Lonsdale fire district officials working to untangle finances, pave way for merger

Troubled district still seeking approval for absorption into Saylesville F.D.

LINCOLN – The Board of Fire Wardens for the Lonsdale Fire District has a lot on its plate for 2017, between efforts to be absorbed into the Saylesville Fire District, negotiations on the sale of the fire station and a suit from four aggrieved former Lonsdale firefighters.

These troubles date back to the June 6, 2015 decision by the old Board of Fire Wardens to lay off all firefighters and personnel, due to lack of money. The Board that had

been in place dissolved and has been replaced in its entirety.

Town Administrator T. Joseph Almond asked Budget Board member Michael Babbitt to step in, and Babbitt – chair of the Board of Fire Wardens – expected he’d been needed for two weeks. He’s been at this for almost two years.

Babbitt attributed the lack of money to financial mismanagement and misrepresentation of budgets.

“We spent months and

months and months trying to figure out a budget that could work,” Babbitt said, but they kept “finding all these surprises that were coming up financially and trying to understand how they were proposing budgets where the money never realistically” existed.

They cut the amount of vehicles. They tried to consolidate services. But to get the Fire District out of the red, Babbitt said, the Board would’ve needed to increase the tax rate by nearly 25 percent, whereas the maximum allowed is 5 percent.

Lonsdale Fire District is now paying Saylesville Fire District $30,000 per month for fire services.

Rep. Jeremiah O’Grady introduced a bill (H.B. 5044) on Jan. 6 allowing for the consolidation of the Lonsdale Fire District into the Saylesville Fire District, after the bill he introduced last May never came up for a vote.

The laid-off firefighters were arguing that the districts couldn’t merge because of concerns about employment, benefits and overtime pay, Almond said. He added that the House Municipal Government Committee decided not to hear the bill with all these outstanding issues.

Some issues were resolved, while a complaint about overtime pay is now in court.

“Now that that’s been taken out and placed into court, there is the confidence that that will be settled by a third party,” Almond said, and not hold up passage of the legislation like it did last year.

Passage of the bill would allow Lonsdale residents to vote on the abandonment of the Lonsdale Fire District’s charter and Saylesville residents to vote on increasing the size of the Saylesville Fire District. Electors of both districts must approve their respective referenda.

It was scheduled for a hearing in front of the House Municipal Government Committee, but the Committee postponed the hearing on Jan. 18.

This is because of considerations of asking the General Assembly to authorize the consolidation without local votes. Almond said he met about a month ago with the firefighters’ union, Rep. O’Grady and Sen. Ryan Pearson to dis- cuss the idea.

The town administrator is concerned that Lonsdale residents have gotten so used to coverage from Saylesville that they might think this is a non-issue and vote no, or that Saylesville residents will vote no.

“I’m not being disrespectful to voters’ choice, but the discussion was: Is there really a question?” Almond said. “Public safety has to come above those things. You cannot allow public safety to be thrown to the wind. Somebody’s got to service those people.”

But he has no idea if the fire districts or General Assembly will remove the provision for referenda.

Regardless, passage of the bill would allow Saylesville to hire one more firefighter from Lonsdale.

Babbitt said that firefighters in Saylesville “are getting very tired, because it’s a lot of work without being able to hire new people and the only way to hire new people is to get our financial tax help as well.”

Another outstanding issue is a lawsuit from four of the Lonsdale firefighters who were laid off.

On July 27, 2016, plaintiffs Patrick Gorman, Michael LaBonte, Adam Pontbriant and Thomas Ryan filed a complaint alleging that the Lonsdale Fire District violated the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by failing to pay firefighters overtime for voluntary extra shifts.

The complaint alleges that the Fire District failed to pay time-and-a-half for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week. It also claims that the Fire District “failed to maintain a complete and accurate record reflecting the total number of regular and overtime hours worked, and all wages earned by and paid to Plaintiffs as required.”

Elizabeth Wiens is representing the firefighters while Timothy Cavazza is representing the Fire District.

Lonsdale Fire District filed its answer to the complaint on Sept. 30 and denied the allegations, except to admit that the action was brought by four former Lonsdale Fire District employees and that the rate of pay for voluntary extra shifts was $11 per hour.

Some of the denials were on the basis that there is not a valid collective bargaining in place.

In a list of affirmative defenses, the Lonsdale Fire District alleges, in part, that:

It acted in good faith relative to the payment of wages

Any damages for alleged unpaid wages are offset by any pay the firefighters were overpaid, or by pay the Fire District was not required to pay

The firefighters were covered by exemptions in federal wage and hour laws

The Fire District claims an exemption requiring overtime only if employees work more than 53 hours per week, but the plaintiffs deny that this exemption applies.

In their pre-trial statement, dated Oct. 31, the plaintiffs state that the Fire District’s affirmative defenses are not applicable to the facts of the case. The statement also asserts that overtime pay owed to the four firefighters exceeds $100,000.

This does not include attorneys’ fees or amounts owed for 2013; the plaintiffs allege the Fire District failed to provide payroll documents for that year.

Still, it is more than double what the Lonsdale Board feels it should pay. At its December meeting, the Board voted 3-0 to advise Timothy Cavazza, its attorney, that the Board will offer to pay $45,000.

Both parties met with Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan in U.S. District Court on Jan. 20 for a settlement conference. Babbitt said that after nearly three hours, the parties were not able to come up with an agreement.

He could not say what happened in the meeting because Sullivan said discussions are to be kept confidential until an agreement is reached.

There will be another meeting on Feb. 3, Babbitt said.

The Lonsdale Board of Fire Wardens is also in the early stages of negotiating the sale of the fire station. If O’Grady’s bill passes and the consolidation happens before the station is sold, that asset will transfer to the Saylesville Fire District.

There is a USDA loan of more than $300,000 on the building. Necessary repairs on the building are in the range of $40,000, Babbitt said, between roof work and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.