local couple. The deed, is in the name of the East Lebanon
Fire Department, Inc. However, the deed
includes a “revisionary clause” which states that if, at any time, the East
Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. becomes insolvent or intends to sell or transfer ownership
of the building, the LAND reverts back to the ownership of the original
donator, or their heirs. If the incorporation deeds the building to the Town of
Lebanon, the heirs of the original donator would then regain ownership of the
land that the station is built on. The heirs of the original family do not
reside in Lebanon, or even within the State of Maine. The Town of Lebanon does not want to accept
the donation of the building into town ownership without also owning the land
it sits on. This decision seems harsh, but business and legal-wise, it is truly
in the best interest of the town.
Discussions were begun
with the heir of the property by the former officers of the corporation, and
the family has been very generous in their agreements to turn over the property
to the Town of Lebanon. Meetings were
held with the Selectmen and all seemed to be in order for an easy transfer of
the deed. A wrench was placed in the
operations when the former officers left the Fire Department, the reasons of
which I am not going to dispute on anyone’s behalf, and as such, forfeited
their membership in the corporation. All
of this created a time delay in finishing the transaction, and leaving the
incorporation with the legalities of regrouping, electing new officers, and turning over
responsibilities prior to their ability to continue discussions with the land
owners’ heirs.
So where does the problem lie today? The incorporation is
willing to give the building, and the heir to the landowner willing to donate
the land, and it all seems like the perfect combination for a quick and easy
transfer. Not so easy. There are deeds to be signed, transfers in probate to
revert the land to the original land
owner’s estate and then on to the new heirs, clearing of the title to the land,
and oh the lawyers!! Incorporation lawyers, lawyers for the heir, and the town’s
lawyers. Who is going to pay all the lawyers? Court charges for all these
transfers aren’t cheap either. But the
good news is that they are being worked on.
The Selectman’s assertion that this was all being handled by
firefighter Jessica Kelley drew quite a reaction from the Budget Committee, but
in fact, Jessica is only part of the equation. As the Treasurer of the
Incorporation, Jessica needs to secure the vote of the incorporation membership
to expend money, and then sign the check. That would be easier if
she could secure the checkbook and banking account transfers from the former
incorporation Treasurer without the need to involve incorporation lawyers to
obtain it. The thought that maybe this
young lady was solely responsible for working with lawyers, transferring deeds
and writing checks, drew lots of comments, but the truth is that this 21 year
old young woman is responsible enough to enter a home engulfed in flames, find
a resident, and bring them out to safety. This sobering smack of reality makes
the thought of her being responsible for simple legal paperwork, not such a
laughable matter.
In the meanwhile, discussions at the Budget Committee
Meeting on Wednesday the 20th have brought forth a new obstacle. The Code Enforcement Officer made a visit to
the station on Tuesday afternoon, January
24th, and there is a real
concern that the back meeting room may actually be in danger of being condemned
if work is not done to that meeting room soon. The Depot Road Fire Station is
not in the best of shape structurally. The floor in the back meeting room has
sunk to about an 8 inch difference from
outside edge to center and along one wall there is a full 2 inch gap
between wall and floor. The hot water heater is leaking and there have been
some pretty bad problems with rodents.
While the town debates moving forward toward a full time Fire and EMS
Department, the building, through a lack of fundraising dollars, has slipped
into disrepair. Chief Meehan and the Board of Selectmen have recently made
repairs from the Fire and EMS budget to the overhead doors, and have repaired the furnace, but the Selectmen aren’t really keen on spending a lot of money on repairs to a building that
does not belong to the Town of Lebanon. Again,
this decision is not one that is not understandable, it’s just good business
sense when being accountable with taxpayer dollars.
There are problems with the apparatus as well. The Forestry
truck leaks in more places than there are Fire and EMS members’ fingers to plug
them, and Engine 1 is also out of service for some pretty serious mechanical
issues. During the Budget Committee meeting, former Fire Department members
expressed concerns over dollar amounts being expended on repairs to the
vehicles, wondering why the current department members didn’t do some of the
maintenance themselves, “like we always did in Lebanon”. But the truth of the
matter is that these engines are OLD. Some of them so old that their legality
in carrying firefighters is in question due to safety changes and requirements
in fire vehicles. LMTS was very concerned at a recent Selectmen’s Meeting when
current trade-in values were discussed with regards to some of our equipment.
There are some of our vehicles that are almost more money in scrap value than
they are in trade-in value. Discussion
continues in other Committee meetings about the “millions of dollars” in
equipment housed in Station 1, and truth is that we are lucky if that equipment
is worth a few hundred thousand dollars.
Equipment and buildings do not appreciate in value, they
depreciate. Buildings do not maintain themselves.
Without proper attention to maintenance and repair, buildings become dangerous
and safety hazards. Those are simple truths.
At the end of the conversation with our East Lebanon Fire
Incorporation Officers, we discussed what the officers would wish for if I
handed them a magic lamp and a genie appeared offering them 3 wishes.
I was surprised that
answer number 1 was not for a brand new fire station. Joe answered that he could live with the
Station the way it was but that he was worried about the apparatus. “I would wish for new trucks and equipment,”
he stated, worrying aloud that people’s lives were depending on town owned equipment
that is in some serious need of repair and upgrade.
Wish number 2 was for a new fire house, or at least for an
addition that included a shower and gear cleaning capabilities. At this time,
after each incident, the gear has to be brought to Sanford for cleaning, but
according to Perron, there are
carcinogens and chemicals that go home on his clothing and skin associated with
being inside a burning building. “We’re not only exposing ourselves, we’re
exposing our spouses and children to this stuff.”
The third wish was for all the corporation members and Fire
and EMS responders. “I would buy everyone a second set of gear,” Perron stated.
His concern were if a member participated in a fire incident and their gear
were in Sanford being cleaned and a second call came in, the responders would
be without gear, and therefore, effectively out of service for the second
incident. With the Mutual Aid community watching for Lebanon responses to
remain at top levels, the worry over having a proper second set of turnout gear
is weighing heavy on all the responders’ shoulders.
With the decline of attendance at Board and Committee
meetings in town comes a blissful state that my mother likes to term as “Living
in a cloud castle”. We have become increasingly unaware that having a top notch
town government and through them, departments, depends on each of us. All of us
as a community group, and each of us as individuals, identifying need and then
determining what we personally can do to make things better. It’s easy to hear
the truth spelled out in an article and make statements that “Somebody should
do Something”. It’s understandable that
it’s much harder after a hard day of
work and errands to actually move ourselves back out of the house, into the
car, and into a meeting room to pay a bit of attention to the care and
maintenance of equipment and buildings that are unimportant in our own small
little world, until the day comes when we, or our children, or our neighbors
have to make that 911 call and wait for people to respond and do their best to
save us, our family, our pets or our homes. On that one fateful day, the need
for well maintained apparatus, well trained professionals, with the best possible equipment becomes all
too real.
If you had the choice between heading out to a soccer game,
snuggling on the couch and watching a movie, or heading to the local Fire Station
for a meal of ham and beans, where would you choose to be? My suggestion to my
friends, neighbors and community residents is to take a moment to think hard on
that answer. Talk to your spouse about their thoughts. Talk to your children.
And then head to a Board or Committee meeting and ask questions. As a matter of
fact, ask questions over and over and over again until the elected officials of
your town, who are paid to provide these answers to you, give you some hard,
but honest answers.
The East Lebanon Fire Department, Inc. is alive and well and
doing their best to come up with the answers the public is looking for but they
can’t do it alone or without the help of their Town and its residents. Stop in
at the Depot Road Station 1 and ask questions. Head on over to the Budget
Committee meetings on Wednesday nights at the Town Office and ask
questions. Stop in at the Board of
Selectmen’s meetings on Monday evenings and ask questions. Keep asking. Keep
searching for the truth.
