Two Cato residents are legally challenging the town of Cato for voting to award the fire protection contract for the northern end of Fire District No. 1 to the Meridian Fire Department.
On Nov. 5, former town board member Ronald L. Dennison, of Route 176, and Michael Grant, of Dugar Road, filed a complaint with state Supreme Court in Cayuga County against the town. Dennison and Grant seek to prevent the town from contracting with the Meridian Fire Department, saying the department is not equipped to handle the job.
The case is scheduled to be heard in Cayuga County Supreme Court at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 2, with attorney Adam H. Van Buskirk representing the plaintiffs and town attorney Ron Carr representing Cato.
At an Oct. 7 public hearing, Cato, Jordan, and Meridian fire departments applied for 2009 contracts, each explaining proposed levels of service. Meridian Fire Department members said they had only three certified interior firefighters. Four are required to be on scene by law to enter a building. Jordan, with 36 such members, and Cato, with 22, both said that as few as one third of their departments' certified interior firefighters could be available at any one time.
The complaint alleges that the Meridian Fire Department has insufficient manpower to safely and legally enter a burning building. It couldn't provide two firefighters to enter the building and two firefighters to remain outside.
A situation could arise, it alleges, whereby Meridian would be unable to enter a burning building due to lack of manpower.
But the Meridian Fire Department says neighboring departments were always ready to help when firefighters encountered a difficult situation.
“Every department in the county has a set of mutual aid fire departments that respond to a box alarm at 911, for anybody that has a structural fire,” Meridian Fire Chief Amed Perrotta said Friday.
He noted that departments from Cato, Ira, Victory and possibly Weedsport would all respond to such a call from Meridian. He mentioned recent fires in Jordan and Cato that had mutual aid calls.
“Even Cato isn't big enough to do it alone,” Perrotta said.
Cato Town Supervisor Charles Ray did not return repeated calls seeking comment on the complaint.
The plaintiffs allege that the board was aware of the defects but awarded the fire protection contract to Meridian anyway. In addition, a proposed $40,000 Meridian Fire Department price tag for 2009 exceeded Cato Fire Department's $31,000 offer.
The plaintiffs asked what is gained by paying tax dollars to Meridian Fire Department rather than simply contracting with a more capable department for less.
It calls the town's contracting with Meridian a waste of tax dollars, with insufficient services, putting petitioners at a substantial risk of physical harm and economic loss.
Perrotta, however, noted that the town had opted in 2008 not to contract with Meridian, spending $14,000 more than it had to then.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
The case is scheduled to be heard in Cayuga County Supreme Court at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 2, with attorney Adam H. Van Buskirk representing the plaintiffs and town attorney Ron Carr representing Cato.
At an Oct. 7 public hearing, Cato, Jordan, and Meridian fire departments applied for 2009 contracts, each explaining proposed levels of service. Meridian Fire Department members said they had only three certified interior firefighters. Four are required to be on scene by law to enter a building. Jordan, with 36 such members, and Cato, with 22, both said that as few as one third of their departments' certified interior firefighters could be available at any one time.
The complaint alleges that the Meridian Fire Department has insufficient manpower to safely and legally enter a burning building. It couldn't provide two firefighters to enter the building and two firefighters to remain outside.
A situation could arise, it alleges, whereby Meridian would be unable to enter a burning building due to lack of manpower.
But the Meridian Fire Department says neighboring departments were always ready to help when firefighters encountered a difficult situation.
“Every department in the county has a set of mutual aid fire departments that respond to a box alarm at 911, for anybody that has a structural fire,” Meridian Fire Chief Amed Perrotta said Friday.
He noted that departments from Cato, Ira, Victory and possibly Weedsport would all respond to such a call from Meridian. He mentioned recent fires in Jordan and Cato that had mutual aid calls.
“Even Cato isn't big enough to do it alone,” Perrotta said.
Cato Town Supervisor Charles Ray did not return repeated calls seeking comment on the complaint.
The plaintiffs allege that the board was aware of the defects but awarded the fire protection contract to Meridian anyway. In addition, a proposed $40,000 Meridian Fire Department price tag for 2009 exceeded Cato Fire Department's $31,000 offer.
The plaintiffs asked what is gained by paying tax dollars to Meridian Fire Department rather than simply contracting with a more capable department for less.
It calls the town's contracting with Meridian a waste of tax dollars, with insufficient services, putting petitioners at a substantial risk of physical harm and economic loss.
Perrotta, however, noted that the town had opted in 2008 not to contract with Meridian, spending $14,000 more than it had to then.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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mark wrote on Nov 17, 2008 12:39 PM: