2 ONEONTAS REACH

5-YEAR FIRE PACT

Council, Town Board Must Adopt Agreement

By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

ONEONTA – Town Supervisor Bob Wood and Mayor Gary Herzig met this morning to propose a five-year fire contract, with the town paying $1.15 million in 2019.

“It wasn’t a difficult thing,” said Wood. “The current contract of $1.1 million had no formula in place, so we looked at a modified version of the old formula to come up with this number.”

The contract sees the town paying into workman’s comp and some administration costs, and for 2019, will pay 35 percent of ambulance billing. “The city was paying that out of pocket,” said Wood. “We didn’t think that was fair.”

The town is also in the process of creating a fire protection district, which must be approved before the contracts can be signed. Additionally, the contracts will need to be approved by the Town Board and City Council.

“I think we have the basis for an agreement,” said Herzig. “We were able to discuss it in a way in which we were both willing to give and take.”