Station 1 Relocation

An Open Letter to the Citizens of Greenwich

The Greenwich Professional Firefighters, Local 1042, were both happy and
disappointed with First Selectman Tesei's recent decisions regarding the
rebuilding of Fire Headquarters. At the Board of Selectman's meeting on
December 16, 2010 and as reported in an article from the Greenwich Time dated
December 17, 2010, First Selectman Tesei has stated that town officials are
recommending that the current Fire Headquarters on Havemeyer Place be rebuilt
instead of renovated. This is welcome news to the rank and file members of
Local 1042. We believe that it is the right approach to provide Greenwich's
professional firefighting force with a headquarters that is worthy of the town
in a fiscally responsible way.

As happy as we were to hear this decision we were disappointed to find out,
through the Greenwich Time article, that First Selectman Tesei has decided to
relocate a third of the town's professional firefighting force to trailers in
the Horseneck commuter parking lot, on the south side of the Greenwich train
station, during the rebuild. This decision is nothing more than a capitulation
to a small but vocal group of Cos Cob volunteers.

The original plan advocated by the Fire Administration was to relocate the
Deputy Chief and Tower 1 (a total of four career staff per shift) to the town
owned Cos Cob firehouse. The remaining four career staff manning Engine 1
would move to a temporary home in the downtown area, possibly the Horseneck
commuter lot. This proposal took into account what was best for public safety
in Greenwich as well as what was fiscally responsible. First Selectman Tesei
has ignored the recommendation of his Fire Administration and made a decision
based on what can only be deemed "political" factors. At the same Board of
Selectman's meeting referenced above, First Selectman Tesei stated that the
financial numbers he presented for the fire headquarters rebuild did not
include the cost of the temporary quarters that would be set up in the
Horesneck commuter lot for all career staff that are assigned to the current
fire Headquarters. We believe that this decision is deeply flawed for both
public safety and financial reasons.

Unlike Engine 1, which due to its assigned district should stay in the
downtown area, both the Deputy Chief and Tower 1 have first due
responsibilities town wide and need to be located in an area of Greenwich with
the best access to the rest of the town. The Cos Cob firehouse on the Post
Road is a perfect location for both of these units. It provides a central
location with quick access to the major thoroughfares of town allowing
response times to all parts of the town be kept to a minimum. Tower 1 is the
only staffed ladder truck in town and when called must not have its response
time diminished. The Horseneck commuter lot would adversely affect its
response time to the majority of the town.

The cost of renovating the Cos Cob firehouse to accommodate these career staff
would be about $100,000. Relocating all of Headquarter's career staff to the
Horseneck commuter lot would require at least 5 trailers (1 for a bunk room, 1
for a kitchen/day room, 1 for a gear room, 1 for a shower and locker room, and
1 for offices for the Deputy Chief, Lieutenant, and communication equipment)
and a temporary structure to house the Deputy Chief's car, Engine 1, and Tower
1. These structures would consume a majority of the Horseneck commuter lot.

The initial cost estimate of relocating all Headquarters career staff to this
lot is $1.5 million - $1.75 million (without even including the lost parking
revenue for the town). This cost estimate only includes three trailers (which
are inadequate) and is about 1 million dollars more than just relocating
Engine 1 to the Horseneck commuter lot. It is important to understand that
this 1 million dollars is wasted money because these are temporary structures
and will be removed once the new Fire Headquarters is completed. On the other
hand the $100,000 spent on renovating the Cos Cob firehouse is money spent on
a town owned building and should make it a better firehouse in the end. (It is
our belief that if the town has an extra million dollars to spend on public
safety it would be better spent staffing the Glenville fire station with four
firefighters, instead of the current two, to provide adequate fire protection
to the King Street corridor.)

After the initial discussions regarding the use of the Cos cob firehouse for
the relocation of the Deputy Chief and Tower 1, a group of Cos Cob volunteers
approached the Greenwich Time about the issue. An article was published in the
Greenwich Time on November 3, 2010 stating that there was a "Turf War" brewing
between the Cos Cob volunteers and the Greenwich Career Firefighters. This is
not the case. This is not a career firefighter versus volunteer firefighter
issue. It is about what is best for the Town of Greenwich. As Professional
Firefighters we are hired by the Town of Greenwich and sworn to protect the
citizens of the town 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That is our mission and
that is why we are speaking out on this topic.

It is the opinion of the Greenwich Professional Firefighters Local 1042, that
the Town of Greenwich's best interests, both in the public safety realm and
financially, are served by following the relocation plan put forward by the
Town's Fire Administration. We ask First Selectman Tesei to put aside his
political concerns on this issue, be fiscally responsible, and serve the
public safety interest of those people who elected him.

A public hearing has been scheduled for January 6, 2011 on this topic. Please
contact your representative and tell them that you support the Town of
Greenwich Fire Administration and Professional Firefighters in this matter.

Respectfully,
Greenwich Professional Firefighters, Local 1042

January 4, 2011

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