Blackstone fire chief seeking state permission to extend tenure

Hopes to oversee station renovations

BLACKSTONE – Fire Chief Michael J. Sweeney, Board of Selectmen Chairman Daniel P. Keefe and state Rep. Michael J. Soter testified at the State House last week in favor of retaining Sweeney as Blackstone’s fire chief even though he is mandated by the state to retire this June.

The trio testified before the Joint Committee on Public Service, which includes six Senate members and 11 members of the House. The panel is considering a petition by Soter and Fattman to extend Sweeney’s tenure for another three years. The Joint Committee on Public Service consider all matters concerning the salaries, civil service and retirement of public employees, including the retirement of judges, court personnel and county employees. If approved by the committee, the petition involving Sweeney would also need approval by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Sweeney turns 65 in June, which is the state-mandated retirement age for fire chiefs in Massachusetts. Sweeney, however, has asked the town to stay on for another three years – until July 21, 2022.

At the annual town meeting last year, voters approved an article that asked the town’s legislative delegation to seek a home rule petition to allow Sweeney to serve the town through his 68th birthday.

State law, notably Chapter 415 of the Acts of 1987, sets a mandatory retirement age of 65 for police officers, firefighters and correction officers. The only exception is for a city or town to seek a home-rule petition from the Legislature and governor to get around it, usually for very specific terms.

It’s not unusual for chiefs to want to work beyond their 65th birthday, and other towns in the region have successfully made similar requests.

Sweeney, Blackstone’s chief for more than 25 years, testified before the committee last week that he is looking to stay on for three more years to see through various projects and staffing initiatives he has started. Joining him was Blackstone Fire Lt. Anthony Iannetti.

“There are a handful of projects that I started for the town and I would like to see them to completion,” he told the panel.

“Chief Sweeney has been a dedicated public servant to the Town of Blackstone for many years and I am proud to support his extension for the fire chief position,” Soter testified before the panel.

The petition to grant Sweeney’s tenure states: “Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, Michael Sweeney, chief of the fire department of the town of Blackstone, may continue to serve in such position until July 21, 2022, until the date of his retirement, or until the date he is relieved of his duties by the town administrator in accordance with the provisions of the town of Blackstone charter, whichever occurs first; provided, however, that he is mentally and physically capable of performing the duties of the office. The town administrator may, at the town’s expense, require that Michael Sweeney be examined by an impartial physician designated by him to determine such capability. No further deductions shall be made from the regular compensation of Michael Sweeney under chapter 32 of the General Laws for any service subsequent to the chief reaching age 65, and upon retirement, he shall receive a superannuation retirement allowance equal to that which he would have been entitled had he retired on his date.”

Sweeney says he has lots more to do as chief before he officially retires. Specifically, the department is in the last year of a four-year plan to bolster its full-time firefighter staff by adding a firefighter to each of the department’s four two-man platoons or shifts for a total three-man system. And while staffing levels are still not optimal, the addition of three full-time firefighters, as well as one more this summer, has resulted in minimal but safe staffing levels, according to Sweeney.

After July of this year, the department will have 13 fulltime firefighters, including the chief.

“We’re in the fourth year of a four-year plan to put one additional firefighter on each shift. We’ve completed three years of that and we have the fourth year coming up in July,” Sweeney said. “As fire department standards and National Fire Protection Association standards go, our department is still considered understaffed, but it’s definitely at a comfortable level and the shifts that have those full-time firefighters make a world of difference.”

Sweeney sounded the alarm three years ago, saying the department was severely understaffed with full-timers. At that time, each of the the Fire Department’s four platoons carried only two firefighters. Those staff levels were not only inadequate for a town the size of Blackstone, which has a population of more than 10,000, but were also a violation of National Fire Protection Association standards.

Sweeney is also hoping to renovate the department’s two outlying fire stations, including Fire Station #3 on Elm Street, which is too short in length and height for newer model trucks. At the chief’s request, the town is proposing a capital funding request at this year’s annual town meeting for renovations to Station #2 on Rathbun Street and expansion of Station #3 on Elm Street.

The department’s Station #1 headquarters, at 15 St. Paul St., houses two engines, two rescues, two tankers and a ladder truck. Station #2, at 666 Rathbun St., houses an engine and dive truck, while Station #3, at 132 Elm St., houses a tanker and two engines, including an outdated 1994 truck the department is looking to replace.

“Station Two is big enough, but it’s eventually going to need some work, including new front doors, interior work and rehabilitation of the parking lot,” said Sweeney, adding that project can be accomplished for between $10,000 and $15,000.

Station #3, on the other hand, was built in the early 1970s and is too small to accommodate newer model trucks. Sweeney is hoping to replace the 25-year-old engine that is housed there now, but he can’t do that unless he expands the building. Sweeney’s plan is to build out the front of the station by approximately eight feet; re-pitch the roof; and install oversized doors.

“I think we can do that for under $100,000, and that includes replacing all of the windows, the garage door and the boiler,” he said.

Station #2, he said, is still in good shape and is being heated by a new boiler. Renovations there would be minimal and under $20,000.