Common Council To Affirm

3 Bases For Firefighting Pact

ONEONTA – When it meets Tuesday, Common Council plans to voice support for continuing to provide professional firefighting services to Southside and other parts of the Town of Oneonta.

The restatement of its interest on settling the contract comes a week before the town Fire District Board of Commissioners has scheduled a hearing, for 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, at the Elm Park Methodist Church, Elm Street, on plans to create a volunteer fire department in the district.

In a resolution, Common Council also plans to outline support for three bases for agreement on a new contract between City Hall and the town’s Fire District, as follow:

• Using the “historic formula” used from 2005 to 2014, when negotiations to renew the contract failed. That is based on sharing costs based on proportional assessment.
• Using the “cost allocation” outlined by a consultant hire by both entities, that takes into account not just assessment, but call volume, square mileage and population.
• Basing the agreement on the fire district’s current payment of $1.1 million, arrived upon by Supreme Court Judge Michael V. Coccoma when both sides failed to reach agreement at the end of 2015.

Council directs Mayor Gary Herzig to continue negotiations.