Currently, there is an ongoing action by some newly elected members of the PBF District to make changes in the recently approved contract between the Firefighter's Union and the District. This action has been spearheded by one Alan Ackley, who had been voted off the board in a recent previous election.
Regardless of the final outcome concerning the Union contract, there are some other issues which are yet to be resolved.
(1) there is still the matter of poor previous leadership of the the PBFDistrict, involving Mr. Ackley, resulting in Ladder Truck # 35 being out of service for 9 months and Pumper # 32 being in constant need of repairs.
(2) There could be the possibility of a revised ISO (Insurance Service Office) rating for the PBDistrict, which might increase homeowner's insurance rates for some residents, because using Ladder trucks from neighboring Fire Districts, or relying on equipment likely to break down, can result in a delayed response...which affects life safety as well.
(3) Mr. Ackley has previously suggested that the PB FireDepartment responds to calls in neighboring districts. In actuality, neighboring departments respond to the PBDistrict more frequently than the reverse. As examples, These include responses to fire alarms at Fitch Senior High School as well as Ella Grasso Technical School. To my knowledge, no surrounding fire districts have requested payment from the PBFDistrict for these extra calls, paid by other Groton Taxpayers.
(4) As for Mr. Ackley's desire to consolidate all Groton area fire departments, maybe he should discuss this with other fire departments first, rather than just try to "dump" the PBFD on the Town Of Groton, with no ladder truck....with a pumper in poor shape...with buildings needing repair...etc.
(5) And perhaps the local PBFDistrict tax is higher than some others, but the residential property taxes are not. Several people have pointed this out in previous media entries, including PATCH.
edwardr.johnson72@gmail.com
